Lord of the Dead in the Land of Lust

CH16 - The City of Rad

The Fortress cities of the Seven Shields alliance where all apparently known for particular things. Ansur was known for being the base of the vaunted Dawn Templars and of the strongest martial family in the lands, the Levantine's, while Thorn was of course known as the seat of the Goddess reborn and the Church.

Rad was a city of innovation, Ken was known as a hub of mercenaries and violence, Geofu was a cultural melting pot, Ur was the oldest fortress in the entire lands with an equally old political base for its nobility, and Feoh was a sort of second city to Ur. This was information easily learned as he traveled, but Ainz quickly realized that such simple information did not do justice to what a city of innovation actually meant in the regards to the land of Eos.

He and his allies had just crossed over a hill, and the sight before him had made him stop and pause, taking in the sight before him. Rolling hills that made way to a great mountain spire seemingly alone in the foothills that surrounded it on all sides. And around the mountain was a great fortress and city. Unlike Ansur and thorn, the walls of this fortress were a dark gray with blazing blue runes carved into the crenellations. Towers of stone and bronze rose up past the walls spewing smoke and steam out of pipes and chimney's, and even the wall had pipes coming in and out of them in sections. Even from a distance Ainz could tell that the walls were covered in what he could actually consider proper defenses, and while most looked like Catapults or Ballista, he did notice that some seemed to be made of dark metal and shaped vaguely like tubes.

The City of Rad was not just a city of innovation; it looked like a Steampunk city.

"Is something wrong?" amrita asked as she stepped up beside Ainz.

"No, far from it," Ainz replied. "I was simply enjoying the view. Rad looks quite different than Ansur or Thorn. It is, refreshing."

"How can it be refreshing? All I smell is smoke," flora said with a grumble from behind, seeming to have no interest in the city of Rad whatsoever.

"It's not wood smoke," Hara said as she sniffed the air. "I smelt it a bit earlier, but I'm pretty sure its smoke from forges and he like. Smells a bit off."

"Rad is known as the city of innovation and Alchemy for a reason, that is likely why it smells strange," Amrita said with a shake of her head. "Have neither of you ever seen Rad before?"

"I was turned into an elf and spent most of my time in forests, and trying to avoid people, what do you think?" Flora replied sarcastically.

Hara on the other hand simply stared at Amrita for a moment.

"Right, I apologize," Amrita said as she looked to Ainz, who still seemed to simply stare at the city ahead of them. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I was just considering various things, let us be off," Ainz declared as he began walking toward the city, the three woman following along just a bare step behind. "Tell me, Rad even from this distance appears drastically different than Ansur or Thorn, are the other fortresses similarly different?"

"No, not really," Amrita replied as she noticed that both Flora and Hara were also listening raptly. "They all share the same architecture and design essentially. The only one that doesn't is UR, due to its age."

"Hmmm, so it is the people then that may make them different, something to remember," Ainz mused as the group approached the city. Something the guards of the city seemed to notice as they quickly by the motion on the walls and before the gate. "Should we be expecting greetings like the one we received in Ansur?"

"I would not think so unless we were expected," Amrita said simply. "And I would not expect any sort of immediate distrust, just curiosity."

"Curiosity?"