Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2023 21:11:41 GMT -5
[for @cyrus Rhedara Shannon Zarha Sliva ]
Officially, no one had confirmed that Nevermere was preparing for war, but the signs were there if one knew where to look. The return of large numbers of soldiers from abroad, the emphasis on recruitment, even the new rigor of their training - it all pointed toward one future, and it hardly took a genius to figure out what that answer was. Even though whispers of war had started spreading like wildfire through the military wing, Skia cared not for the excitement or dread, or perhaps a mixture of both, of the soldiers who called her home. Trouble never rested in the cloud-covered city, so neither did those tasked with resolving it.
That four of them had been sent on this particular assignment was rather unusual, and even if the limited details they’d been given hadn’t already set Ber a little on edge, the number of soldiers walking beside him would have. Pairings were the usual protocol; he didn’t like to think of why Woodwick had felt the need to send him, Shannon, Parric, and Sliva to deal with something that seemed straightforward enough. People had reported unusual activity and strange noises around an abandoned, clearly unsuccessful former tavern. They were to investigate the situation and handle whatever trouble they found. That was fine. The part that was less fine was the location.
The little group was currently walking toward one of the worst parts of the city, where poverty and violence ran rampant and people in uniform were greeted with distrust rather than welcomed with relief. Ber didn’t need to be universally loved, and he hardly needed to be considered a hero. But, he thought as he watched a kid run away down some shadowed alley, he didn’t particularly enjoy feeling like he was the villain either. A street rat dressed like a soldier, the young man knew from experience just how much they stood out with their swords and uniforms. And it was never good to attract attention.
Not in this part of town.