Chapter 12:The city of Horsburgh Part 1

The sound of the horse's hooves plodding along as they rounded the bend seemed to shift slightly as Nath looked back, looked one last time at the manor house he had spent the past several months in, his shelter in this strange new world. He was only able to catch a small glimpse of it, through the five rank and file men that followed behind him.

Something about seeing it get smaller as they pulled away gave him a melancholy feeling that seemed to settle in his gut with all the grace of a bull wissant. It was good to know that no matter what, he always had a place to come to, a place to return, no matter where his path took him.

“Bittersweet, isn't it?” Jorona asked as he trotted his horse up beside Nath’s own, giving him a rough sort of smile.

“Very,” he said simply, turning his head away from the manor house and forward on the road. “Does it ever go away?” he asked, not particularly to Jorona, just out loud. “That feeling when you leave home and know that you might not be back.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” he said with a shrug, “You’ll be back, it's only what, three years of training?”

“I suppose you are right,” Nath said with a sigh, “the question is will it feel like home when I get back?”

“It will,” Ellie said, trotting her white mare up to move shoulder to shoulder with his own paint. “It will feel like home, they say distance and time make the heart grow fonder after all,” she said with a smile. “Anyway, it is not like the entire time we will be locked away, there are times every year where the schools are closed and travel is permitted,” she said with a shrug and Nath nodded his understanding, it would seem that school here was not so different from school in his old world. Well, there was the whole no one had formal education until they were fully grown bit, but from what he could see for nobles at least it was fairly standardized up to that higher education that was, after all, it would be rather embarrassing if it was shown that your parents did not raise you to be educated to the basic level would it not?

Winter was in its last dying breaths, the snow that had bound them to the manner house was dissipating and soon spring would come over the world and the last vestiges of snow would vanish from the road. Soon, that was, for now, the road still had some snow, which quickly was churned into mud under the horse’s hoofs, and the warm breeze that spring promised to bring was not present currently. As such, Nath and the entire company were quite well wrapped in warm traveling cloaks of greyish blue wool that fastened up the front with brass buttons. Even Ellie was more bundled than usual, her normal short outfit traded in for one that covered her legs, all the way to the paws, which, much to her disgust were covered in mud themselves.

He had asked her once why she didn't wear shoes, and she had told him that they no longer felt right, her paw pads were strong enough that walking barefoot was no burden, nor was running on any surface, and she rather liked the feel of wind between her digits. If he had to guess, she was no longer really feeling that way, if her disgusted glance at her paws he caught out of the corner of his eye every now and again were anything to judge by. Aside from her change in lower body attire she also wore a woolen cloak, much the same color as the one Nath and the rest of the cavalcade wore, but a slightly different cut, more feminine. Nath made a mental note for himself to ask for hot water when they stopped, after all, he was pretty sure the first thing Ellie was going to want to do was to wash the mud out from her fur.

***

The city of Horsburgh was an impressive and breathtaking sight. Situated a few miles away from what would have been the Colorado River in his old world but was referred to as the Yhir River here, it was nestled atop the only hills in the area. The walls of the city were ringed around the base, standing tall and imposing only showing the tops of the buildings within. The main gates stood open and Nath could see that the main causeway that led directly into the middle of the city was actually a very cleverly designed killing field.

The city was divided in two, an east and a west side, and to enter either side one would be required to go up the center and forward to two separate gates deep within. Each side of Horsburgh had its own enclosed walls and gate, meaning that if an enemy were to breach the main gate then they would find themselves in a long straight stretch of land that had no access to the city proper and was surrounded on three sides by tall walls which would no doubt be maned against them. Past that they would still need to break down the inner gates, both of them if they wanted to get into the city proper, and that wasn't even counting getting into the castle.

The hill was steep, too steep to easily climb and the walls ringing the top left no space to set up siege equipment meaning the only way to reliably get to the castle was first through the main gate, then through the west gate, then across the city to the west bridge. Once on the bridge, the enemy would be required to march exposed across and then assault the last gate for the castle itself.

It was a logistical nightmare, and Nath was impressed when he saw the amount of effort and thought that went into Horsburgh’s defenses, It was after all a combination of those defenses as well as the well trained professional military and guard that the city used and the connection of countless merchants that caused Horsburgh to thrive and be the envy of many another baron. Baron Longgrass’s capital of his barony was so much grander than Nath had ever even guessed it would be. They were allowed through the gate unmolested by the guards and Nath got a look at his first real city.

Being both a large population center as well as a major trade city it boasted all of the amenities that one would expect in a city of its size, everything from a bustling market to several inns of a modest class. The structures were of a classical design, one that had been used here in the tall grass planes for generations, constructed of long wooden planks that had been milled from trees floated down the river to the city. Most were in good repair and were painted and whitewashed all the colors of a field full of flower blooms. The roofs of the more affluent houses and shops were slate or even clay shingles, while others were thatched with straw. Most of the buildings had a small area squared off with walls constructed of brick's wood and clay, and were often also painted . It made it quite the lively and colorful place to look at, and not at all what he had expected from his time watching movies and playing games.

Along the dirt road of the town, there were a few deeper recesses of water, places where the sun either had yet to dry or was cast in permanent shadow, across these were several rough-hewn boards that looked as though many people had walked along them smoothing and caking the surfaces in what Nath hoped was mud. The road led down to a sort of town square of sorts, the area opening up to accommodate a small raised platform. One that needed only two steps to achieve its needed height, but raised nonetheless, on it were three pillory stockades, only one of which was currently occupied by a man who half snored and groaned.

To the right side, a small chapel sat behind a low shoulder height wall of brick whitewashed and painted with religious iconography. The simple white building had a slate roof and a single bell tower, which now resonated with the chime of the mid-day tolling. Merchants had set up a few stands, the temporary wooden structures displaying their wares over which awnings of brightly colored dyed cloth cast shade each and every merchant shouting to get the attention of the passerby creating a comforting sort of cacophony he was able to lose himself in. There was everything from fresh cuts of meat at one, to dresses at another and even a charcoal burner with his burlap sacks standing in front of his wagon.

All of this was new and interesting to Nath, and he knew for a fact he was looking around like a country bumpkin and found he did not really care, there was just so much to see. It was the scale of it all. Sure he had seen medieval cities, had seen a number of them in games or movies, but he had never really paid them any sort of attention. That was one thing he was finding he loved about his new life, the scale. When he was playing a game, the first moments out into a large city, or the vast expanses of the wilderness was rather amazing, but it was nothing like the reality. He wasn't amazed by the scale of the environment, rather he was amazed by the fact that they were able to pull that off in whatever engine they were running the game. It was more of a technical appreciation than a real moment of being awestruck.

Here, however, the only thing he could compare it to was when he had gone to Washington DC, or the Grand Canyon, the sudden realization of size, the rush of endorphins as it hit your brain, and the vividness of all the colors around him. No game, no matter how big, or how impressively dense or detailed every really gave him that rush. This did, he was really there, really experiencing something in the real world, and there was no comparison.

The best part of all of this was the fact that they would be taking a boat down the Yhir River to the city of Jhornaas, and from there the train all the way to their campus, but the boat was not due in until two days later. In the intervening time, he would be here, in Horsburgh’s, and he was going to have to make the most of that short time if he had a say Ellie and himself were going to see every part of Horsburgh’s they could lay their eyes on.

Before they could go off exploring the capital of Baron Longgrass’s Barony they would need to find lodging for himself, Ellie, Jorona, and the other men at arms that had accompanied them on this trip. Nath had thought it was a little overkill to bring this many men, especially seeing as the city was only a half a day’s ride away from the manner, but he had acquiesced when Ellie had given him a look. It was a look he well knew from his past life and one that she was getting disturbingly good at making if he did say so himself.

The guards were not the only precaution that they had taken either, every member of the party was armed, including himself and Ellie. He had only been slightly surprised at the fact that she not only had a blade but also knew how to use it. Apparently, she had received formal training in the sword’s use, she simply didn't carry one around all the time because that was considered “not proper for a woman,”

The inn they found was rather nice, not the best in town but neither the worst, which in Jorona’s judgment made it the most likely to have the best food and ale. It was called the Golden Yotnall, and no one that Nath asked could tell him if a Yotnall was real, or if it looked even remotely like the image on the Inn’s sign, which resembles a strange-looking long-legged creature that was the mix between a dog and a cow. As everyone got situated and the horses got settled Nath found himself smiling, he felt good, better in this moment than he could ever recall feeling in his previous life, as he realized this everything seemed to settle in his mind, seemed to click into place, and he found it all felt right, fit, like the pieces of a puzzle he had been building that he hadn't even known were missing...