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Alexis stood on a dune, looking down to the small settlement of Desdem.

So strange to be here again. It felt like a lifetime ago that she had left for Gra’akast, when it had really been only a few weeks. And nothing had been resolved. Instead even more trials had been added.

The looming war. The hammer‘s shaft in the hands of a dangerous cult of assassins. The threat of a betrayed goddess’s fury to be unleashed upon the world. The mystery of the Ether, magik, and the entanglement of both continent‘s gods with them.

It felt almost silly, but in between all those all-encompassing worries, upon gazing on the small housings the trading hub consisted of, Alexis still couldn’t help but wonder what became of that poor girl that had gone missing. Wether she had become victim to the dessert or the Brotherhood.

She looked back to her companions. It had been an ordeal to get here. They still all carried the marks of their altercation on the docks, but had to make do with what little time to recuperate they had to leave the city a soon as possible. A dangerous game, for their less than stellar condition, but even more so for travelling among an army out for their blood.
Luckily for them, the Ozainae were just as inclined to pull in mercenaries of all colours as the Empire had been for its own war efforts. It had allowed them to pose as sell swords, foreigners now not as much of an unusual sight anymore.

Having seen the scale of the army the Ozainae, Islana, as a sadistic voice liked to remind her, had risen, she could only hope that the Duke‘s intelligence was as sound as she thought it was, for the sake of all the people in Ostiarium. So that they at least could prepare for the storm to come.

There was not much her little group could do for them, at least for now. They had their own treacherous grounds to navigate.

She looked at each of her friends in turn, grateful for their resilience that had somehow allowed them to make it here, despite everything, her gaze staying on Tarmen, since Gonyaul and Voah might not know who she was talking about.

“I think we should go see Berus and Ekero right away if we can. Maybe Ekero first. Might be more plausible for ‘sell swords’ to go look for additional supplies rather than randomly visit the village’s shaman.”