Tales From the Outposts, Vol. 1 - Travels in the Forbidden Lands

May the Circle Stay Unbroken

I drove my wagon slowly through the town, gazing at the sights. This was my first morning exposure to a port city in some time, and the first in the daytime since I had escaped the beast's lair and found my way to the Wright Haven. That seemed like it had happened an eternity ago and the thought of it made me shudder in the warm morning air. My ride through the city was a lot more positive since I wasn't being actively pursued for the first time since leaving the Outposts. I lounged back in my seat, letting the horses take their time wending their way through higher levels of the city. We climbed higher into the sunlight and the towers became more grandiose, the houses cleaner and businesses more respectable. Taverns and vendor's stalls were replaced by upscale stores and shoppes and the streets were wider and cleaner. The few people I saw were dressed nicer and seemed more genteel than those I had met down below. I amused myself with wondering if that was really the case, or if the civility was just an appearance. One thing I noticed was that fewer people in the upper levels looked upon me as I made my way through the streets. We reached a high plateau around noon and the road straightened out, and started to widen even more to accommodate the heavier flow of traffic in and out of the city. Shortly after that we reached the gates that opened onto the outer world.

The guard at the gate wasn't going to let me through at first because of my lack of documents, but did a double take when he spied the armor, so I put a finger to my lips indicating that he should tell no one. He bent his head near mine and told me he had heard rumors just that morning of some nasty events down at the docks and asked what was going on in a discrete whisper. I told him in low tones I had been sent out by the High Priestess and was on a quest and needed to pass unnoticed along with the rest of the people. The guard nodded his understanding and in a loud voice roared that he would let me go this time, but that the next time I tried to leave the city without the proper paperwork and toll payment, he would confiscate my load and throw me in the debtors prison to await trial. He opened the gates with a sly wink and yelled at me to be on his way before he lost his good humor.

I hung my head and obediently snapped the reins and the horses jumped in their traces and off we rolled. The land outside the city gates was barren and flat, with medium sized rocks, scrub brush and cactus dotting the landscape. In the distance were high mountains that looked to be baking under the same sun that I was. We rolled along the flat limestone road, kicking up little dust from the hard packed stone and passed a steady stream of traders and supplicants headed in the direction of the city. Toward late afternoon I pulled the wagon over to the side of the road and found some soft sand to camp in. I tethered the horses where they could graze on the low lying shrubs and cleared a space for a camp fire and what little bedding I had brought with me. I dug through the boxes to find what the ship's cook had packed for me and was surprised at some of the things he had included. If my hunch was right, either the Captain or the High Priestess was going to have to be satisfied with the same food the crew got, at least until they replenished their supplies. I grinned at the thought and that made me look forward to my meal even more.

After a light supper, I lay back and watched the sun set over the mountains. There wasn't much of a light show, the sky falling dark rather quickly, but the beauty of the silhouette of the mountains more than made up for the lack of colors in the sky. As night crept across the sky overhead, the stars came out in an abundance and color I had never seen before. I saw red and blue stars that I was unfamiliar with and tried to remember the constellations that the old man had shown me so long ago when we had been at sea. I didn't recognize many at this latitude, but that didn't stop me from trying to find something familiar anyway. Between staring up at the sky and the crackling of the fire, I was soon lulled to sleep.

I awoke at sunrise, feeling refreshed and ready for another day of traveling. I hitched the horses up to the wagon, packed up the few things that I had needed the night before and headed off toward the mountains again. It wasn't until late afternoon of the third day out from the city that I reached the foot of the mountains. I decided to rest the horses, so we spent the next day doing nothing. I made sure the horses had plenty to graze on and I found a small pond in a hollow that they could drink from, so we were all set.