Wonderful 16.

Belinswae. The City Of Falnic...

He looks out over the port city of Falnic and slightly shakes his head. He doesn't know if he'll ever get used to the summer heat here in Falnic, which is far hotter than the summers he experienced in his homeland of Alínlae in the Southlands.
Though the heat here is preferable to the hot and humid summer days he experienced in the city-state of Brattonbury, one of the first places he ever traveled to when he first left the elven principality of his birth three years ago.
The elven spy Dalinvardél Tanith looks up at the balcony to his right. There a trio of children in the shade of some tall potted plants, are all staring down at him. As seeing someone who isn't a human being here in the city of Falnic is a bit of an oddity. Though elves, behind goblins, are the most likely of the non humans you'll see here in the main city in the central area of the region of Belinswae.
Dalinvardél or Dalin as most of the others call him, thinks that Falnic, though relatively small in comparison to coastal cities in the Southlands, is essentially part of a city-state. The city basically rules everything for a hundred or so miles south along the coastline, and a similar distance to the north. As well as ruling inland along the southeast road to the edge of the nomads plains, which is nearly eighty miles from the walls of Falnic.
Thinking of nomads brings to mind why he's come to this hillside square late in the afternoon. He had heard one took place a little earlier, and he looks across the square to the public gibbet, where hangs half a dozen dead nomads, two of whom are children.
There's a squad of justifier guards at the gibbet, two of whom are laughing and joking around, as they stab the corpse of a boy with a spear.
"Fucking townsmen" mutters Dalinvardél Tanith in the language of his birth as he watches what's going on, the dead nomads are most likely victims of a raid into the plains. Or they were caught off the plain, near the southeast road. The elven spy suspects it was the former and not the later.
Dalin who knows that one of the others will be extremely angry with what's happened here in this square this afternoon, turns away and heads around the corner of the building to his right, he pauses and looks at a set of steps that head up to the roof of the building.
The elf from the principality of Alínlae in the Southlands briefly debates in his mind if he should do what he's just thought of, then muttering "Why the hell not" silently followed by, because you might get caught, that's why the hell not. He makes up his mind, and hurries up the steps to the roof of the building.
The building like most here in the city of Falnic is white, or to be precise, a white sand colour, which contrasts with the blue of the ocean that the city looks out over. The roof of this particular building is flat, and doesn't have the orange, earth coloured tiles you find on top of a lot of the buildings. The elven spy is glad it's flat with what he's planning to do.
Dalin who hears that no one is on the roof in the late afternoon sunshine, takes out his small hand held crossbow as he hurries up the steps.
Once on the rooftop, he extends back the underside of the crossbow, making the weapon longer. Then he depresses a metal stud next to the lever, and the arms of the bow extend outwards, making the actually bow part of the weapon longer.
From beneath his cloak he takes a longer bolt from his quiver, longer than the normal short range bolts he usually uses. The elven spy from south of the equator, loads the weapons that's already cocked back to fire.
Then in one smooth motion, he drops to a knee, barely takes time to aim, then lifts the firing lever, shooting off the bolt. He's up and moving quickly back to the steps as the quarrel flies through the air to it's target.
"You won't be doing that anymore" Dalinvardél Tanith murmurs to himself as he retracts his crossbow to it's normal size and hides it beneath his cloak as the bolt he shot off, slams into the head of the justifiers guard across the square, sticking a spear into the next child along on the gibbet from the dead boy he and another guard were just stabbing with the spear.
The elven spy hears the yelling and shouting from around in the square when the justifiers guard dies. Dalin is already down and off the steps, and making his way quickly through a shaded alleyway to the right that heads downhill, before the other justifiers guards in the nearby square even move out to find the culprit responsible for the death of one of their own.
The elf from the principality of Alínlae, who was a member of the staff of the noble house of the Ollinsállé family in that particular elven principality. Sourly smiles as he shouldn't of really done that, as he has a specific job to do. And that's to help find a number of people. Not just the original three people they've traveled to the region of Belinswae to find. But also two others in the group, who went missing a few days ago, when they sneaked out of the city to visit some of the nearby towns and villages when they shouldn't of.
"When i find those two youngsters" murmurs Dalin, who then silently adds in a dry tone, if i find them. He plans to give them a strict telling off, as he and another in the group here in Falnic, are the only one's who give the two youngest members of the group any discipline, their nominal leader certainly doesn't. Though to be fair their nominal leader is trying to find the original trio of the group who are missing, as well as keep the rest of them together and alive.
The elven spy continues on his way down the hill, going through shaded alleyways, or down the winding cobblestone streets, as usual the elf from south of the equator as he heads back to the inn they're staying at down in the port, notices all the peculiarities of Falnic compared to cities you would find in the Southlands.
For starters, the most noticeable thing, especially for a heavily human dominated city, is the lack of people. From what they've learned is that there's about twenty five thousand people here in Falnic, a city that could easily accommodate half again as much. And though Dalinvardél Tanith is originally from a sparsely populated elven city of Parlindellè, the capital of Alínlae. Even he finds Falnic odd to be in for a human city.
Then there's the actual Falnic society, as well as the society for this part of the region of Belinswae. Where justifiers rule, justifiers who are part law givers, council members, and nobility all rolled into one. Who also all happen to be spellcasters. In a society where spellcasters are extremely rare, far rarer than you would find in any society in the Southlands. Spellcasters basically rule like gods in this area of Belinswae.
Then there's the split in the society. Where townsmen look down on those who are known as half bloods, or half breeds. You hardly find them here in Falnic, they tend to live in villages at the far end of the southeast road. Faraway from the city, though pockets of them can be found in the city and some of the larger towns.
They're shunned and looked down upon due to the nomad blood in their lineage. The nomads who live out in the hot, baking furnace of the plains that are named after them. The nomads who are the mortal enemies of the town born population, who are collectively known as townsmen.
Dalin glances upwards after he passes under a bridge, and as usual he's surprised by the lack of airships in the skies above Falnic, and in lack, that means none.
For since arriving in the coastal city, they've only seen two airships, and one of those was the one they arrived on. Both airships were from the Southlands, the northern city-state of Renoa to be exact. And both have left Falnic to return to the Southlands and their home port.
A city without an airdock, Dalinvardél Tanith thinks to himself with a shake of his head as he still finds that highly odd, he has learnt that because of the lack of airships, and spellcasters being extremely rare. That weapons like magetubes aren't found here in Belinswae. Infact the elven spy has learnt that such weapons are only ever found throughout the Southlands, and various parts along the far eastern coast of the continent, which is well over ten thousand miles away from where he is at the moment.
Though airships maybe lacking in the skies above Falnic, what isn't lacking is what briefly passes above the elf from the principality of Alínlae, and that's a wyvern.
Dalin never knew there would be a place with so many tame wyverns, they're everywhere across the city. There's far more wyverns here in Falnic than there are griffons in the capital of his homeland. And wyverns being wyverns, they're a hell of a lot more of a nuisance than any griffon would ever be.
The elven spy looks away to his right and sourly smiles as a wyvern, a fairly small one at about fifteen feet in length, squawks at him from on top of a rooftop. Dalin would like nothing more to do, than to put a bolt through it's eye to shut it up, but he refrains from doing so, as the locals are overly demonstrative and protective of the wyverns they use.
Down in the port, Dalinvardél Tanith makes his way to The White Gull inn, it's situated back from the docks, just up from the base of a hill, it's location offers a bit of a view of the harbour for the paying customers taking lodgings in the inn.
The elf from south of the equator approaches the back of The White Gull, and as it nears sundown, the elven spy slips into the inn through a backdoor, he heads upstairs, glancing down at open air inner courtyard. None of the group are in the courtyard at the moment, he didn't think any of them would be. Then once in the upper hallway, he heads to the suite of rooms they're using while here in Falnic.
As he approaches their suite, the elven spy uses the advantage of his naturally enhanced hearing, and he finds that three of the others are in the suite, the nominal leader of the group is not, which isn't surprising as he's the one most likely to find the original trio who are missing.
Dalinvardél briefly knocks on the outer door and enters the suite, and after closing the door, makes his way along the short entrance hall to the central room of the suite, where he's greeted by one of the three who says to him in the common language "Did you have any luck friend Dalin?".
"I'm afraid not Shur Kee" replies the elven spy in the same language to the monk of Bru Li, who nods and sits back down on the seat he stood up from next to the table in one corner of the room.
Dalin then looks to his right, where another in the group sits upon a divan looking out the open balcony doors at the harbour, he looks at the elf from the principality of Alínlae and asks him "Was there?".
"There was" says Dalinvardél Tanith who then quietly adds "Six of them, two of them children" on the divan, Reily Hait the mercenary ranger angrily mutters "Fucking townsmen" with good reason the ranger Hait is angry about the deaths of half a dozen nomads.
Then the elven spy looks at the remaining member of the group who walks in from the balcony, Dalin refrains from sourly smiling as he looks at the newest member of the group, who has been with them for less than a year, who Dalinvardél Tanith can't believe is still alive considering who else is in the group, and what the elf from the principality of Alínlae has learnt about their past.
"Ah thy fine leaf eater has returned" says the newest member of the group who continues with "By chance did you find those two delinquent urchins who have gone missing on us? Or have the young vagabonds still placed themselves out of reach, away from their betters like ourselves, well their betters as is i, and not you three fellows, cause i am superiorly better in every way to you chaps".
"No Percavelle, i didn't find them" says Dalinvardél Tanith with a roll of his eyes "That's not very sporting of the little miscreants wot" mutters sir Percavelle Le Dic . . . . . .