Diane sat on a hill overlooking the city of Urenhiem. As massive and sprawling as it was it was still built like a fortress. The entire city covered and area of twenty-five hundred square miles and almost filled the desert basin it sat in. The walls were forty feet tall and fifteen feet wide. The outsides of the sandy brown walls were stained with the blood of old enemies who broke themselves against this impenetrable protection. The city was shaped like an oblong oval, with two huge structures dominating the landscape. The first to the north of Diane's position and larger of the two is the palace with its bone white walls and tarnished golden domed crenellations and towers. There were a plethora of flags waving above the domes, and banners unfurled from the towering heights. The second stationed ten miles south of the palace was the arena. It looked like the Roman Coliseum, but easily twice its size, it has a domed roof of iron lattice that is two feet thick. Even several miles away on her hill she could hear the cheers of the crowd watching the matches. The rest of the buildings were of one to two stories in height and made of the same sandy brown stone as the walls. She could she a couple squares where Nisse told her she could find merchants of all sorts. The ones closer to the palace sold a higher caliper product then the ones near the southern wall. The one near the arena held many blacksmiths who regularly repaired armor and weapons. There were also some wizard merchants that repaired staffs and wands, there also was some who did enchantments for an exorbitant price. You could likewise find new blacksmiths there trying to make a name for themselves and sometime they had exquisite pieces for a very low price. There was a small garden attached to the palace grounds and several fountains placed around the city at seeming haphazard locations. There were plenty of Inns in the city, but the more seedier establishments would require you to sleep with one eye open to ensure you were alive the next morning and still had all of your belongings.
The gates to the city were open and there was a long line of traffic waiting to get inside. There were creature that haunted most kids nightmares walking around freely waiting to enter. She saw werewolves, ogres, trolls, dwarfs, elves, giants, and cyclops. Any and every mystical or mythological creature appeared to be present on this strange world. As Diane looked down the road on the other side of the hill she was on, she spotted two familiar figures arguing atop their wagon. Slog and Krong seemed to be returning from another successful slaving run. Watching their carriage as it approached the hill she remembered Calypso's words. As much as Diane hated to admit it Calypso had been right, she was a coward to leave those people to their fate. She didn't even think before jumping down the hill and racing toward their wagon. She was running so fast a dust cloud was shooting out behind her. She utilized Gar's feline instincts and propelled herself into a spinning, twirling flip landing on top of the cage that made up their wagon. Slog and Krong sat mouths agape stunned speechless by what they saw. Diane reached down and grabbed Slog by his throat and lifted him off his seat. He hung in the air trying to release her grip enough that he could breath. Krong recovering from his stupor tried to lunge at Diane's back and tackle her off of the wagon. Diane didn't even turn her head she just swung her arm behind her and knocked him across the road. Diane turned around and threw Slog across the road also so that he landed on top of Krong. Diane jumped down and slow marched over to the two ogres trying to pick themselves up. When they saw the look of hatred on her face they cowered in front of her begging for mercy. Diane started to feel a glimmer of sympathy for these two pathetic beings until she heard a whimper behind her. She sent her senses out to the wagon and could feel the sickness of eight chained and beaten people. These were the slavers newest acquisitions. Slog and Krong were begging her for mercy because they were weaker than her, but they didn't show any mercy themselves. Now their pleas didn't help them at all, they just made her angrier. How could they take so much from other people not caring what the future held for them? She paused in her heated procession to acknowledge the irony of it all. She was a victim of that same twisted thinking. How could she do to Jerry what she did and not expect to be dumped on this harsh planet. In hindsight, even with the struggles she's been forced to endure, this is a mere pittance for what she really deserved. And what these two really deserved was a serious beat down. As she stood over them with her armor gleaming looking to world like a benevolent savior, Slog and Krong mistook her inaction as mercy. They crawled forward on hands and knees groveling before her, thanking her for sparing them. In one swift motion Diane slipped to her left and lifted her right leg behind her leaning forward. She swung her leg forward with so much force that the kick she planted in Slog's side lifted him four feet off the ground. She broke three of his ribs and punctured a lung. His tough ogre skin and the natural ruggedness of his people saved him from ruptured internal organs. Krong looked up to see Slog flipping over his head. He didn't see Diane wind up and put her full weight and strength into the punch aimed for his head. So when he turned her way all he saw was her fist before everything went black. His head whipped down and made a sickening crunch sound as it bounced off the ground. His unconscious body tumbled lifelessly back toward the wagon. Diane approached the wagon and unlocked the back of it. The stench of sickness hit her in nauseating waves that threatened to make her puke. She climbed into the back and began breaking the shackles on the victims of Slog and Krong's brutality. They were reaching for her and offering thanks in weak voices that could barely reach her ears. She helped move everyone to the left side of the wagon, then she dragged Slog and Krong inside and chained them to the right side. She called out to Nisse and Gar thru her bond to have them meet her at the bottom of the hill.
"So this is my plan for getting in. We will pretend to be slavers bringing in our next catch. I will sell Slog and Krong to the slave merchants and use that money to get a healer to care for their victims. Then once they're all set we can go see your aunt at the arena." Diane said once everyone was on the wagon.
"That is an excellent plan. Let's see how those to brutes like being man handled for a while. My Aunt Patrice should be able to get us registered and fighting in no time." Nisse said with a big grin on her face. She was excited to see their plan progressing nicely.
Gar was sitting next to Nisse with a smile on his feline face, "I must admit that was very entertaining Diane. I think I'm starting to grow a soft spot for you. You may be stupid but your fun to watch!", he said
"You're lucky Nisse is in the way because I would love to punt you back into the forest!", Diane said glaring daggers at Gar out of the corner of her eyes
Gar made a hissing noise that was his version of a laugh and laid down for the short ride to the gates of Urenhiem. As they waited in line to enter the city Diane took this time to review Nisse's memories of the place. She was surprised by the scope and complexity of the different cultures that lived there. It was very easy to offend someone and either end up stabbed in the street or hauled off to jail. At first it seemed so complicated she was surprised the jails weren't stuffed full of people. She was also surprised by the mix of technology this world displayed. The lesser intelligent beings such as the ogres, trolls, goblins, kobalds and such were riding two wheeled carts pulled by oxen or really large lizards called Lacertans. They looked like an iguana with no spikes and a shorter tail. The colors she saw ranged from green, to gray, to a dark brown, and even some shades of black. The carts they pulled were very shabbily made of rough huen wood. Beings of a higher intelligence had full wagon or covered carriages drawn by a variety of animals. The ones that stood out the most were the dwarves, they being known for their high degree of craftsmanship and engineering, drove around in off road automobiles. Which had motorized engines and square tubed roll cages for chassis. Their large tires have spiked rims, and some vehicles sported mounted crossbows. They loved to flaunt their superior technology that they refused to share with the other races. Being fierce warriors, many wars were fought over their inventions, but no one has yet to take their secrets from them. They hunted down anyone who held an item of theirs who wasn't a dwarf.
The line they were waiting in was very long, but the guards kept everyone flowing through the gates. What she thought would take her all day only took her about an hour. She headed straight for the slave market. It was busy as always. As Diane looked around and saw all the bent backs and heard the multiple crack of multiple whips. She very pain for these poor people and wanted to attack the slave masters now but she knew she needed to be patient. She had a plan and she needed to stick to it. She walked around to the back of the wagon and opened the doors. She pulled Slog and Krong from the wagon and pushed them up against the wagon. Looking around to make sure she wasn't going to be overheard she leaned in to whisper to them, "I want you to understand that I abhor slavery. I am doing this to teach you guys a lesson and it will help me to get these people you hurt some help. But this is only a temporary thing. I plan on freeing the slaves soon, and when I do I will return your freedom to you. You can use this time to make some changes in your lives. I offer you this mercy because someone else has done the same for me. But if you choose to cross me I WILL end you!" The slave auctioneer was very surprised to see Slog and Krong for sale. Since they were very healthy and strong they fetch a very high price in the market. Diane left and quickly headed to the closest medic. The prisoners were mostly malnourished and dehydrated, some had a cough. It took about half of her gold to have them all healed. She left the healers and took the wagon to the stables. She sold that for a forty silvers. Diane knew she was being taken advantage of, but she didn't care, she just wanted to get rid of it. They found Nisse's Aunt Patrice very easily and before they knew it they were registered and sitting in the waiting area for their first match in the arena. They had registered as a team which allowed them to fight some matches together and some matches separately. Diane was getting so excited the roar of the crowd was very intoxicating, it was drawing her in. She wanted to hear them shout her name, gaining fame was the first step in her plan. She was daydreaming about her plan and missed the master of ceremonies call her name. The hush of the crowd is what drew her back to reality. She rushed out into the ring to many people booing see it was a female entering the arena. The people started chanting, "Vaxshur! Vaxshur! Vaxshur!" As the gate across from her opened up a bellowing roar emanates from inside sounding like a T-Rex was coming at her. Diane draws her sword and braces herself as the ground shakes with each step her opponent makes.