AA3 27 - Glarn (Patreon)

The caravan entered the city proper with little fanfare. It seemed that such a visit was regular enough that there was a large area for them all to store the wagons, with stables nearby for the horses.

Sebastian took care of the cost of their horses and wagon, which was a welcome gesture on his part.

The courtyard they ended up in had several large stables, an equally large inn and two warehouses for storage.

The offloading of all the enchanted goods to the warehouses began immediately, and Verdan noticed Sebastian sending a runner back towards the gate.

A few minutes later, a squad of city guards arrived and, after a quick conversation with the Keeper, arranged themselves around the warehouse with the equipment in it.

“Interesting,” Verdan said softly to himself from where he was sat atop their wagon, watching everything.

It seemed that the Keeper had serious concerns about the safety of the equipment. A valid concern, but one that gave a different impression when Verdan considered his conversation with Ciaran.

More was going on here than he’d initially anticipated.

“Wizard Blacke. Please, join me,” Sebastian called out as he approached Verdan’s wagon. “I’ve already sent someone ahead to have rooms prepared for you at the inn. I’ve purchased rooms for you for the next two weeks at my expense.”

“A kind gesture, Keeper, thank you,” Verdan said, somewhat surprised by the gesture. Considering how opposed Sebastian had been to Verdan and his companions joining the journey, he’d been expecting far less of a welcome.

“Not at all. It’s the least I can do in thanks for your aid on the way here,” Sebastian said, giving Verdan a genuine smile as the Wizard clambered down to join him.

“Aid that any in my position would give,” Verdan said, waving away the compliment. “I do have a question, though, regarding the Darjee and the equipment I provided.”

“Yes, Ciaran mentioned your curiosity,” Sebastian’s smile faded slightly for a moment before returning in full force. “I think a deeper discussion is needed. If you would be willing, you could join us for a late meal?”

Verdan nodded, but they had reached the entrance to the inn, so Sebastian waved for him to head inside, letting him know that he’d be sending someone to guide them in an hour or two.

“We should be careful here,” Kai said, moving close to Verdan as he pitched his voice low enough that they wouldn’t be overhead. “This reeks of politics.”

“Agreed,” Verdan said equally softly. “We’ll go to dinner and see what happens.”

Kai gave a slight nod before moving away to grab his spear and some of their luggage while Verdan stepped inside to go over their sleeping arrangements.

The innkeeper was a stern-looking Kranjir woman in her fifties who took the news that they would be dining elsewhere with a disparaging sniff.

Fortunately, the inn itself was organised, clean and well-prepared, so they were given a room each and had their luggage moved in short order.

“Are there many other guests?” Verdan asked as the innkeeper led him to his room.

“No others at the moment; we have the odd traveller who doesn’t have a Clan to stay with, but they are few and far between. The last Southerner to visit was four years ago.”

“Oh, were they here on official business?” Verdan doubted someone would make such a potentially dangerous trip without good reason.

“He was here to speak with the Keepers, much like yourself,” the innkeeper said stiffly, opening the door to Verdan’s room. “I didn’t pry into his business, just like I won’t pry into yours.” 

“Apologies, I didn’t mean to imply that,” Verdan said, frowning slightly at how defensive she was being.

The innkeeper said nothing, simply giving a sharp nod before leaving Verdan to look around his new room.

As inns went, this one was nice, with well-furnished rooms and the same level of cleanliness that he’d noticed on the walk over. Verdan had stayed in far worse in the past.

Dropping what little luggage he had off to one side, Verdan reviewed his next steps. The first thing to do was to check in on Dirk and his mother, which would hopefully be quite straightforward as they’d gone with the Keeper.

After that, there were a few options, mainly about which of his three interests he pressed for.

The dinner with Sebastian might help illuminate matters, so he’d hold off on any definitive plans until then.

Hedda had already left to sort her own journey to the settlement of Witches, so Verdan took a few minutes to check on Barb and Kai before settling down to get a good hour of reading in. He was close to a breakthrough in understanding what these ancient Artificers had been doing; he just needed to understand them better.

-**-

The Keeper’s messenger arrived an hour or two later, bearing a verbal invitation to join the Keeper at his quarters in the Clan Hall.

The messenger was a young man with only a few scars dressed in practical clothes and a thick jerkin. An emblem had been embroidered onto the chest of his jacket, sitting right over his heart, of a blue shield and a white mountain.

Verdan had seen the same heraldry on various parts of the caravan and had asked Barb about it on their journey. The white mountain was the symbol of Clan Thrain, while the blue shield was of the Mac family.

Verdan had assumed that Sebastian’s family was the Macstan, but Barb had explained that his family name would be Macstar if the Keeper were a woman.

Turning his attention back to the present, Verdan found himself wondering why they were going to an official building rather than the Keeper’s home.

His confusion must have shown, as the messenger explained that all Keepers called their Clan Hall home rather than having their own property.

It was a somewhat odd state of affairs, but without the context to know more, Verdan kept his thoughts to himself. The more he saw of the Kranjir culture, the more he realised how fundamentally different it was from that of the Sorcerer-dominated South.

The invitation from Sebastian had been for all of them, so both Kai and Barb joined him as they followed the messenger into the city.

Verdan took a moment to look over the city as they walked, noticing that it had the same aged feel as Hobson’s Point. There was a lot more wood, though, and far less glass.

Using what they had locally made sense, but it did make Verdan wonder why the Kranjir caravans were always so eager for metal. 

A city like this took engineering, logistics and a lot of planning, enough to get around any small obstacles when it came to mining out ore veins.

It could be a lack of good ore deposits, but the feeling that Verdan had gotten from Sebastian was that the borders of the lands belonging to the Kranjir were quite stable. 

If it were simply a question of finding new deposits of metal, surely they would expand to find them?

Sighing internally, Verdan added the question to his list and turned his focus back to their surroundings. They were making good progress, but they seemed to be heading almost directly for the centre of Glarn. “We seem to be heading right for the centre of the city, is that right?”

“Glarn is the seat of Clan Thrain, the heart of Thrain Hold,” the messenger-turned-guide answered proudly, Barb nodding along as he spoke. “Other Clans have Halls here in the city, but they are lesser in design, as is fitting.”

“Very informative, thank you,” Verdan said, trying his best to restrain his sigh as he added several more questions to his list. 

The Keeper had a lot of explaining to do.

-**-

The Hall of Clan Thrain was less of a singular building and more of a series of them, though they were all clustered around a large hall, which Verdan guessed was the origin of the name.

“The main hall is where the Clan comes together for important feasts and gatherings,” Barb explained softly as their guide led them to a medium-sized building on the far side of the hall.

“Keeper Macstan is waiting for you within. He will send for me when you wish to return so I may guide you. Enjoy your evening.” Their guide gave them a respectful nod before being on his way.

“So, if that is the Clan Hall, then these are the Keeper’s quarters?” Verdan asked, gesturing first to the feasting hall and then to the building in front of him. “I was expecting more like a suite within the building, not this.”

“It’s still technically part of the Hall according to tradition,” Barb said with a shrug as she idly rubbed the back of her prosthetic with her thumb. “The Keeper would be the one to ask, really.”

“Well, let’s not keep him waiting any longer,” Verdan said, moving over to the door and knocking firmly. There were quite a few Kranjir moving around, and the three of them were drawing a growing amount of attention.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” A gruff voice asked, making Verdan tense as he turned to see a small group of a dozen armed Kranjir facing them.

The person speaking was a well-groomed man at the head of the group, with an elaborate caelin that seemed to accentuate the suspicious expression he held. His clothes were well-made, and a metal pendant that bore the white mountain emblem hung around his neck.

The man’s short grey beard and blue eyes seemed oddly familiar, and Verdan recognised some of the scarring on his face, though he didn’t know what it meant.

“The Thane asked you a question. Speak.” A slender woman with cropped dark hair and darker eyes stepped forward, her hand falling to a long-handled axe on her belt.

Unlike the others, the woman bore an emblem of a black stag next to a white mountain, which Verdan took to mean she was from a different family in the Clan. She had the next most elaborate caelin of all those facing them, as well, so was clearly someone of importance.

“My apologies, Thane,” Verdan said, giving a respectful bow to the older man who’d first spoken. “My name is Verdan Blacke. I am a Wizard who is visiting this impressive city. This is my companion Kai and my bodyguard Barb Phearstar.”

Verdan almost stumbled over his words when he realised he didn’t know Kai’s surname, but hopefully, no one noticed.

“Thane,” Barb inclined her head respectfully to the older man, whose gaze lingered on her and her hand for a moment before turning back to Verdan.

“That is who you are. Now, why are you here?” The Thane’s brow furrowed as his gaze travelled to Kai, and his expression darkened. “And why have you brought a Sorcerer into this city.”