S
Shenorai
Guest
Original poster
Silver moonlight bathed the lands below in its gentle glow. Fog had rolled in throughout the valleys of this region, veiling the rivers and villages that dotted the Lowlands. It was a fairly humid in these early hours of summer. An eerie calm was cast over the lands, as though it was quieter than it should be out in the wilderness.
A covered wagon drawn by a pair of mules followed one of many dirt roads throughout the valley. Along with its goods, there were only three passengers on this cart: an elderly man wrapped in a cloak and simple cotton clothing who was driving a cart, his teenage grandson garbed in tougher hemp clothes and a fleece poncho who was sound asleep on top of a shipment of woolen hides with a wide-brimmed hat over his face, and a hooded young woman in a black turtleneck, black shorts, and a hooded red coat who was simply sitting at the back of the cart with one leg dangling over the edge. Beneath his wide-brimmed hat, the elder looked back into the cart, moving the tarp just enough to see the young woman.
"Yer not asleep yet?" he asked with a gravelly voice.
The woman didn't even flinch. "There's no rest for the wicked," she replied simply.
A chuckle erupted from the old man's throat. "If ya insist, miss. We'll be coming up on Runesong shortly. Ya should be able to see its lights from there."
The woman's face was still shrouded in her hood's shadow, but she gazed through the opening in the tarp. Up in the mountains ahead, the city of Runesong sat just above the fog, as though jutting above a sea of clouds. The city itself represented a marriage between the Arcane and Technology, where magic and invention came together and relied on one another. The minds behind such constructs never seem to cease, for lights illuminated the streets of nearly all districts. It was rare for the entirety of Runesong to slumber, for the city was always lit. Thanks to the fog, there was an odd halo that surrounded the city, like some sort of hallucination.
"Are ya sure yer not going to head back with us?" the elder frowned. "I'd feel better with a guard out on the roads."
"I'm sure," she replied. She nodded toward the sleeping teen. "Perhaps someone should teach him how to use a sword or something. It'll save you from hiring guards for every shipment."
"He's still a young un," he grunted before letting the tarp fall.
Taking this as a cue that the conversation was over, the woman simply turned her gaze to the horizon. In twenty minutes time, the colors of the sky were beginning to shift. The dark blanket overhead began to give way to a pale, golden tone that stretched out from the east and seeped into the streaks of clouds. Already, she could hear other wheels creaking and hooves clopping nearby. They were approaching the massive main gates to Runesong now, open and welcoming the early arrival of several merchant carts. The large doors had been wrought with iron and took on the decorative shapes of two golems, knelt back-to-back. After a brief exchange with the guard, the wagons were allowed within.
"Dawn of a new day," the woman muttered as the wagon passed through the gates.