Damien stood atop a sand hill overlooking the desert city of Tashin. He was standing about two miles from the city, watching the gate as people went in and out. He sighed, hopefully he'd find what had drawn him here.
Aside from the city, the desert spread for hundreds of miles in all directions, nothing but sand for as far as his eyes could see, but that didn't mean there weren't any creepers and crawlies wandering about, they were either hidden underground or so camouflaged that he just couldn't tell with a passing glance.
While walking down the hill towards the city's entrance, he wondered why anyone would knowingly build a city in the middle of a vast desert, but he'd already found knowledge that the city was led by the cult of some being, so that shouldn't have surprised him. Cults like these liked to keep their locations in absurd places.
Approaching the city walls, he realized they were made from essence-infused stone, judging by the soft humm of magical power they emitted. He could also sense the stability and perseverance concepts imbued in the walls making them extremely sturdy and long-lasting, not that it would stop him if he decided to forcefully enter.
Standing at the gate and wearing plain armor from the neck down and made from the same earthen materials as the walls. One of them was a bipedal sand drake, with dry brown reptilian features and scales running down its body. The other was a human male. They weren't putting on any helmets but Damien could still feel the shielding a-hair's breadth around their bodies. Their heads weren't any less protected than the rest of them.
"Halt," said the drake, with a voice like a rasping snake. "What brings you to the city of Tashin?"
"Sightseeing," Damien answered while looking around. He looked through the city gate and what he saw actually surprised him. The city was magically grown. Damien frowned; that was surprising. "Been wanting to see the great desert city for a while now."
Magically grown cities were the kind of extravagance every Monarch wanted but not all could afford it. It took real masters in their focuses to magically raise cities from nothing but the materials on hand. From what Damien knew, they were created from the combination of magical exotic materials and the workings of large energy formations, making them highly expensive to build. Most of the people who were able to raise one were either priests of the various cults or under servitude to giant kingdoms and Empires. Which was surprising, because this city was largely unknown and its political influence ended at the borders of its gate. He admired it, though it was a different theme from the ones he was used to, he found it impressive, nonetheless.
The guard eyed him. "You don't look like someone with enough money to pay for his feedings, let alone for lodgings. I don't want no lowlife coming into my city to steal," He said, gazing deprecatingly at Damien like he was one of those street urchins every city had.
Damien raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and what would someone with enough money look like?" He replied, holding himself from physically reacting to the Drake's blatant insult. It would have been effortless to slap down the drake, but Damien was going nondescript, and he wanted to play the role well.
Looking at the guard, it wasn't hard to tell his type: insecure and hungry for power. Their types liked to assert dominance over anyone they perceived to be lower than them.
They always learned eventually.
"Don't play coy with me you lowlife, or you'll be seeing the inside of a cell before nightfall. You will show me the funds you intend to spend in the city or you'll be dragged to the cells for attempting to steal In the great city of Tashin," He smirked predatorily, like Damien was prey about to be caught. "Do you know what we do to thieves in the city? You might get to experience it if you don't show me some coins now." They were already beginning to draw attention, and the other guard was clearly not going to intervene, given his unconcerned expression.
Damien sighed and brought out a small pouch, opening it wide enough for the guard to see, he showed the drake the ten gold coins he had inside.
A glint crossed the drake's eyes before he immediately adopted a neutral expression, "You can go. Make trouble in the city and you might still get to see the inside of a cell."
Damien nodded before walking past the guard and towards the gate. He could still feel the guard's eyes on him.
Entering the city, he finally got to know why the city was still standing despite being in the middle of a continent wrecked with massive, destructive, wandering desert storms.
It was an Essence Territory.
It seemed the desert city of Tashin had been blessed by a higher realm being with the protection of an Essence territory. He had begun to wonder where they'd even gotten the massive energy to raise a city from the ground up, but now he knew.
His skin tingled and his energy sense—constrained as it was— ignited with the territory energy infusing the air. The city's infrastructures closest to him were imbued with magic and also blessed with stability and perseverance concepts. And even the guards he could see roaming around benefited as well through their armor. He had no doubt that all the infrastructures in the city were already imbued.
Territory creation was one of the perks of higher realm beings, from what he'd been told. It protected the territory and all those who were in its area of influence from outside harm, and even energy recovery was significantly boosted inside of it.
A massive, transparent, energy-formed dome covered the entire city, rising from one end to the other. He could scarcely imagine the massive amount of energy required to constantly maintain it.
He'd stepped into territories before, and it was mostly considered foolish to fight a wielder in their territory of origin. Their strengths were doubled whenever they fought inside the influence of such territories or nearby, which made it extremely hard to defeat them, though not impossible.
Walking down the streets on a wide central road leading deeper into the city, he watched as different buildings came into view, with large square-like shapes dominating the city's infrastructures. Farther in–at the city's center–The road came to a stop and then curved around a large arena-like building with multiple spires rising out around it.
The city's residents were of a different sort. Humans were the most dominant race on the planet, which made some of them develop a sense of superiority towards other races, but this city showcased its acceptance of the different races. From desert drakes to desert snakes, all creatures of desert origin who managed to achieve sapience and human forms were welcomed. As he walked, his nose captured the smells of the goods being sold on the streets. Children ran around playing, while their parents called out to them not to get too far. Different commodities were being sold on the streets as he passed, with vendors calling out his attention towards their different wares.
"Handsome sir, come buy these beautiful dresses for your lady friend."
"Try out my latest batch of captured drake's meat. Fresh out of the frying pan."
"Can you smell my spices? I'm sure your woman would like some. It would put some aroma in your life."
"Sweetbread! Come try some, straight out of the oven. After you taste it, I'm sure you'll want more."
And then there were the strange ones.
"Hi, handsome. Come try me, your lady friend doesn't have to know."
"I'll do you one better. Instead of just two hours, we could spend all night, wouldn't you like that?"
"Go find another, he's already taken."
"He hasn't agreed, so he's fair game."
"Don't test me, you slut."
"Or what?"
That was how things devolved into a brawl on the streets, with scratching and screaming. People immediately began to gather — especially the men — cheering for one person and switching to the other when that one seemed to be losing. Bets were soon being passed around. The guards saw this but chose not to interfere, leaving the women to settle their dispute themselves. But some still gave him the stink eye like it was specifically his fault.
Promising himself to be more careful, he continued on down the street, coming upon an inn with the drawing of a singing lady and the name 'Singing Lass' written under it.
The inn was a two-story establishment, probably the top being used as a lodge for the night. It was painted in a drab brown color like the rest of the city.
He couldn't hear any noise inside, meaning the inn's frequent patrons weren't finished with their daily jobs.
Looking around the street once more, he walked inside.