The summer wind was blowing along the dry sandstone of Chsyatana. The city stood where the Zagdib mountains met the bay sea's southern shore. A cliff almost a thousand feet tall rose directly from the water, not far a steep slope rose to meet its top. To this slope clung the city of Chsyatana, already ancient when the Pliranti Empire conquered it almost two thousand years ago. The city’s terraces clung to the slope like the steps of stairs in disarray. Ten it where, the topmost being the royal terrace, housing the royal Family Apetochos, the lowest being the harbour terrace, where all the docks as well as many warehouses and trading offices were. Carved into the sides of the cliff – the one overlooking the city as well as the one overlooking the sea – was the fortress. How large it truly was and how deep it went into the rock was a closely guarded secret, but it had stood the test of time so far.

To the north of the city, in the bay sea, an occasional rock protruded from the calm waves, the highest point of the sunken spires, a vestige of the Zagdib mountains running north that had sunken in the Great Sundering. They sunk any ship daring to cross from west to east anywhere other than the less than the half mile-wide gap that lay so close to the city of Chsyatana. And it was through this passage through which a ship was passing on this dry summer day, carrying Nannade and her Teacher Garetas.

Nannade was taking the view in. The carved galleries of the fortress and the ramp-elevators running between terraces reminded her of what she had seen at midpoint bay of the salt river. This was even further east than the salt river or the bridges and marked her first visit to east Ackarom.

The ship landed at its dock and the passengers poured from deck. Nannade took a moment to take in the view. She had throw her head back all the way to see the palace at the top of the slope. The cliff ran out of the side of the slope towards the ocean and into it were carved fortifications and battlement. Surely from that angle, one could easily oversee the entire city.

“Come.” Her Teacher Garetas gestured her to catch up. “We have a lot of stairs to climb before we reach Master Paramonos’ house.”

Master Paramonos’ house was on the merchant's terrace, not a bad area of the city, but Nannade imagined he would probably prefer the scholar’s terrace. They had to climb many stairs, since Garrett insisted on her using her legs rather than relaxing on the ramp elevators. “How pathetic of someone like you to complain about stairs to climb. You're light and nimble, put your lazy butt to work!”

As they climbed higher, the ocean started to reveal its true vastness to Nannade. She could see the sunken spires connect into a narrow band running past the horizon, the sails of ships like colourful leaves carried by the wind, all being pressed through that narrow safe passage not far away from the cliff side city.

The sight did not last long. The first row of houses on each terrace already robbed all others of the view, narrow alleys dominating the architecture of almost all terraces. They found Master Paramonos’ house, directly up to the natural rock face of the slope. It was pressed directly against the rock of the slope and rather wide, covering the width of several smaller houses on the terrace.

Master Paramonos was a short man with a bushy head of grey and white hair. His face seemed to be eternally jovial. He wore a long robe of dark blue and bright red with black trim. He greeted the two and beckoned them to come in.

“Be greeted, you must be Nannade of Sturreland. I am Master Paramonos and I will soon be your Master to induct you into the deep mysteries that we study here. Come on in!”

The room he led them to was comfortably furnished and inviting. Garetas and Paramonos took place in armchairs close to each other, while Nannade sat down in an armchair a bit further away. A young man came in through another door and put down baked goods and tea for then to enjoy while Garetas and Paramonos held a lengthy discussion that the Master only interrupted to introduce the young man.

“This is Timaeus, one of my current students.” The young man made a bowing gesture and smiled at Nannade. He was of average stature and height and his blonde short hair had a waxy sheen to them. He wore a weird, tall hat that folded forward two thirds up to the pointy tip as well as a dark blue and a short, bright red jacket with black trim held closed with a wide sash of bright red.

“You will be learning alongside him, pay good attention and you will learn many important things!”

The young man excused himself and left the room. Garetas returned to a grim subject. “Our main concern here is not the broad learning you can offer, but the deep mysteries that will help the girl adapt to her new predicament.”

“Of course, of course Garetas! I am the master of the House of theForbidden after all, the one of the Houses of Mysteries that concerns itself exactly with unholy unions, blood pacts, possessions and all those other things. We have trained many a specialist in the necessary things to deal with these issues, one way or another.”

Nannade felt itchy in the comfortable chair, she felt like she was the target of an assassination contract being negotiated right in front of her.

“The most important thing is that we take inventory of what we can see superficially, then we will dive into the girl's subconscious and psyche.”

After some more chat between the two men, it came as Paramonos had said. She was led into the Master’s study, a windowless room with no furniture besides a desk and chair as well as two large book shelves. Timaeus was already waiting with a wax tablet in hand. A young woman in the same garb as Timaeus waited there, too. She had long, dark, wavy hair she wore in a braid and deep brown eyes. Paramonos introduced her as Korinna. She looked at Nannade with a sort of distant spite, uncaringness, while Timaeus smiled.

Paramonos got a set of measuring tools from the desk in the corner. “Undress, Nannade.”

Nannade had to blink once or twice. “Excuse me what?”

“Undress. We need to study your body properly, to spot any progress it might make.”

Garetas spoke up. “Go ahead, these are scholars, not some ogling and leering sailors.”

Nannade did as she was told and instantly felt the eyes on her. Paramonos was busy poking and brushing her skin with the cold and hard instruments, then dictating the taken measurements to Timaeus, but Timaeus and Korinna both had their eyes fixed on her, she needed not to see them, at least not with her own eyes. She felt the judging gaze of Korinna and the leering glances of Timaeus. She wanted to speak up, but she also felt Garetas’ admonishing glare and knew to behave.

Countless measurements were taken and called aloud for Timaeus to note down. Her height, the length of her legs, the width and length of her fingers, her weight, the numbers of joints in her tail, the distance between her nipples, angles of tendons, position of facial features, rotation range of joints, and many, many more.

After Nannade felt that even the darkest nooks and crannies of her body had been measured and noted down, she was handed her clothes back by Paramonos. “Follow Korinna, she will show you to your chambers.”

Nannade got dressed and looked to Korinna, who was waiting for her by the exit. Through various long corridors, Korinna led Nannade.

“Where do all these doors lead?”

“Master Paramonos is the head of the House of the Forbidden and houses almost all facilities of that part of the Houses of Mysteries.” Korinna spoke scholarian with a thick accent that was somewhat pleasing in its tone. In her voice Nannade could hear the weight of duty, as if Korinna not truly wanted her to tell these things. “As such, this building has many rooms, most of which are off-bounds to you or any other student of lower rank.”

“So, are you a student of lower rank too?”

“No, I have already passed my tests.” She waved her right hand, bearing the seal of the Houses of Mysteries. “I bear the seal but have decided to dedicate myself further to the mysteries. I hope to master the forbidden mysteries soon so I can move on.”

They arrived at a door and Korinna opened it to let Nannade inside. She found a simple sleeping quarter for two. “We will be sharing this room. I hope we will get along well.”

It was phrased in a weird way and that did not sit right with Nannade. Nevertheless, she thanked Korinna and inspected their room. It had a window and identical furniture in each half of the room; a bed, a cabinet, a set of drawers. Everything she owned would fit in here. The sooner she got to hauling it here the faster she would be done settling in. She went back to Garetas.

Her Teacher was waiting for Nannade in the room Paramonos had originally received them in. “Ah Nannade, just in time. Your luggage has arrived. I’ll be gone soon, I need to settle into my own quarters down on the craftsman’s terrace.”

Nannade walked over to the heavy chest. “What will you be doing here?”

“At first? Make contacts and acquaintances. I should start looking for reliable people to get contracts from. When that’s done, I’ll be conducting my own studies and research.”

Teacher had never really about receiving his sixth mark of approval someday. Three were required to graduate from apprentice to independent Hidden Hand, six completely encircled the name seal of a Hidden Hand, making a sort of milestone, but many never got more than four, and some rare ones even acquired a seventh or eighth. It would be fitting that he would acquire his sixth seal from Chsyatana, considering he lacked much knowledge about the mystic arts and that he would now have to deal with them much more.

“I’ll help you carry your things to your room.”

After they had brought the big heavy chest down and sorted her clothes in her cabinet, Garetas turned to Nannade put his hand on her shoulder. “Do your best and master your situation. And do what Master Paramonos tells you. Don’t act by yourself, if I have some contracts for the both of us, I'll contact you! Do you understand?”

She nodded. “Yes, Teacher.”

Once the door had fallen shut, Paramonos turned to Nannade with a jovial expression. “Nannade, I hope you will get along well with the other students. Don’t be intimidated, this situation is new and unfamiliar for everyone.” He took one of two small bells from the side table and rang it. Soon after, Korinna came around the corner and assumed an attentive pose.

“Yes, Master?”

“Please take Nannade to the tailor's and hand in this commission for her garb. But first, give her your old clothes.” He handed her a letter for the tailor.

Korinna took the envelope with a “Yes, Master.” And turned to Nannade. “Come with me.” They returned to their sleep stead and Nannade put down her chest on her bed. Korinna handed her garb, not dissimilar to what she was wearing now, but the hat was much shorter and ending in a flat top rather than a point. “These are the clothes of a student of lower rank. Now get dressed and let’s go down to the tailor’s. Stick close by me.”

Nannade could very well see how getting lost in Chsyatana would be a pain she wanted to avoid. She noticed very quickly something about the inhabitants on the streets: they all wore jewellery quite openly and opulent. Whether it be gold, bronze, silver or other metals, many people adorned their hands, arms, chests and necks with at least something made of them, encrusted with gemstones or even just rock polished to a mirror sheen.

Nannade decided to bring it up to Korinna. “People here sure like jewellery.”

Korinna nodded and hummed. “This city is known for its access to rich mountains. Many jewellers live and work here and even more come from afar to learn the many secrets of the trade that have been discovered here. Jewellery is an important part of fashion here.”

Nannade would have asked more questions, but Korinna already sounded annoyed by her. They arrived at the tailor's shop soon after and handed the piece of paper over. The tailor made big eyes but accepted and the two young women were on their way back.

The remaining day consisted of Nannade sorting her things into the cabinet and the drawers and asking Korinna questions occasionally, all of which seemed to dent her mood even further. Nannade came to the conclusion that her time here would not make her any friends. She grasped the vial around her neck tightly and relaxed. She didn’t need friends. There were much more pressing matters at hand.

The Serpent remained silent.