As they rode, rather surprisingly, no corpses or fleeing scouts were found. Whether this was a good sign or not remained to be seen, but the group continued their journey before finally ending up at the first major settlement within imperial borders that Cyrus had ever seen, curious to see the differences between settlements here and in the wasteland he was quite excited indeed.
The first major difference he noted was that instead of a rickety barely functional enclosure surrounding the town there was actually a fully functional and rather impressive wall. It was made of a mix of wood and stone, as this was merely a frontier settlement close to the border after all, but it stood tall with a height of at least 12 ft which created a decent defensive structure for any beasties or bandits that may be lurking about. When the group broke off from the road onto a side path that led to the settlement, heading towards the southern gate which was suspiciously closed in broad daylight, Cyrus noticed that there were several figures on the wall watching them from a small gatehouse. As they approached, Cyrus could see that the figures on the wall were in fact men equipped in a similar fashion to Gabriel and co. They were all wearing padded cloth with chainmail on top, except these men also had helmets and were wearing gauntlets with arm guards attached. Unlike the wargear of the Legionaries, the helmets of these men did not cover the face and instead were of a circular nature with chainmail coming out of the sides around the face to offer some light protection, Cyrus guessed it to be similar to the mail coif of a neighboring country he had read stories about as a kid.
Once they were at the gate, they were hailed by one of the guards on the wall:
"Greetings travelers, pardon the heightened security at this here frontier town, Fimbria. The regular patrol through this patch of land has been severely delayed which any imperial citizen would know that spells trouble. Hopefully its nothing, but we have taken precautions nevertheless."
As he was talking, one of the men beside him who were looking beyond with a spyglass, for any possible threats, happened to look down towards the newcomers with his tool. Immediately he saw the various insignias donned by this group of travelers at his gate, Legionnaire…Master Mage…Venator… which prompted him to almost drop his spyglass off the wall in shock. Immediately he broke off in a run down the wall towards the inner city, of what he was planning was unknown.
Unbeknownst of his colleague's odd behavior, the first guard continued to talk
"Please wait a moment while I wait for the reports from our other lookouts, once we are sure of the safety of the surroundings we will be ready to receive you. Protocol is protocol after all, can't take any chances out here" then without saying anything more he sat back down and waited for those exact reports.
Before Gabriel could even open his mouth to announce their identities a ruckus was heard on top of the gate almost immediately. If one were to share Cyrus' proficient hearing they would hear words such as,
"What do ya mean open the gate? We have yet to…"
"What??? A Master??? Legionnaires?! Oh shit"
Soon after the brief commotion died down, the gate immediately began to open. What greeted Cyrus and co. who had yet to even be able to get a single word in at this point, was an aged yet extremely fit old man surrounded by a few younger but only slightly so men of similar stature. Immediately he stepped forward and saluted, "Greetings esteemed guests, pardon the enhanced security.." his apology to his new guests of rather surprising status was stopped for but a moment before he eyed the small little symbol below the one of his order on Gabriel's arm. Below it was a small yet noticeable metallic engraving of an H, golden in color and with the imperial motto below it with a wreath to the left and right of it. Immediately, with absolutely no flaws the old man saluted even harder and with the hand at his side he quietly signaled the rest of his men to do the same.
Gabriel, who no doubt understood that he simply had no need for words to explain who he was at this point, simply said "At ease soldier, report to me the situation in full while we head further inwards."
The old man broke his salute and took up position at Gabriel's side, with his retinue in tow, and ordered the gate guards to close the gates and continue their duties.
"Sir, the regular scout patrol is currently in the midst of a full two days of delay with the third day approaching fast. As per protocol we are preparing to send a small group of swift riders to ascertain the situation…"
As the old man, of whom Cyrus had guessed to be the head of the town guard in this area, reported to Gabriel the current situation Cyrus himself was more focused on the surrounding townscape. The first thing he noticed was the smell, or the lack of one, with the next thing he noticed was the uniform and structured layout of the town itself. As they passed the gate he had noticed the clean, simple, yet effective architecture of the guards quarters as well as a larger building of which he could somewhat see people behind in a large yard practicing using various weapons… no doubt this was a militia barracks. Next, as they entered the main part of the town, he noticed how every bit of space was used wisely and how clean it was with no clutter of random tents or shacks. In broad daylight people were out and about, taking a respectful distance once they noticed the old man and even more of one once they noticed how formal he was with the head rider of the group. Orderly they moved about to their destination in casual clothing, not laden in defensive equipment or packed to the brim with various weapons, but merely casually strolling about. Some even gave a bow towards Adara or saluted the Legionnaires at the front, which brought a specific piece of information to Cyrus' mind.
"The main difference between the wasteland and the Empire is that the leaders of the two treat those under them with extreme difference. In the wasteland those below are merely expendable resources to use and abuse for ones own gain. While in the empire, each citizen is treated as a source of possible growth that with a little investment any one of them could become the backbone of the entire civilization." Remembering the militia barracks Cyrus mused, "In the wasteland it would be suicidal to train the ones below as that would merely foster rebellion. Here however, it is required for everyone to receive basic training from age 10 until the coming of age ceremony. During which they can choose to continue their training for however long they want to whatever degree they want so long as they contribute to the empire as a whole with more merits earned equaling better privileges…"
With Cyrus lost in thought and the rest of the group listening to the report of the old man, the group eventually reached the northern gate.