Evren and the other four made their way to the surface three days after Evren visited the lich, Nhagir. The progress of rebuilding the fortress had progressed quite far. All of the rubble had been cleared away, ruined buildings had been demolished and gates had been repaired. All the holes in the walls had been patched, repaired and rebuilt.
The newly appointed governor of the fortress, Matheo was currently overseeing the repairs on the homes that only had sustained small amounts of damage. Before heading out, they spoke with Matheo about their plans and told them if they found anyone, they'll send them to the fortress. They spoke of the future plans of the fortress and chatted a bit about the weather. It was now late summer, and autumn would be coming soon, so Evren wanted to get moving before the weather arrived.
They said their farewells and headed down the hill towards the forest. Travel to Plinth only took three days. They stayed the night there and Evren picked up some more supplies from the warehouse district he didn't grab the last time he was in town. They had decided that even though the travel would be more difficult, it would be shorter if they headed south from Plinth and then west to the former capitol, Hidabaro.
If there is any truth to the ramblings of the dragons and dracoliches, they would meet up some people either at the capital or perhaps around that area. There were also a few towns between the capital and the port town of Dhalmer. They were hoping to meet someone along the way. If they came across a town or location under Grandia control, they would have to play it by ear to see what they would be able to do.
While heading south from Plinth, the five of them would occasionally be stopped by monsters roaming the plains or the forests. Once, they had come across a few lamias, and since it had been mentioned to be a good pelt previously, they saved them for processing later. One night, while they were resting for the night, they were awakened by a thundering sound that seemed to come closer. Everyone was aroused and waited for the attack, but what they found were a pack of eight-legged horses running as a group across the plains. They passed the five of them without a second thought and kept running into the night.
Two weeks after they left Plinth, they discovered how difficult sprites could be. While not completely malicious, their pranks weighed heavily on the party's minds. After being followed for three days, they wandered back to wherever they came from.
While walking through a field one day, Fletcher tripped and fell from a dip in the ground. While some chuckled at his misfortune, Evren went to check the dip, and found it was a rut that ran parallel to another rut heading east-west.
"I think this is the road that leads from Eighty-four to Hidabaro." Evren commented.
Walter said, "Then we head west from here, right?"
Evren nodded and they turned to their right, following the trail. Another two weeks out and they were called to a stop by Evren who ran off the road towards the wooded area on the south side of the road. The others followed along with him, staying low to not draw attention to themselves. In the distance stood a walled city. White smoke was seen coming from the town in various areas, indicating that people were living there.
Evren used one of the new spells he had learned from the lich's tome, 'monocle' which allowed Evren to see clearly at further distances. There was a gate on this side of the town, but it was closed and didn't look like it was guarded. Evren headed south around the town, staying in the wood line. As they neared the southern gate, he could see there were guards there, but the gates were still closed. He decided to wait to see what would happen if someone were to approach the gate.
The guards switched twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. It was the same guards each time. While they were diligent in their duties, the guards seemed odd to Evren, "I wonder if those are the puppets." He said to himself one night as he was watching them. They stood their posts without wavering. They never spoke to each other, and they never slept on the night shift.
Two days later someone finally approached the gate from the southern road. The people waited at the gate while one of the soldiers went inside to pull someone out from within. The man they brought back was overweight and slovenly dressed. He complained loudly to the point you could almost hear him without the use of magic. He made a mess of the wagon they were pulling and took something from the back to keep for himself. Then he demanded an entrance fee. After he was paid, the gate was opened, and the wagon entered.
The ones that entered the walled capital were unarmed and seemed to be merchants bringing food. Evren wasn't sure how they got in because no documents were presented to the man at the gate, so he decided to head south along the road within the wood line. After traveling for half a day, they stopped and had a break, waiting for the first people to come by.
The next day the ones that entered the gate were traveling south on the southern road and passed by Evren's party. Evren, followed by the others, ran through the field from the wood line to the wagon scaring the owner and causing him to try to run away from them. He was yelling "Bandits!" in fear.
Evren ran to the horse pulling the wagon and grabbed onto its bridle, pulling the horse to a stop. He pet the horse on its nose and shushed it reassuringly. He said to the man, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. I was just wondering if we could ask you a few questions."
The man looked from Evren to the others and back with an untrusting look. Evren let go of the horse's bridle and reached into his backpack, pulling out some money he had gotten from the dungeon. "I'll pay you for your time." He said as he handed the coins to the man.
The man looked at the coins and was surprised, "Th… th… this much?"
Evren looked at the coins he gave him and said, "Did I give you a lot? I'm sorry, did you want less?"
The man shook his head and pocketed the money into his money pouch, which he then dropped down the front of his shirt. He looked nervously from Evren to the others and said, "What did you want to ask?"
Evren stepped away from the horse and moved to the side of the wagon. "We can talk while moving, I don't want to delay you." The man spurred his horse forward into a walk, pulling the lightly filled wagon along with it.
"First things first; my name is Evren. These are my companions, Walter, Fletcher, Isobel and Harley." Evren said as he gestured to his companions.
"Mmm… Marco." The man replied.
"Marco? Pleased to meet you, Marco." Evren said with a smile. "My companions and I were looking to get into Hidabaro and wondered if you could help us by explaining the procedure."
"Hidabaro?" the man questioned.
Evren looked at his companions before looking back to the man, "The town you just left."
"St. Brassel? You want to get into St. Brassel?" the man asked incredulously.
"Yes, we would like to get into St. Brassel." Evren said with a smile.
The man looked from Evren to the others and back to Evren and quietly asked, "You're not from the Holy State Grandia?"
Evren didn't say anything and only looked at the man in the eye, shaking his head from side to side.
The man pulled the horse to a stop and turned to Evren after looking around to make sure nobody was in the area. Evren cast 'muffle' centered on himself which covered the wagon to block out anyone listening.
The man leaned forward some more and said, "Are you with the Mercia crew?" Again, Evren shook his head. Nervously the man looked around again and said, "The Holy State Grandia has taken the town, all the towns in the area. To get inside, you just have to fatten the purse of that guard at the gate. But you best be careful. New faces make them nervous."
"How many of them are in that town?" Evren asked.
"Dunno." The man answered, "You can tell them apart from the others from the uniform and the way they treat others."
Evren squinted his eyes and asked, "Is Grandia in charge of all of the towns around here?"
The man nodded and said, "From here to Dhalmer, yes. West of us in the Sorrow Forest and north up by Smithsville too. Nothing left to the east."
Evren nodded and thought for a few moments. "Do you have family, friend?"
"Yes, a wife and a daughter." He said nervously.
"Do you feel they are safe?" Evren asked.
The man shook his head and said, "No sir."
"It's a bit of a difficult journey, but if you can make it to the Aernide Fortress, they're rebuilding without Grandia's involvement." Evren said, staring the man in the eyes. "It might take you four months if you follow the road east of town and turn north at the fort. Once you get to the town of Plinth, it's a four-day journey through the forest to the fortress. Just don't camp at the base of the fortress. If you can see it, push ahead to the gate or fall back until its out of view for the night and go in the morning. There are pests at the base of the fortress that come out at night."
Evren gave a half smile and added, "Unless of course things get better for you around here."
Marco nodded and said, "The guards would notice us if we got on the east road."
Evren nodded, "You probably wouldn't want to travel during the winter, so maybe wait until spring to travel and see if the guards would notice you then."
Evren was about to send him off when he said, "Oh! Are there ships in port in Dhalmer that someone could take to Seeclind?"
"W…w…Why would you want to go to See…" Marco's eyes opened wide, and he stared at Evren. Evren nodded and Marco continued, "Boats travel to Seeclind and Dhuexlia both from Dhalmer."
"Thank you, my friend. Please be safe on your journey." Evren said as he and the others stepped away from the cart.
The man nodded and spurred his horse to move, "Good luck to you, sir."
Evren pinched his bottom lip as he thought about his next course of actions. He started walking back to the forest with the others following. When he reached the forest, he turned to everyone and said, "We're going to need a few disguises. Fortunately, I think I've got everything I need. First, we're going to have to change out of our armor and put it all away in my backpack. So, be sure to dress up in your worst.
The men and women split off into separate groups and put on clothing that looked used and worn out. He gave Fletcher and Isobel some wooden bows he had practiced on making, before. They were functional, but not pretty. He took out the steel sword he had originally crafted in Madelaya and put that back at his waist and put on his old and ragged leather armor. He gave Walter a sword he had made while practicing smithing and Harley a dagger to wear at her waist, along with a simple wooden staff. Everything else was stuffed into the backpack, which was hidden under his cloak.
Evren smiled and nodded as he looked around at the group and Walter asked, "What's next?"
Evren looked to Walter and said, "We go hunting."