-The Road to Ish'din-
[The road leading from Sanctis to Ish'din is famous for its brutal slope and length.]
The next morning we had an early start, as the road to Ish'din was very long and difficult, according to Orokse, anyway. The veteran members of each of the Clans were chatting together in the lobby of the hotel. They were primarily talking about a pub in Ish'din that for the past ten or so Peace Parties it had been tradition for them to visit. I overheard Myr and a couple other members from the Ishen and Incol Clans chatting excitedly about it, as for many it would be their first time attending a Peace Party in Ish'din. I, for one, had no idea about this pub and therefore didn't have any real excitement for it. In addition, I was still pretty sleepy, wishing I could just go back to sleep.
Once everyone had gathered in the main hall, the mayor of Sanctis and his family welcomed us into a grand dining hall for breakfast. We all sat and ate at a very long table. Long enough that all of us - roughly sixty in number between three Half-Demon Clans and the three Human Lords and their escorts - were able to sit comfortably at the same time. We were seated according to our ranks within our respective groups. The three Lords sat near the head of the table, followed by the Clan representatives, then the Lords' commanders, and so on. This meant I was sitting next to Jarou, Fyr, and Myr, with Myr to my left towards the head of the table, and Jarou and Fyr directly across. There were a couple other people who were the blue cloak equivalent in their Clans, but they mostly kept to themselves and I didn't really get to know them at all.
Breakfast itself was a hearty, multi-course meal served up as a buffet. We picked and chose what we wanted from the several options, laid out on plates spaced out so everyone had easy access to them. While Jarou and Myr both loaded themselves up with at least one of everything, Fyr and I were much more picky. I picked out a small handful of things I knew I'd like, but as I didn't have much of an appetite I didn't grab a whole lot. Fyr on the other hand was being just flat-out picky. He only took two types of meat, and a big heap of them. When Jarou insisted he try some other foods and that he should have more balance in his meals, Fyr snapped at him saying "That stuff looks gross, why would I want to eat that?" Of course, his mouth was full so it wasn't that clear.
The table was full of chatter, my small group included, though most of it was just idle chit-chat. We exchanged stories with Myr about our trips to Sanctis. The Incol's route from the North was a lot more complex than ours, as there's a handful of cities they have to go out of their way to visit. However, the terrain is a lot more forgiving and is mostly flat, and the Northern edge of the Realm is humid and cooler than the middle and Southern regions are, even in the middle of summer. Their longer route also meant they had to leave a couple days earlier than we did, and they still ended up arriving at almost the same time as us. Though that's apparently pretty common for them, as the Incol have a tendency to stay in the city called the Port of Fyr'ra for a day, sometimes two, helping out the townsfolk with small side jobs.
Sadly, our breakfast didn't last forever, and we were getting ready to leave Sanctis before long. The Lords and the Clan representatives put in an order for any supplies and rations we might need for the trip to Ish'din. Workers for the head family went out and procured said supplies and rations while we ate, so they were ready for us by the time we were setting out.
We had to pass through the gatehouse once again, where we collected our signed passes into Ish'din. We were told that once we got to Ish'din, we need to give these to the guards at the gatehouse there, and they'll finalize our registration as visitors to Ish'din. Apparently, once that happens, everyone will be free to roam the city as they please, meaning the Humans don't need us as escorts as long as they remain in the city. This prospect excited me, especially since we were gonna be in Ish'din for several days. I'd finally get to explore a city on my own. Though, I'd probably still have Oroske, or Jarou, or someone with me.
Once we were through the gatehouse, we just had our very long hike through the mountain pass ahead of us. The sun was still low in the sky, but high enough that it pierced straight into the canyon we were in. Once we left the shade of the city gates, we were out in the sunlight for the first long stretch.
The path itself wasn't super interesting, just a long, steep hill, with the same orange-brown stone forming tall walls around us. The first time I'd been up close to the stone it was a refreshing change in the color palette, but after an hour or two of walking with that being the only color in sight, it got old rather quickly.
After a couple hours, just before mid-day, we finally got to the first major change in direction. Where until that point, the road had just slightly wavered around occasionally, here it actually turned almost ninety degrees to the North, and we were offered some shade by the cliffs. Though, now that the sun had risen quite a bit higher, it didn't last very long.
From here the path winded a lot more through the mountain, and in several spots you could see out from the mountain pass. We stopped for lunch at one of these points, which we were told by Oroske and some others who were experienced with the trip that it's pretty much the half-way point.
The view from this spot was incredible, since it was slightly out of the canyon, and more just on a flat spot on the mountain side. You could see almost the entire Demon Realm from there. It was on the Southern part of the hill, so a lot of the Northern regions were blocked off from sight. But you could see Tsumi'din, and follow the road we followed all the way to the base of the mountain. It was a bit difficult to make things out that far away, but I could even see a very blurry City of Towers, and a couple other spots over in the Human Realm that looked like they could be towns and cities. It also put into perspective how massive the Realm Rift really was. The Clan's cities were a mere fraction of its width, but its length made them look like tiny specks. The Rift also extended far beyond the landmass, creating a chasm as far as the eye could see into the ocean. It also helped get a sense of scale for the size of the Realms, as it seemed they had more land in the North-South axis than the East-West.
We kept our lunch break brief, in hopes of making it to Ish'din before the sun fully set behind the mountain, and nighttime officially began. The sun was already well past the midpoint in the sky, so pretty soon it would begin dipping behind the mountain and offer us shade for the remainder of our journey. That did also mean it would be much harder to see the road, however. Thankfully we'd know pretty much right away if we got off track, as either the pavement would end, or you'd run face-first into a wall.
After about another hour or so of walking, we began to see small holes and slits in the mountain side, and the occasional bit of structure being added to the canyon walls. According to Oroske, the city technically extends all the way out here, and the holes we were seeing were actually windows. These underground buildings were used during wartime to protect the city from invasion, and are connected to the city through underground tunnels. Historically, they have also been used for general housing - in a time where living in Ish'din was more accessible - as well as shops and storerooms. These days they were mostly empty, and anyone staying in them or using them went undocumented.
As we got closer to the main city, they began appearing less like random holes in the wall and more like proper buildings and structures. They'd get to the point of it looking like the mountain grew around buildings, though it'd make more sense that they cut into the mountain and then put the buildings inside it.
Finally, a couple hours after the sun was fully hidden from view, and night had begun to fall on the Realms, we reached the gates of Ish'din. We showed our passes to the guards stationed at the main gates. They then gave us directions to the gatehouse, and told us that we need to go there first and foremost.
It was a short trek, turning right towards the North, and hugging the wall that housed the gate until we came to a small, ancient looking, wooden door. Raen took the lead and knocked on the door after clearing his throat. A large, gruff looking man answered, looking annoyed as though we were interrupting something important. Sure enough, after bringing us inside, it seemed he and his fellow guards were playing some sort of game, with cards and game pieces laid out on a table. There was also a large amount of Venn scattered around the floor, and I couldn't help but wonder if it was part of the game somehow.
He opened up all of our letters and set them on a separate table after verifying the signatures on them. He then came up and stamped our hands one by one with an intricate symbol I'd never seen before.
"You're all set," he said, his voice much more gentle than his appearance, "I'll get the paperwork finalized and turned in first thing tomorrow morning. If anyone gives you any trouble you just tell them ol' Kai is taking care of it." He shooed us out of the guard house rather quickly. His voice really was the only part of him that was gentle. "Enjoy your stay in Ish'din," he said with a small smile.