Springtime In The City 7.

Vexil. 

Like yesterday, it's raining again in the morning. And after having breakfast, Zam the ex mercenary walks into the reception chamber, and looks out the glass window next to the closed front door. 

The teenager from The City Of Ruins, turns to the innkeeper who tells him "Probably rain for a few more days yet". 

The innkeeper, an affable fellow by the name of Krishin, who is sitting on a high stool behind the front counter, continues with "Tends to be that way during the early spring here in the city". 

The proprietor of the Merchant's Rest, follows that with "It'll rain for four or five days in a row, maybe even a seven day" he then adds "Then the weather will be clear and sunny for a few days, then the rain will return". 

Zam nods at that, as he's heard from both Mira Reinholt the mage, and Helbe the elven thief, that seems to be the pattern of the weather here in the city of Vexil during the early spring. 

The innkeeper who is going over a ledger, as he's probably never made so much revenue in his entire career. 

For the simple fact of how much Dorc da Orc is eating and drinking whilst the group is staying here in the Merchant's Rest inn. 

So much so, that the owner of the inn has had to get more daily deliveries of both alcohol and food, which the large ork goes through with ease. 

A nearby bakery is doing a roaring trade too. For the innkeeper has one of the staff go over there a few times a day to buy whatever the bakery is selling. Just to keep the big burly ork from the southern polar region of the world fed. 

Business has been booming so much, even though the group are the only customers at the moment. 

That the innkeeper has had to hire on another kitchen hand, to help his wife. Who is the head cook for the inn. 

Zam nods to the owner of the Merchant's Rest, and wishes the man a good day, then the ex mercenary who is the youngest member of the group. 

Makes his way back into the common room of the inn, where most of the group are, after having breakfast this morning. 

The ex mercenary looks around and sees that Helbe the elven thief isn't present. Which isn't surprising, considering he's gone most of the time. 

Apart from that, the rest of the group, who are here in the city of Vexil at this time, are in the common room of the inn, including Lord Farque himself. 

Who is at one of the corner tables with Mira Reinholt the mage and Malisse aka Zubutai the barbarian hordesman. 

Dorc da Orc who is drinking from a small wooden cask of some kind of strong liquor, whilst sharpening a set of his daggers. 

Sits on the floor next to the table where the lord and ruler of the Lands Farque is sitting with two of the members of his personal council. 

Zam is just wondering who he should sit with, as he tends to gravitate towards Lisell Maera the scout leader and Dalinvardèl Tanith the elven spy. 

When the undead warlord waves over Beldane the cleric and has a quiet word with him. Then Lord Farque calls over the ex mercenary who is originally from The City Of Ruins. 

"Go with Beldane" says Lord Farque once Zam makes his way over to the table where the undead warlord is sitting with the once powerful mage, and the rotund woman who isn't what she appears to be. 

With a glance over at Dorc da Orc, who he then gestures to, Zam the ex mercenary says to the lord of the death realm "Are we going back up to the border region?". 

The large heavily armoured deathlord shakes his full helmed head no, then says to the teenager who hails from The City Of Ruins "Beldane will explain". 

The ex mercenary nods after the lord and ruler of the Lands Farque turns back to Mira Reinholt and Malisse aka Zubutai Timaginson, and resumes their conversation. 

"Come on" says Beldane the cleric who points to the nearby stairs that heads up to the second floor of the inn. 

Zam follows the powerful practitioner of magic in the church of Glaine up the stairs, and to the fighting cleric's room. 

After closing the door behind him, the ex mercenary looks at the spellcaster who hails from the kingdom of Nastell, who tells him "We're going to check up on something". 

The teen ex mercenary nods, then he watches as Beldane starts casting a spell, and quickly a gateway starts to form in the middle of the room. 

After it forms, Zam pauses for a moment, before he realizes he's to go through the magical doorway first. 

He nods at Beldane who is looking at him, then the ex mercenary originally from The City Of Ruins goes through the gateway, with a hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it if necessary. 

Once through the gateway, Zam steps forward then to one side, a moment later and the fighting cleric walks out of this side of the gateway. Which then disappears after the powerful cleric in the church of Glaine drops the spell. 

The first thing that Zam notices is that it's not raining here, wherever here is. Though the skies above them are overcast. 

The ex mercenary who is on a hilltop, a hill dotted with trees of various sizes. Overlooks a road, and town about a quarter mile to the west. 

Zam slightly frowns, and before he can ask Beldane where they are. The fighting cleric names a town about thirty five miles to the north of the city of Vexil. 

The youngest member of the group nods, as he recognizes the name of the town, and as he looks more closely at the nearby town. 

He recalls passing through it earlier in the week, when he and Dorc da Orc escorted the wagon packed with gold, down from the hill country in northern Vexil, to the capital of the city-state. 

Before Zam can ask the cleric in the church of Glaine what they're doing here, the powerful spellcaster from the north of the kingdom of Nastell, which is where his god Glaine is predominantly worshipped. 

Tells the ex mercenary "Trying to locate Tovis and Percy" the fighting cleric in the half plate armour continues with "We were expecting them in the city yesterday, or at least early in the morning today". 

Beldane follows on from that with "They might of ran into trouble with the weather, which has probably slowed them down". 

The powerful practitioner of magic is silent for a moment or two, then he quietly says "Also Lord Farque can't sense them". 

Zam slightly nods, as he's worked out since joining the group, that the undead warlord can sense anyone and anything up to about thirty miles from him. Especially those that he knows well. 

The ex mercenary looks at the fighting cleric in the church of Glaine, and sees that Beldane stands there with his eyes closed. And he figures the Nastellian practitioner of magic is casting. 

After a few moments, the cleric wearing half plate armour, grunts then opens his eyes, and he says in a slightly dry tone "Percy's there". As he gestures at the nearby town. 

Zam is just wondering how Beldane can locate the large heavily armoured knight, considering sir Percavelle Lé Dic isn't a spellcaster. 

When he remembers that the former paladin, who is member of the order of The Knights of Saint Mar'che, carries a couple of magical items on himself. 

Infact they're extremely powerful, though you have to know what they are to identify them, as well as locate them. 

"Let's go down there" says the powerful fighting cleric who is a member of the church of Glaine as he points at the nearby town. 

Zam stands close to Beldane, who then teleports the two of them down to the town, that lies next to the main road that comes down from the northern hill country, up in the border region with the kingdom of Girdane. 

They enter the town from the east, with the fighting cleric in the half plate armour leading the way. 

Zam sees that the town is fairly busy for the time in the morning that it is, similar to when he and Dorc da Orc passed through here. 

The ex mercenary who hails from The City Of Ruins, looks up as an airship passes by overhead, it's a Vexillian aircorp warship, and it's heading north. 

Beldane who has glanced up at too, quietly says to Zam "They've stepped up their patrols up near the border with Girdane". 

The youngest member of the group nods in agreement with the powerful practitioner of magic, then slightly grins when the fighting cleric in the church of Glaine quietly and dryly adds "I wonder why" 

Then the spellcaster from northern Nastell, points to a street coming up to their right, and says "They're that way" he briefly pauses before continuing with "Well, Percy is at least". 

They turn the corner, and head down the street, like nearly all of the streets in the fairly large and busy town, is paved. 

"Pretty sure this place was rebuilt after the war" explains Beldane the cleric referring to the Battle of Vexil, which took place just over a quarter of a century ago. 

He gestures at the buildings they pass by, and adds "Nearly all of these are new, as in since the end of the war". 

The powerful practitioner of magic continues with "And the roads are paved with the larger square slabs" he follows that with "Unlike older places that have cobblestone streets". 

Zam nods in agreement as he looks at their surroundings now with that information, something he didn't notice when he passed through here nearly a week ago. 

Then the ex mercenary originally from The City Of Ruins looks to where Beldane points and says "There". 

And he sees a horse drawn wagon come out of the side of a building, it's a turner and wheelwright's business. 

And watching the wagon is Tovis the war engineer, and while the driver is accompanied by a pair of hired guards, one sitting on the wagon bench with him. And the other sitting on what's covered in the wagon bed. 

Sir Percavelle Lé Dic follows behind the wagon as it makes it's way out of the wheelwright's business. 

Tovis the war engineer, who hails from the kingdom of Druvic, spots the approaching fighting cleric and ex mercenary, and waves to them in greeting. 

"I gather something happened?" asks Beldane the cleric as they walk alongside the wagon which is heading south through the town. 

"Wheel broke a couple miles north of town the day before yesterday" says Tovis the war engineer, who continues with "The wheelwright is busy at the moment, a lot of repairs as the surrounding farms get ready for the planting season". 

The strong muscular war engineer, who wears a long leather smock, that Zam knows is armoured, then adds "We had to wait our turn". 

Beldane nods at that, then quietly says "We were wondering why you were late" then the fighting cleric glances back at sir Percavelle Lé Dic, who has a sour look upon his face as he follows behind the wagon. 

"What's up with Percy?" asks the powerful Nastellian born spellcaster who has switched to the elven language. 

Zam glances back at the large heavily armoured knight, who barely acknowledged them when they turned up. 

In fact the usually boisterous, some would say pompous, nobleman from the kingdom of Druvic. Is much quieter than he normally is. 

Which in the opinion of the ex mercenary is a blessing from the gods. And Zam isn't a particularly religious individual. So that's basically a miracle all things considered. 

With a faint smile upon his face as they make their way out of town, Tovis the war engineer, also in elvish, says "We had to push the wagon those couple of miles to town". 

Tovis who previously served a prominent noble in southern Druvic, before joining the group, and the Armies of Farque, and becoming a commanding officer in Lord Farque's Armies. 

Explains that the horses couldn't pull the wagon, as that would completely break the damaged wheel, which still could roll, if it was pushed. 

And the former paladin in the order of The Knights of Saint Mar'che, along with Tovis and the pair of hired guards had to push the gold laden wagon to town. 

"He's been pissed with it since" adds the war engineer with a chuckle, which causes both Zam and Beldane to grin. 

The fighting cleric points to a road that goes off the main road that goes south towards the capital city. 

And after Tovis tells the driver to head that way, Beldane tells the commander in the engineering division of the Armies of Farque "Well I can get you closer to the city". 

The powerful practitioner of magic follows that with "Can't take you directly to the capital" he continues with "The City Council, and more importantly the Mage Council, aren't fond of that". 

The member of the church of Glaine then says "They don't care about personal gateways and rifts" followed by "But anything bigger, like something wagon sized, or airship sized, they come down on hard". 

Once they round a bend, and a small hill, so that the town is out of view from the side road they're on. 

Beldane the cleric calls for a stop, and he starts casting, a few moments later, and a gateway, large enough for a wagon to go through forms. 

Zam the ex mercenary goes through right behind sir Percavelle Lé Dic who hurried through the gateway after it formed. 

After the others come through, and the fighting cleric drops his spell, and the gateway vanishes. Zam who is looking around, and sees that they're on a wagon track, between fields on a farm. And that is raining once again. 

Looks at Beldane who points to a nearby road, and tells Tovis "We're about a dozen miles northeast of the city" he continues with "That road leads directly to one of the gates in the north wall". 

The powerful practitioner of magic who hails from the kingdom of Nastell adds "You should get there later in the afternoon". 

The war engineer from the kingdom of Druvic, nods in agreement, then says to Beldane and Zam "We'll see you there". 

The fighting cleric and the ex mercenary watch as the others head to the nearby road, knowing that even a dozen miles from the city of Vexil. 

Things are more than settled on the roads, which are patrolled from both the ground and the air, by the army and aircorp of the city-state. 

After a few moments, Beldane the cleric says to Zam the ex mercenary "Come on, let's head back". 

Then the powerful spellcaster who hails from the kingdom of Nastell casts a gateway that will take them back to the city of Vexil, on this rainy spring day in this part of the city-state . . . . . .