“For weeks I wandered through jungles, hiding from monsters. When one day, a group of evil snake-men spotted me, I still hoped to elude them and run away.

Then I saw him. For the first time since I get lost, I really felt true despair. Before me stood a monstrosity. A three meters tall, his wings spread wide obscuring the sun. The Balor brandished a fiery whip and a sword in his hands. A roar sounded from under his helmet as he charged.

I said my last prayers, yet to my surprise, the fiend passed me by and assaulted the snake-men. Did he not even perceive me as a threat? I watched a one-sided slaughter, still struck with fear, unable to move. Few seconds later it was already too late to flee because the Balor’s attention was again focused on me.

Yet, he didn’t attack. He spoke instead, using this infernal language that wizards call abyssal. Then he pointed with his hand and continued further into the jungle.

I felt like a feebleminded but decided to take a direction the Balor showed me. In few days I arrived at the city and decided to learn more about my saviour. How great was my surprise, when I learned the history of Kij’egral! I could not believe those rumours at first, yet the more I heard, the more sense was in this tale.

Years ago, Kij’egral travelled through a rift, appearing in the middle of a wizards’ guild headquarters. He earned spellcasters’ ire, disturbing their experiment. Angered, the wizards managed to subdue the fiend and one of them put on his head a Helm of Opposite Alignment. The whole ordeal would be ridiculous already, but it was just a start. Apparently, the existence of a lawful good Balor was amusing to one of the gods. So much, that he decided to make Kij’ergal his champion. Which of the deities could be so reckless to think about making a paladin out of a Balor if not Garl Glittergold?

Now, with the blessing bestowed upon him, the Balor travels the world, fighting the evil whenever he founds it. Many were saved by his powers, even if only few were believed.

So gather around and bring your ale, for I will now tell you the story of Kij’ergal, the First Balor Paladin!”

- A bard’s tale

“A stout, warded wall surrounds a dense mass of stone structures inside. The spires of marble and granite, tints of greenery visible around them. Those areas belong to temples or wealthy, their buildings topped with elaborate gold ornaments, standing out from the grey ocean.

Just outside of the wall, a village of tents and shabby shelters grows with each passing day. In tents, would-be soldiers wait for an opportunity to join the next batch of marching troops; many are seeking glory, others were convinced by stories about riches waiting to be plundered. In collapsing shelters live people too poor to afford even a flat inside the city, those who have lost everything when orcs captured Fallpoint three years ago.

Numerous ships are approaching the harbour, each of captains wishing to finally sell wares they brought. Most of them carry supplies from Grasshaven, yet there are also those more daring, who ventured from the forests of wood elves or even Cirran.

Looking at the docks, the stains on the city’s initial grandeur can be clearly seen; wooden warehouses, taverns of a questionable quality, old buildings sinking into unstable foundations, struggling against the relentless tide of the river…”

“Oh, shut up!” Thaleus interrupted Hant. „We can see the city with our own eyes, no need to describe the sight we are forced to watch since hours!”

The caravan had finally arrived at Leisha’s Crossroads, yet one does not simply enter the city. While most merchants arriving from the west usually travelled by river, land routes were popular as well, chosen by those having spare time or unwilling to pay for renting a cargo ship. There were also those arriving from villages lying close to Leisha’s Crossroads, creating an even bigger congestion. As this was a time of war, guards were quite vigilant, checking wares of those wishing to enter the city, forcing everyone to wait in a quake.

In Ion’s opinion, Leisha’s Crossroads was a little smaller town than Windhelm, yet it seemed to be more densely populated, most of its buildings having three or four storeys.

“So what are we going to do now that we’ve arrived?” Dorian asked their group. They were planning their next course of an action since few days.

'For me, it doesn't really matter currently. Sure, I would like to visit Cirran and Aethera University, swipe their libraries, but there is no need to hurry. I've already got my own tutoring via dreams...'

His visions might be disturbing at times, and he still wished to find out why they occurred, but they were a boon overall. Ion had grown used to them over the past years, and after convincing himself that they showed him just a long forgotten past or an uncertain future in a Plane far away, he had no reason to try stopping them. Especially after he had learned how to push away unwanted 'daydreaming' that sometimes triggered.

‘Still, I really need to enrich my collection of third circle spells. The only new I learned recently is a damn Animate Dead! Normal wizards use fireballs, but no, Vision-me must be some kind of a freak! Not like I could even test it…Not like I would even like to test it, it’s creepy! Okay, animals don’t count, but it’s not like I managed to raise them anyway… maybe it’s my lack of understanding of their anatomy?’

"I'm just content with taking well-paid jobs," Ion was sure that his eventual trip on the west in the future would be expansive.

“Well, as I’ve already told you, I’m heading to Utherlight. Waiting a few days here and continuing by a boat towards Grasshaven is the best for me.” Lyssa said.

“I’m also in!” Hant agreed.

They already knew that the caravan will be split there. If they wished they could continue their job of protecting it, heading either to Grasshaven or Fallpoint.

“Yet the payment for this trip is meagre,” Sae complained. Travel to Grasshaven was much safer and the merchant already informed them about the number of coins he’s willing to pay. “I would prefer to go for Fallpoint…”

“Even if they pay better for that job, I’m not sure it’s worth risk of encountering small orcish bands that still roam on the east. Moreover, after arriving, if we are not willing to work for the garrison, it is possible that we would be bound to do something much less profitable on the way back…” Ciros pointed.

“Or maybe we could just explore the area around Fallpoint…” Sae started but seeing Dorian’s gaze she stopped. “Oh, it was just a one-time mistake back then! And there can’t be that many orcs around!”

“We still have few days to decide. In the meanwhile I wish to meet with one of my acquaintances, I heard he moved to this city recently.” Thaleus said.

“I’d like to check markets for some spells or magical items,” Ion hoped that in a trading hub like this town he could get something interesting.

“Well, don’t expect too much. In times like this even if you find something it will surely be overpriced,” Sae’s comment reminded Ion that he still had a stack of potions inside his Spatial Bag, just waiting to be sold.

“By the way, you all might want to visit him too. Firstly, Darmud is a quite proficient blacksmith, so if you are in a need of repairing your equipment he might help,” Thaleus turned to Ion. “I also heard from my clan that he began working with a gnome wizard recently... Maybe he could point you to some trustworthy sellers.”

****

“If you change your minds be sure to visit us during this week!” A clerk from a branch office of a merchants’ company yelled as they left the building with their payment, “By that time we must have squads gathered!”

They decided to search for Thaleus’ friend, but it took them some time before someone pointed them in a right direction.

“Darmud? A dwarf? You mean the one from a D&G smithy? Sure I know about him! Four nights ago they were experimenting in a workshop again and it caught a fire! I bet that this time they will finally have to pay a fine for causing collateral damage. Turn right on the fourth alley, it’s near the end of the street.”

Soon they were standing outside of the smithy, few stones on the wall visibly blackened. On the ground near the entrance a half-burned sign “D&G armours” was laying.

Thaleus proceeded to the doors and they entered. Inside, a condition of the building was much worse; pieces of armours, some of them half-melted lied everywhere. Broken, burnt furniture and tools were scattered around.

“Sorry, we are closed today," A tired voice could be heard. A dwarf was rummaging through a wreckage, not even looking in their direction. “Come back next week.”

“It doesn’t look like a random fire...” Sae commented looking around.

“I’ve told you to leave,” The dwarf turned to them, angry. “Thaleus? Is this you, pal? So you finally decided to move out of our keep for a while?”

He happily hugged the dwarf, then sighted.

“As you can see, my smithy isn’t in a peak condition right now.”

Darmud was a little shorter and had broader shoulders than Thaleus, his beard tinted with some grey hair.

“Yeah, the elders sent me to look for a good place for a new settlement. No success so far. So would you mind telling us what happened here? Is this really just a failed experiment of yours?”

“Failed experiment they say! Ha! But you know, I’m not sure if you want to hear the story,” he looked dubiously at the group behind Thaleus.

“They are trustworthy folks. It’s not like Hant went with us, so they won’t blabber around!”

Darmud considered for a while.

„Anyways, it won’t get any worse. Actually, you might be able to help me. Well, do you know Orryn? He’s a gnome I’m working with recently. He’s quite proficient in this whole artificing and runemaking business and we had an idea to create something better than just regular armours and weapons. I will show you,” he opened the trapdoor and climbed down, ushering them to follow. “Orryn, we have some guests!”

Inside the cellar was another workshop, this one in a seemingly much better condition, if one was willing to ignore few burnt items and dark-red stains on walls.

“Welcome, welcome.” A small figure was rummaging around a suit of a gigantic armour. “Oh, my sweet Exi, soon you will be as good as new.” He mumbled checking some of its leg plates.

“You created a Golem?” Ion voiced his excitement, seeing that most of the armour was covered with runes, strange artifacts protruding from its various parts.

“Nah, they are too expensive and bothersome to make,” Orryn said dismissively.

„What you see, is a fusion of the dwarven craftsmanship, magic and gnomish…” Darmud started proudly, yet suddenly stopped. “Tips? Tricks? How was it called?”

„It’s Teknick! Gnomish Teknick! How many times I have to remind you?”

“Well, whatever. We call it Exi. It is our second prototype of a true battle armour! As we wanted to make the test version cheaper, it’s still only gnome-sized, but once we polish all the details we might consider making it also fit for humans.”

“Gnome-sized?” Lyssa asked. „It’s so huge.”

„It’s about a size of the operator who can fit inside. From inside he could safely wreak havoc on the battlefield, almost invulnerable to the enemies. Every blow would be supported by the magical enhancements, partially fuelled by mundane energy sources, like fire and boiling water!” Orryn excitedly explained, stopping his work for a moment. The gnome had blond, spiky hair, his eyes covered by googles, most of his face and clothes tainted by some oily-black substance. “Only a few problems remained, but we should be able to solve them soon. Overheating for example, but casting Endure Elements or a similar spell on the operator seems like a reasonable workaround. Using Exi in a battle is very expensive, with a need for frequent recharges. It would be harder to solve, yet we’ve made a progress…”

“To get to the point.” Darmud tried to speak louder than the gnome. “Someone learned what we were working on. Four nights ago, they sent thugs to steal plans of our creation and destroy all the evidence. They managed to get past our wards and by the time Orryn arrived they even tried to pilot Exi. As if they could handle it! Overwhelmed by Orryn’s spells they started to escape, setting the warehouse in the fire. He managed to douse flames, yet by that time the thieves were gone with our schematics.”

“Did you went to the city authorities?” Dorian asked.

“Of course not! First, if they’d find out, they would surely like to get our creation is in their hands! We’ve already done some investigation and everything leads to Silverford family. They are minor nobility, aspiring to become a big deal, their businesses rather shady more often than not. I suppose they might be keeping the schematics inside their manor. We wrote them in a code, so hopefully, they weren’t able to crack it yet. Do you think you would be able to steal them back? Or at least destroy the plans, even if it would be bothersome, we could recreate them from older drafts if necessary.”

“Breaking into someone’s mansion? Count me in!” Sae immediately agreed.

„We should consider it before…” Dorian started.

„Well, you and Thaleus would be rather hopeless for a task requiring sneaking. Same for Lyssa.”

“Hey!”

“But even so, you could serve as a distraction or at least could protect the workshop from next attempts of thefts; the prototype is still here after all… I also need to learn more about these Silverford family, listen to some rumours, find out whether they are really behind this. Get to know more about businesses currently going on in the city… Later, we would probably require someone else’s assistance, maybe other caravan members would be willing to help if we manage to organise everything before they leave the town. And I really d’like to go to Fallpoint with them…”

She trailed off for a moment.

“Ion, we would surely need at least one wizard, preferably more, if we try to break in. I won’t be able to stealthy get past the wards on my own. Spells like Disguise, Alter Self, Invisibility, Charm Person, Suggestion would also come in handy. You need to learn at least some of them.”

“I might be able to provide you with scrolls for a few of them…” The gnome offered.

“Great! I would also require some Chalomel and Serren. Since you are dabbling in runeworks nobody would ask what you need those materials for. I could prepare some ward disrupting glyphs using them; it could give us few precious minutes before alarms sound after we break in.”

“Hmm… It will probably take two or three days to acquire, but I will manage.”

“Now the most important question; do you know about any good archaeologist, cartographer, or just somebody selling old maps?”

“I see, you want to get inside by using sewers? Let me think…”

“Well, it’s not the worst idea, but it’s because of some other small project of mine…”

As Sae was immersed in the discussion with smiths, the rest of the group was perplexed.

“Have we already decided to actually do this?”

“Well, I’d like to help a member of my clan.”

“It’s not like she’s planning for you to participate.”

“Maybe I could operate Exi as a distraction?”

“Don’t be a child, they want to keep it a secret. Surely walking with it on the streets is not included in this plan.”

“So maybe I could pilot it just for a moment, staying inside a cellar than?”

“But you do realise, that even if we stole it back, your problems won’t end? It will be probably just a beginning…” Sae warned.

“Ha, lass, don’t worry. I’ve already informed my folks, they will surely send us some support. Soon those filthy thieves will find out how messing with Clan Mountainbeard ends! We just need your help until they arrive here.”

**Leisha’s Crossroads**

**Mansion of House Faranger**

Belith Faranger, a man in his thirties, was pacing a room, reading through reports he received. Every few seconds he was throwing one of the parchment into the fireplace.

“Our soldiers are pushing deeper, crushing all orcish resistance. Yet the deserts are larger and climate harsher then we supposed. The settlements we conquered are so poor. Managing those lands won’t bring any profit… should we try recommending House Ardentwell for that position? Recently their influence in Grasshaven is growing too strong, that would surely impair their strength. I need to contact allies from the capital, with their support we might convince the king.”

He opened a cabinet, then placed his signet in the middle of a small magical circle. Wards dimmed, allowing him to open a drawer with “House Divuneth” written on it. He took a small quill and wrote a short note knowing that his recipient should be able to read it by the time he checks a twin artifact of his.

For a moment he marvelled the device; secure and almost instant communication over so long distances was wonderful. Yet with limitations and prices items like this had, it could be only used for important matters.

After reactivating the wards he proceeded with the next report.

“Baaru Consortium claims that their caravan was attacked by demons on the road from Windhelm. Moreover, monsters' activity is growing, not only south from Leisha’s Crossroads, but also near Grasshaven. Hmm… Sending more soldiers to protect my farmers will be a necessity soon. There are already rumours amongst people about evil cults, if more country-bumpkins get killed by wandering owlbears it might turn into an outright panic.”

“Silverford family again. The spies claim that they’ve been hiring wizards recently. First the ore, now wizards… at least it seems that they’ve finally stopped buying all the transports. I wonder, for what they need those large quantities of ores. Should I try to place more spies among their servants? Hmm… they are funded again by Swiftglide if our eyes in their estate are to be trusted. Just what are they plotting this time?”

Belith angrily crushed a note and threw it into the fireplace. Since the orcish attack few years ago, when Duke of Fallpoint shamelessly lost his city and was forced to flee with his family, wealthy families like Silverfords or Swiftglades started to claw their way towards nobility. Step by step they reached for more power in Leisha’s Crossroads and now, even true nobles like his family, with bloodlines and ties to Houses of the capital, couldn’t afford to simply ignore this new nobility.

“It is still better than in Fallpoint right now. With so many prominent Houses suddenly losing not only their properties and soldiers but also powerful retainers or even household members, merchants’ eagerly filled the void, buying their titles by funding crown’s war efforts.”

In Leisha’s Crossroads, so far only Lawketts managed to really secure their position, after grasping the chance few years ago. Having their wealth backing them, after marrying into some minor nobility, they were currently one of the most prominent political forces.

“And it looks like now others wish to follow their steps. We already have enough big players here… having fourth isn’t in our interest.”

He sat by his desk, playing with his stylish, but completely non-magical quill. He wondered whether to address his next letter to Lawketts or House Boeward.

'Since an heir of Boewards has been wounded in a duel, they seem to be unpredictable...'

It was hard to admit even to himself, but he actually preferred to cooperate with Lawketts. Especially because of one of their arguments. He smiled, thinking about Gwen. Moreover, they often seemed to be more reasonable than most of the Noble Houses.

“Life was much easier when I only needed to do what the elder said,” Belith sighted.