No Good Men: Volume One

Chapter IV: Palur Citadel

Palur Citadel in Calcor, Sharban

Messy writing on discolored parchment is scattered over the walls of a small room with only an empty space for the door. The room is not much bigger than a wardrobe, and a single blue flame flickering over a black candle lights up the entire space.

In the middle of the room, an old man sits with his legs crossed on top of a thin purple cushion. He is wearing a faded yellow robe, and his long gray hair stretches below his shoulders. A short gray beard protrudes from his face and hangs no more than an inch below his chin.

He patiently sits with his eyes closed and quietly mumbles to himself. It's as if his mind is separated from his body and in a deep state of meditation.

Suddenly, he opens his eyes and rolls them back into his sockets. A faint green light pulsates around his eyelids before a bright burst flashes out from his eyes. He dims the room as he quickly shuts his eyelids, and he droops forward before throwing his arms forward and catching himself on the stone floor.

He wheezes on the ground before carefully standing up in the room. His tall figure shrinks his surroundings and he opens the door to leave his cramped space. The old man crouches just enough to exit through the doorway and looks out to a cloudless blue sky, as a flock of birds fly overhead.

He brings his foot out and steps onto a smooth white floor that glows underneath the rays of the sun. A few feet ahead, a gray stone barrier surrounds the man and his small stone room in a squared shape. The old man shuts the door behind him and walks away from his room and towards the barrier.

He leans over the edge and gazes over an expansive walled city. A soft breeze flows through him and he takes a deep breath above the bustling streets. Countless buildings and crowds of people lie hundreds of feet below at the base of a tower he is standing on. The city stretches out and borders a vast ocean, where a massive dockyard etches itself into the waters.

The man turns around and walks past his room towards the opposite side of the tower. He looks over the barrier at a castle etched into the face of a mountain overlooking eastern half of the city. The large castle pokes out from the cliffside and incredibly thick supports run all the way down the mountain to keep it above earth.

A winding path from the castle connects to a large courtyard just below the old man. The courtyard is only a few stories down and is surrounded by tall ramparts.

He sees a guard patrolling the courtyard and calls out to him from the tower.

"You there!"

The guard looks up and straightens his posture in the old man's presence.

"I wish to speak with Ramzi! I've received an important message for the Count!", the man yells.

"Right away, Arch-mage Imonar!", the guard responds before hastily marching through the courtyard and towards the castle. Imonar watches as the guard walks under the overhanging ramparts and up the winding mountain pass.

The guard disappears behind flags hoisted above the archway, and Imonar walks to a trap door on the floor. He removes an iron lock and lifts the wooden door to reveal a ladder leading down to a platform. Imonar lowers himself under the trap door, and closes it above him before descending down to the bottom.

Once there, he walks through a stone archway and finds himself on the ramparts alongside the tower. The archmage approaches a nearby set of stairs and heads down to the courtyard. Insects buzz around him, and flock towards the rows of potted flowers sitting alongside the walls.