The walls were mounted with Plasma Carronades every twenty paces or so. As soon as Yuriko entered the Waypoint, the hidden details cunningly omitted from the translucent Veil popped out.

The docks were set outside the walls, and under the oversight of a dozen carronades. Nearly a dozen small Chaos ships were moored there, floating off the ground by a couple of paces at least. Most of the ships were Imperial in feature, though there were a couple that looked more exotic. A floating raw log, for one, and what looked like a sandcastle was the other. She could see crew members standing watch on the decks.

From where Yuriko entered, she could see a path that led toward the gates. She could also see the carronades that suddenly oriented towards her. She froze and stared, but when they did nothing, she walked towards the gate. The carronades followed her movement for a couple of minutes, while she felt an inquisitive wave of Animus wash over her. She stopped it from penetrating into her Anima but allowed it to linger on her safe pouch, where her artefact holder’s ID card was stored. It must have been enough verification since the carronades went back into a neutral position afterwards.

There was a small line at the gate, which also serviced the people coming from the docks. A dozen disparate men and women glanced curiously at her when she came close. Yuriko held tight control over her Anima, trying to keep her Mien from affecting anyone. She didn’t think that did much though, since all dozen of them and the gatekeeper gazed at her for a long while. Yuriko cleared her throat, staring pointedly at the woman gatekeeper, who blushed then continued her job.

When she came to the head of the line, the woman said, “Name and purpose.”

“Yuriko Davar. Rest and replenishment.”

“Are you intending to enter the Delovine plane?”

“If I can, but only to pass through.”

“I see. Unfortunately, traffic through the Channels is booked solid until three weeks from now, but even then the slots could quickly fill up.” The woman said apologetically.

“I suppose I could just skirt around Delovine,” Yuriko muttered.

“That might add more time to your travels, Miss Davar. Make sure you provision properly.” The woman advised. Then she frowned as she looked down at her crystal screen. “The sensors indicate that you’re carrying Chaos shards. Policy states that they must be declared upon entry. I’ll let it slide since we actually have not concluded immigration. By Imperial policy, all Chaos shards and dust must be exchanged for Sovereigns in the Resource Recovery Centre. Take a right turn just past the gate. You can’t miss it.”

“Thank you,” Yuriko said as she was let through.

Going through the gate tunnel revealed that the wall was nearly ten paces thick, and looked like it was made all in one piece rather than blocks mortared together. Or rather, the stones were probably melded together, if not materialised.

Melded, she decided, considering that there were runescript lines carved into every inch, and from the looks of it, some of the lines sank into the stone and probably continued inside. The lines were simple and repeated throughout the wall. Toughness. Ambient Chaos conversion to denatured Animus. Repair and recovery. Deflection and absorption. Animus channel. Impressive.

The wall absorbed ambient Chaos and not only did it make it stronger and nearly indestructible, repaired any damage done, and also powered something. The Plasma Carronades, she assumed.

A discrete cough behind her disrupted her musing, and she blushed when she realised she’d been blocking the path. She hurried on after murmuring an apology.

The Resource Recovery Centre really was just a few paces from the entrance. She entered and fell in line. Soon enough, she was taken to a booth with a young man seated behind a desk. A weighing scale was placed in the centre and the man gestured to it without even looking up at her.

Yuriko pulled out the shards she picked up, totalling roughly forty-nine HiJins. The scale was set to GiJins though, and showed four hundred ninety-four.

“You are an Imperial citizen?”

“Yes.”

“ID please.”

Yuriko pulled out her artefact holder’s ID and placed it on the table. The man placed it on top of a crystal screen which beeped and changed the surface colour green. He handed the card back to her.

“A measure of shard is bought at three hundred Sovereigns. The total is forty-nine point four, fourteen thousand eight hundred twenty.” From behind the desk, he took out five gold coins, one was thicker and wider than the others, eight octagonal silver coins, and two round silver coins. He waited until Yuriko took them before sweeping the shards into another compartment. “Thank you for your service.”

Yuriko nodded her thanks and left. She forgot about that. The Empire priced Chaos shards higher, but of course, paid much less for it. Oh well. She hadn’t expected to make any coins on her trip anyway, but this meant that the amount she spent on her gear had been recovered.

Well, now she needed to find an inn so she could finally sleep. Her eyes threatened to close on her, and she yawned. Ah, she needed a bath desperately too. Nearly ten days without one. In the ocean Waypoint, she had prevented the water from touching her with her Anima, but that only meant that the sweat and dirt had been trapped within. Switching clothes during her few rests had allowed the cleaning runescript weaving of the backpack to work, but that still meant she was dirty.

There was an inn just a couple of blocks away, but she eyed it doubtfully. However, she didn’t know if there were others. The area in between the walls wasn’t that big, and the keep in the middle took a lot of space. For that matter, the Waypoint was really small compared to the ones she passed through. It wouldn’t take her a day to walk end to end. Maybe an hour or so.

The feel of the ambient Chaos was more solid though. She couldn’t really judge the iarvesh level of a place accurately, but she felt it was closer to one than two. However, unlike a town set within a plane, Coltherstone Fortress didn’t have any children running around. A lot of tough-looking men and women though. If they weren’t legionnaires of militia, she supposed they were adventurers.

The peoples across the Empire were diverse, though mostly human, with skin tone and hair colours running the gamut. In fact, the only way to really tell an Imperial from citizens of another nation was the manner of dress. In Coltherstone, people either wore drab and serviceable clothing or leather or metal armour.

Militia back in Rumiga didn’t have metal on their forceweave, but legionnaires did. Metal plates inscribed with runescript weaving to enhance protections or lighten loads.

Yuriko saw another inn down the road but it looked just as well-worn and shabby as the one she was standing in front of. Shrugging, she entered the common room. The scent of sizzling meat made her mouth water, so she made her way towards an empty seat and called for a server when one went out of the kitchen.

The common room was crowded despite the hour. Hmm, come to think of it, her time sense needed fixing after that long journey. The server, a young woman with short red hair, walked up to her.

“Whatever's the source of that lovely scent.” Yuriko preempted, “And I’ll need a room to sleep in.”

“Fifty Sovies for food, a hundred and ten for a…private room,” the woman said with a smile. “You look like you’ll need it.”

“I…yes, I suppose. Er, two servings please, and that room for the night.”

“Alright. You pay when the food gets here and I’ll speak to Hal about the room. He’ll come by in a bit.” The woman sashayed away, her short skirt floating and threatening to expose her underwear.

Yuriko leaned against the back of her chair and sighed. It had been a long week. Of course, that was when some cretin touched her hair.

________

Sheamus Dorn sighed as he lifted the mug of ale and downed it in a single go. “One more!” He roared to the bar wench, Andrea, giving her plump bottom a playful slap when she came past. The girl giggled at his antics and he flashed her an inviting smile. The blush on her cheeks was all the answer he needed and he knew she’d be scratching at his door late tonight. The woman had hair the colour of fire, reddish-orange. He looked forward to seeing if that colour was the same for everywhere else.

He’d gotten through his third mug before he started to feel a pleasant buzz and about a half dozen more before he was well and truly drunk.

While he drank, he couldn’t help but stare at that little number’s bottom as she sashayed up and down the common room floor. She gave him a wink every time she met his gaze and he answered with a smug smirk. Well, who wouldn’t fall for him? Sheamus had a successful career as an adventurer and he’d been working the Waypoints around Coltherstone for nearly a decade.

Harvesting Chaos shards and dust from Waypoints wasn’t the easiest thing to do. And, since he wasn’t a Verdanian, he was only paid a hundred fifty Sovies per measure of shard, and only one point five Sovies per measure of dust. Half of what they’d pay a Verdanian.

It was the foreigner tax, he was told. It was true that the Chaos Sea around the Empire had rich Waypoints. Fully a third of them had creatures that condensed Chaos shards and at least half had Chaos dust. It was a nearly unheard of proportion compared to what could be found in the Coalition territory or even to the Independent Planes beyond. The number was closer to a tenth of Waypoints and a fourth, there.

Aside from alchemical concoctions that allowed a person’s Animus reserve to deepen, Chaos shards and dust were good for all manner of things. Chaos dust or ground up shards could be used in the fields to grow bountiful crops or used as reagents for weapons and runescript etching. It was even mixed with Iron and steel to create tougher and more resilient alloys.

Chaos shards and dust were needed for Animatech, and the abundance near the Empire assured that they would always have the lead.

Well, Sheamus’ forays as part of an adventurer group paid well. The costs were big too, and after everything was accounted for, he could live a fairly comfortable life if he went out on an expedition that lasted a week every three weeks or so. That did leave a lot of leisure time. But he’d rather not risk his life too much.

There were always casualties. If not this expedition, then the next. It was also impossible to know if a Waypoint had creatures or dwellers unless they entered it, and if they were so unlucky as to come across a Chaos lord; well, that’s where casualties come from.

His fingers rubbed the beryl stone on his necklace. It was where his bound weapon spirit lived. Binding to a spirit, through a weapon, a freshly killed animal, or a pet, was one of the easiest ways to strengthen the Anima and develop Animus techniques. Sheamus was a self-taught prodigy even if he did say so himself.

He didn’t want to take in a Geist as that would change him in unexpected ways. He didn’t want to take care of a creature, and that only left binding a weapon and awakening its spirit. But, he reasoned, doing so meant that he would be stuck with a single weapon his entire life. Sure, it got stronger as he did, but the initial quality mattered. And, what if the weapon he picked wasn’t really suited to him? Well, his idea was to bind and awaken the spirit of a gemstone and then attach that to a weapon as needed. By doing so, he would remain adaptable. Sure, it made his progress slower, but so what.

He was on his ninth mug when a vision of beauty walked into the inn. The mug almost fell off his fingers as he stared. The tall woman was simply too eye-catching, even if she wore men’s clothing. In fact, her pants showed off the curves of her legs wonderfully!

And that hair! How it shimmered in the dim light. It was made of spun gold and gave off glimmers of sunlight. He couldn’t help himself. As the woman sat down at a table and talked to Andrea, Sheamus staggered to his feet and stumbled across the floor. He ignored a few of his colleagues’ jesting calls and reached out. The golden hair was like silk! So smooth and smelled of fresh flowers. There was an undertone of sweat, but that just made the beauty stand out. He froze when the woman turned around and glared at him with her imperious blue eyes.

“Go away.”

And the next thing he knew, he was outside the inn, nearly to walls. He only came to himself when he ran into a steel post.

“What in the Abyss happened?” he muttered, unable to recall the past couple of hours.

Scratching his head, he spun on his heels and fell into a drunken heap. Then he threw up and passed out.