Here was our landing spot. After days of flying and trying to dig up info on the archaeologist during our time on board with him, we couldn't find much on his 'investors' as he referred to them. When we finally landed, we departed and headed to the passport office at the far end of the Airship docks.
We trudge through the ankle-high snow to the far end of the airship port and outside the passport office as we wait for the dwarven archaeologist to arrive. The night sky and the Borealis of Elderen shine above us as we take in the sight of it all. Realizing that the night was clear for this northern portion of the continent, people usually assume that it'll be a cloudy night and a fierce blizzard. Rather, they were quite incorrect in that assumption.
We waited for what we assumed to be about at least five minutes, as we watched the many other folk passes on by us, before the dwarf finally caught up to us and then said
"Ah, I thought you wouldn't wait for me."
"Why? I mean, of course, we still may not fully trust you, but you are a traveling companion and this thusly means that we have to wait for the party to be fully together." I note, as my snow elf blood sister nods in agreement.
It was true. It was better to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. We still didn't trust the man, but we benefitted from his investors' money, whomever these anonymous investors were.
I never really liked the idea of banking and business affairs impeding a noble mission such as our own. Then again, that was the way Ari and I grew up since we're from a docking city, same street and same ideals, we never really liked, the nobles and their ceaseless desire for powerful, ancient weaponry.
Some things such as heavily powerful artifacts should not be in the hands of nobles and banking families, it never bodes well for a nation, even ones like our own, many a king and noble in the lsles' history turned wild from holding such artifacts, either because of the sheer amount of power their bodies can hold or from realizing how powerful they are with such an artifact which is why I was so mentally shaken by the word 'investor'.
We then entered the arrivals office warm again at last. The place was decorated very well — terracotta tiles made into a spiraling pattern of different hues, granite columns supporting the embellished ceiling above. It looked rather magical.
I prepared my passport with everyone else in the fairly long line, from human to minotaur, stood in a queue much like Ari and I was when we first joined for conscription, all of us dressed in suits, shirts and slacks, dresses, no matter who you were, we all fought for the same thing which I said to Ari, while looking behind me.
"Does this remind you of something, Ari?"
"Yeah, five years ago, Delespool Military Office on King Wally Street. Why?"
"Nah, just had the same thoughts as you, is all," I replied to her while slightly leaning left to see how long the queue was now as we moved a few times in this silence.
The dwarf then piped up quietly "Delespool, you say? I'm from Schinzeleft myself a few miles east of Delespool in the mountains. My family are long-time resource miners; I ended up breaking up free of that life after finding many an artifact and fossil while mining and digging. Ended up getting a knack for archaeology before taking it as a degree."
"What was your first ever archaeological find then, Harry?"
"The end of a cave where I found the bones and tattered clothes of "Four Pistols" Wiksham, a pirate and his small treasure trove, the biggest piece of history there was his diary; his last entry was about him being hunted by his own crew since he couldn't pay them, which turned out to be a considerable lie from what we found out." He explained.
"Interesting, so he wanted to die rich rather than be a humble pirate like the rest of the old pirate union."
"thinking back on his diary, he was also going to hand over his ship and his crew to the crown so he could live comfortably,"
"Legends don't always sum up to be what they are, Joe." Ari mentioned.
"Right," I said before walking up to the counter where a dragon-folk was standing behind the gilded, fenced off counter handed me a sheet for the items on me, I made sure to sign all the customs sheet and the items I carry, then signing my name before getting my bags checked by the National Guard and then motioned on through to Neydren and the lands of Elderen after getting stamped in with Ari since we were traveling together. Then we waited again for the dwarf to catch up to us.
For the few minutes we had of extra warmth we had, we looked out the window, we could see the resplendent lights of Neydren, it was only a few miles away from where we are, luckily enough, I took the time to look through my binoculars that haven't come out the leather case since I left the army, taking a gander at the city. I then zoomed them a little to see if I could find some sort of inn for arrivals and then spying on one called 'The Creaky Dirigible'.
If anything, that has to be the place for us. We were only staying one night and we wanted nothing fancy, even if we had the dwarf and his money. We can buy a room and drink two shots of whiskey before bed once we arrive.
I checked my watch for the time, it was coming up to eleven. Finally, Harold shows up after being checked. Then again, he had quite a few things in his luggage and we had just clothes, money, rifles, pistols and a few different books on the local area, local history, the language and anything else we could get our hands on to help us with artifact searching.
We left the passport office and hailed a cab and then got in. After we left the arrivals office at the airship port, sitting behind the wheel was a human lad who looked about our age and then said in his thick but still understandable Elderen accent, "Ah, where are you going?"
"Take us to 'The Creaky Dirigible' if you can,"
The driver nods to this request and then took off easily, when leaving the airship port, he switched on the snow plow that made a squeaky whirr and then finally fell in front of the taxi as he drove down the long road and down the large hill the port was on; he fumbled with the middle to switch on the radio and switched on some traditional Elderen folk music, making the trip more pleasant and the driver had a few jokes to crack.
At the end of the trip, we were fairly happy, handing him a few gold Eztens and then getting out of the cab and waving the Elderanian driver farewell as we then entered the inn through its thick wooden door and running into a few faces we saw aboard the Steadfast Dusk.
One face struck us above all others that were behind the bar: Old Captain Irene Harriet, dressed in a leather duster that is buttoned-up, black gloves, and the eye patch over her burn-scarred eye. She didn't look too heavily aged at all from when Ari and I were kids. She looked shocked to see us come into this bar.
"The blood siblings! This is a pretty big shock to the memory," She said in a shocked tone as she walked up to us.
"Aye, thought we were going to be face down in the mud on some battlefield in the middle of a forest?" Ari said jokingly to her.
"Don't make that joke Ari, I lost my son that way and I wouldn't be able to bear the weight of the news of you two dying either," She replied like a scolding mother, almost tearing up at the thought.
"What happened back home in Delespool?" I asked, while Harold was trying to ask something himself, but was interrupted by a fellow dwarf asking him something.
"While you were in conscription and doing service abroad, my son died in the fields of Caseux which led to me and Arthur getting a divorce, in order to get away from all those strokes of bad luck, I ended up coming here after selling my home." The blonde, tough-looking former trooper replied with a depressed sigh.
"Gods, didn't know that happened, the family never told us about the death of your William and you splitting up with Arthur," I answered in an apologetic tone to Irene.
"Yeah, I kept everything behind closed doors, didn't want the street carrying the weight of that news on their shoulders and don't either of you apologize neither, neither you didn't know and I don't want you carrying any more mental weight as is, service to our homeland is enough of a burden as is." She said firmly, and we kept our mouths shut following her orders like we were kids again before the five-foot-ten woman came close to us and hugged us tightly, like a mother protecting her child.
The hugs were almost crushing us — she thought of us like a niece and nephew — which is why the hugs were almost crushing.
A lot of the bar seemed shocked by the sudden hugs to us before she let go "Let me get you both a drink since we never got the chance to celebrate you surviving the war."
I couldn't lie, it sounded great and to be with an old family friend again was a bonus after not being able to see her for years. We sat at the bar and started the celebration with our wishes, two glasses of whiskey.