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Andrea [Imperial]: "Apologies, we are but naive travelers. Wouldst thou enlighten us as to who rules this fair city?"
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Face Tats-[Imperial]: "Lord Kinsgrumur, valorous in memory, hath restored this great city to her kindred. It is because of his ambitions that pilgrims from about the Empire such as thyselves may walk these streets again ... Hold ... how hath news of our reclamation spread so soon? Thou art certainly no plainsdweller as us. How hath thou the knowledge it is safe to travel here."
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"Ehhh...?" Andrea looks back at Vala, who shrugs. [Imperial] "I ah, didnae know of a 'reclamation', ser. I simply go where my feet take me, safe or not. What hath happened?"
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Face Tats-[Imperial]: "Ifn thou seek a recounting of events seek answers elsewhere. Vagabonds and wanderers have no place at the Lord's gates ... Ifn vagabonds and wanderers thee indeed be."
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Andrea seethes within, wishing to give this guard a piece of her mind of how she is not a vagabond, but a noblemare. But she swallows her pride and departs the gate with Vala. She wanders about the ring surveying for other potential ways into the keep, and soldiers on break to perhaps strike up a conversation with.
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Andrea only tours the first ring for a few minutes before a pair of wary guardsmen accost her. During that brief time she and Vala pass a multi floor open air temple of some sort. Large tablets have names printed in Imperial. Some of the names are printed in older imperial script, easily dating back more than a hundred years. The first ring is otherwise the place where the interior barracks and other structures and workshops of immediate use to the central keep are kept. Andrea and Vala see the glimmer of what might be a homestead further around the ring but the guards' approach has stopped their further investigation. The pair of guards addressing Andrea, as well all the remaining, albeit few, guards patrolling the ring are wearing the Waelass uniform.
Wary Waelass Guard-[Imperial]: "I have not seen thy countenance among the many souls who labor here. Doth thouĀ have some sort of mission that brings thee here?"
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Andrea [Imperial]: "Why yes, we art mercenaries of little renown come to aid in battle. Though it looks like affairs hath been settled already."
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Wary Waelass Guard-[Imperial]: "Thy intention is well received yet thy thoughts hold the truth. Waelass no longer has need for mercenaries. Seek an officer of the plainsdweller armies camped beyond the walls for other opportunity to acquire coin."
Second Waelass Wary Guard-[Imperial]: "The curfew ..."
Wary Waelass Guard-[Imperial]: "Yes yes. Thou must leave the ring. Seek lodging in the lowers or beyong. Curfew is coming."
No other souls on street seem in any particular rush. The guards seem to be conjuring an imagined excuse to quietly remove Andrea and Vala from the ring.
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Andrea [Imperial]: "Why is there a curfew? Art there some lingering dangers in this city?"
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The guard shows a flicker of hesitation before speaking.
Wary Waelass Guard-[Imperial]: "Nothin of the sort. Waelass is secure. Curfew is the Lord's decree. Nothin good comes to pass in the night."
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[Imperial] "Is that so?" Andrea gestures about. "Whyfore art there souls out and about then?"
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Wary Waelass Guard-[Imperial]: "Tis special exception granted by the Lord. Tasks most necessary in all times. Not the likes of thee."
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Andrea makes a tsking sound. This measure seems a bit tyrannical, but this is the Empire after all. [Imperial] "Very well then. Dost thou knowest where we might find lodgings for the night?"
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The guard raises her hand and points back down the main path.
Wary Waelass Guard-[Imperial]: "Strangers to the city may find some measure of shelter in the homesteads of traders in the outer ring. Tis time thou remove thyself to the outer rings."
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[Imperial] "Very well. I bid thee good night." Andrea and Vala proceed back down the main path, but when the guards have passed they double back and try to explore the temple further.
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[Andrea (Stealth): 8,5,3 Result: HALT HERETIC]
Andrea feigns compliance. As soon as the guards return to their posts she sneaks back towards the temple. She manages her way inside undetected. She hurries further into the main chamber and finds a position inside the room not visible to passerby's on the street. The room she has snuck into is large. The vaulted cieling is high enough to stand two Zwiche's atop one another. All along the walls are innumerable scrawled names. Those lowest to the ground are especially weathered and ancient, written in a script that is too simplistic to be an older version of Imperial. There are three interior passageways that lead off from the main chamber. Andrea is about to look into exploring the nearest one when a woman enters the room from opposite passage. The woman is dressed in a patterened sarong and a cloth vest. She drops the vase she is carrying from the shock of happening upon Andrea. A light brown powder spills across the ground.
Woman in Sarong-[Imperial]: "AH! Begone idler! Tis not the cycle of fealty! Begone lest the guard come and restrain thee in the stockade for the night!"
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Andrea grumbles but once again takes her leave. While it would be a small price to pay to satisfy her curiosity, she does not want to leave her comrades wondering what became of them.
Vala [Imperial]: "Remind me again what we were doing there?"
Andrea shrugs. "It looked interesting. That place hangs heavy with the weight o' history, which we'd do well to learn lest we repeat its mistakes."
Vala rolls her eyes. The two return to the market square for rendezvous.