The Floating City of Esharra

As Mordane approached the two men sat and speaking quietly to one another and introduced himself as a mercenary looking for work, the Esharran looked up at the man, then silently back at each other with an expression that could be mistaken for disgust. "Who is this outsider?" The first man asked the second, "did you invite him here?"

"I did not," the second replied, glancing back up at Captain Mordane again. "And why exactly should we trust you, outsider? Why would we spend our valuable coin on hiring a complete and utter, unproven unknown? Can you not see how we speak to each other in secrecy? What use would those like us have for someone who approaches us with the discretion of a clumsy beast?" He finished off with a sigh, a 'huff' of disbelief while the first man looked back with an increasingly amused expression.

"Yet an outsider would have no ties, no alliances, debts or loyalty to anyone in Esharra, my friend," the first man spoke directly the second. "In some ways this makes him more trustworthy than our own."

The second man sat back in his chair and shrugged. "I suppose there are some tasks we need doing where such things could be an advantage," he replied. A moment later, he looked straight up at Mordane with a lightly tilted head. "What say you? Are you reliable?"

-------

"Oh yes," the rogue replied to Madelena Winterscar, "we have both. Which would you prefer to see? Most of our universities will not allow outsiders to enter, but generally they hold artefacts and research you won't find in a library; which are open to anyone."

His smile continued as he turned back towards the portal, glancing idly past Santiago Sleeke as he did so. "If you like I will offer my services to you, free of charge. A beauty like yourself should hardly go without an escort in this fine city and I can think of no better candidate than myself," he suggested. "I have many friends, some enemies too, but what is life without those to make it interesting? With me, you will see a side of Esharra that no simple tour guide could ever show! And in return, I ask only for the pleasure of your company... And your name."

He raised his arm, then offered his hand for the lady to take. "What do you say?"

Madelena still wasn't sure what to think of this man that was showing her around. He did offer her the things that she needed, as she was sure she would get lost on her own. But he also seemed very willing to do so for no charge. Still she figured she better make use of his kindness.

"Well if I wouldn't be allowed to enter the Universities then I guess the library is where we should go. Wouldn't do us many good to go somewhere that I can't go inside off." she smiled at him. She would pet her horse on the nose one more time before leaving the animal behind and walking with the rogue. She would gladly take his arm. She guessed that having the looks that she did, did have some kind of benefits. "I will take you up on that offer then. My name is Madelena. Nice to meet you." she told him, hoping he would give his own name in return.

Mordane bowed deeply to the Esharrans "I'll be ready, you will find that you're trust in me was not misplaced". He turned and headed back to where he was seated before to grab a key from the innkeeper for the room he had purchased for the night.

It was the cheapest room the offered and yet everything was cleaned and kept tidy, all it was was a bed and a dresser with a bit of room to walk around. He took off his armor and his pack setting them on the top of the dresser before laying down to rest. He set a magical alarm, a trick he had picked up from a traveling mage that had proven useful for situations like this. The bed was a welcome change to his bedroll and he fell asleep almost immediately.

Mordane would wake up to the sound of birds chirping, his personal favorite alarm, right before the sun came up. Heading down with his gear on except for the pack he usually carried he would pay for another night at the inn so he could leave his travelling gear here, only taking what he thought he would need with him. He sit there eating breakfast, again whatever the Esharran at the front recommended, while he waited for his employer to arrive.

The next morning was both unusually bright and unusually dark in Esharra; the sun had nothing to block or dampen it on the eastern side of the city except the city itself, so as the local Esharran's got up and went about their business, many of them did so with hats or hoods designed to keep the sun from their eyes. Meanwhile, in any place to the west of a wall, the shade was overwhelming! In many indoor areas, it was so dark that candles and torches were still being used well into the morning.

It was about mid-morning when the Esharran from the night before entered the Inn again, seeing Mordane eating his breakfast and waiting. He walked over to the captain, then took himself a seat opposite the man. "Good morning. I will get straight to the point, Mordane; you will now know and refer to me as Mr. Sun, while my partner from last night shall be referred to as Mr. Moon. This here is your first job," he spoke, clearly and with purpose as he handed a packaged letter sealed with blue wax to the mercenary captain.

"Do you remember how to get to the square where the city portal leads you when you first arrived here? Return there and give this to an Esharran who is dressed... Differently to many of our kind. You will know him when you see him," Mr. Sun explained to him. "To confirm his identity, say to him this and only this: 'what has this place come to?' If he replies 'this is no city for old men', then he is the right man and you are to do whatever it is he says."

----

Iksuda stopped and watched as she reached out for the portal and would find that it felt like flowing silk and water, like something she may only have come across before if she was familiar with such gates. He grinned at her behaviour, but quickly moved on to answering her question. "The first thing? Well, you would not be allowed there, but there is no greater sight in Esharra than the Hall of Kings! It's situated in the highest canton of the city and houses our ruler and his council... I've been there only once, a long time ago - but I can still dream of it with perfection."

His tone suddenly became a little sullen as he continued. "Though shortly before Esharra was opened to Outsiders, the Hall of Kings has been off-limits to most all. You can't even get to the Royal Canton without a pass these days and not many are sure why. Interesting and worrying events no doubt, but I won't ruin your mood with our troubles."

After he finished speaking, he took Madelena Winterscar's arm tightly and then suddenly and without warning stepped forward through the portal; into the square beyond.

"I'll see it done". Mordane took his helm from where he set it on the seat next to him and equipped it before heading out from the inn. He remembered his destination well, and would have no trouble navigating his way back to it.He did not stop to admire his surroundings, the beautiful buildings that encapsulated the bridges, or the mountains just outside the city. He had a purpose this time, it felt good to be working again.

Mordane arrived at his location faster then he expected and when he got there began looking around for the Esharran Mr.Sun had mentioned. An Esharran in strange clothes? It seemed rather self explanatory but it also left alot to the imagination. He pondered this when he finally spotted him, a man wearing his sword by his waist and a woman by his arm. Before he could approach them they went through the portal, he followed through it planning to meet with the Esharran and ask him "What has this place come to?"

"Just because you cannot go to a place... Doesn't mean you cannot go to a place," Iksuda told her with knowing wink. By design, the cantons of Esharra had many hidden passages and back routes that only those who spent considerably time exploring the city could know; roads that opened up considerably more if one could climb. Iksuda definitely looked as though he could do so, with rough, callused hands and a strong upper body.

When they passed through, he went silent and let Madelena Winterscar take in the sights. Even the Esharran, who had lived there for as long as they could remember still held the city in great regard for its beauty. He could empathise with how much time Madelena had spent looking, so to finally be there and see it must be rather overwhelming!

As he waited, he watched Mordane approach him and blinked curiously. "Yes?" He asked, then listened until the message was delivered with a smile that increased with time. "I see. This is no city for old men, is it?" He replied, before holding out his hand, expectant.

Meanwhile a noble-looking Esharran wearing robes would bump into Santiago Sleeke, but do nothing other than give him a rather rude look before walking off with a pile of books in his arms.

"That is a very curious way of speaking." she would reply with a smile on his answer to why he told her places she couldn't go. One part of her did not want to think about breaking the law here and get in trouble. But the other side wanted to know as much as she could about this place.

Madelena would still be busy to figure out when she could pull herself back to reality as she was watching the beauty of the city. She would take her book out of her backpack and searching for the page that depicted this exact location. She comapred it to eachother with the keen eye of an explorer. Many things had changed, but others were still in the splendid state that they had been in the picutre. But still it was hard to compare the beauty in real life to the drawn picture of the book.

Only after she had come to her senses, she saw the new man that had approached her Esharran companion. He seemed to be an outsider too, and a rather old man. She decided to let them speak as she was still slightly hopping from one foot to another, finding it hard to hide her excitement.

Iksuda released Madelena Winterscar's arm and took the package from Mordane, which he opened quietly and began to read through the contents, the letter hugged closely to him so that none else could see. After finishing, he took the corner in his teeth and began to tear into the message with a slightly disgusted look on his face; paper was rarely flavoured sweet. He began to chew, swallow down and just as he was about to take in another bite, he was interrupted by Santiago Sleeke.

Santiago's interjection caused Iksuda's face to widen in slight surprise. "Well then, I suppose Mr. Sun is getting overly cautious these days to hire two of you, isn't he?" He asked, though only after he took a moment to examine the man and think.

He shook the package, then turned it over and watched as a grey key fell into his hands. "Aha!" He exclaimed, before carefully pocketing it. "It seems we've a long day ahead of us, but unluckily for the two of you I have promised Lady Madelena here a tour of the city and we will need some 'shopping' to carry out this job," he explained, taking a small bag of coins from one of his pouches and, rather quite randomly, dropped it in Captain Mordane's hand instead of Santiago's.

"We will need a length of rope, a potion of Cat's Eye, a pouch of fine sleeping powder, a large cooked boar, two bottles of 11th Grace Wine and masques to hide your faces. When you've got all of those, deliver them to Mr. Sun's tavern, then do whatever you want as long as you are back there by nightfall," he told them, taking Madelena's arm again and then gesturing forwards. "Shall we, Lady Madelena?"

"Oh. If you don't have enough money, just steal them. And don't get caught."

Santiago watched Madelena and Iksuda leave, his mind racing through the implications of what the Esharran had said, and the options open to him. His ruse wasn't likely to last long, but maybe there was an opportunity to ingratiate himself to Iksuda and this so-called Mr Sun by proving his worth on this particular task. He would need to stay with the warrior though, as he had no idea where this tavern was, and revealing this ignorance would surely raise suspicions.

He turned to address the warrior, his eyes on the small money pouch, gauging the size and weight of what might reside within, and if it might cover the cost of the items they now sought. "Well met then. I'm Santiago."

He considered offering his hand by means of greeting, but reluctant to not overplay the situation, he merely smiled and continued. "Shall we get started? I suspect that bag of coin isn't going to be large enough to do this without.." He paused, fishing for the right words. "...A little improvisation."

He caught sight of a pair of guards striding through the crowd, their well-oiled white and gold armour clanging quietly as their eyes darted from face to face. They were a professional lot, and he feared amongst this city of nobles, two outsiders were likely to draw far too much attention from the cities eager-eyed sentries.

He considered the warrior with a sidelong glance. "I sense the locals prefer those who stick to the script."