Rajata City: one of the ten namesakes, the ten settlements named for the creator gods of Berodyl. It was named for the goddess of passion and seduction, Rajata, and on any other morning, it would live up to her name, with lights and song drawing wary travellers into the warm embrace of its walls. However, on this morning, there were no lights, there was no song. Just smoke rising in great plumes, and the low rumble of conflict. “Anyone want to take bets as to what’s going on in there?” Livia prompted as she climbed down from Danu, dismissing her. “Dunlark Spire? Garnet Inquisition? Or something new and worse?”

“It’s too loud and messy to be the inquisition,” Krey hummed. “It’s not their style to lay siege to an entire city. And a namesake at that? No… definitely not them.”

“Dunlark Spire already attacked Ardour Temple,” Emilie posited, “they might have become bold enough to try their luck on a bigger target.”

Livia was almost tempted to speak her mind; with our track record, my money’s on something new and worse. She kept it to herself, though.

The idea to simply go around the city had crossed all three of their minds, but all three of them had dismissed it out of hand. Not only was time of the essence, but the people of Rajata City were most likely in need of three intrepid adventurers, and all three of them at this point had proven that they were resolved to help those in need. They decided that stealth would be a the best way… at least, most of them did. “Have you ever tried sneaking around in full armour?” Krey gestured to himself. “I can move in it just fine, but it’s… clinky, y’know? Makes lots of little clinking sounds.”

“First of all,” Livia raised a finger mockingly, “clinky? Not a real word. Second of all…” she rooted around a pouch on her belt, produced a little glass marble humming with pink light, and presented it with a playful smile. “We can make the clinks go away for a little while.”

“Oh, of course!” Emilie gasped. “The glamours! Brilliant!”

“As long as I don’t end up looking ridiculous,” Krey murmured.

“I think these ones are partially attuned to the will of the user,” Livia postulated. “When I tried the free sample back in Calastre, the dress I ended up with… it resonated with how I felt at the time. So, just… concentrate on the desire for inconspicuousness.”

Krey crushed the glamour in his hand, and a swirling vortex of pink concealed him for a second… and then dissipated to reveal his new look. He was now wearing a skintight grey suit, grey boots that were integrated into the legs of the suit, and similar gloves. To complete the look, a black headband partially held his bangs up out of his eyes, pulled taut across his forehead and tied at the back. “Well, it’s… it’s, uh…” he just shrugged. “It works, I guess.”

“You know what?” Livia nodded slowly, “I think that’s a good look for you.”

“It is not unlike my shroud,” Emilie pondered. “It will serve.”

With that settled, they waited for a a gap to appear in the patrols at the gates, and darted inside. The guards had been green and bronze elves, and they hadn’t been wearing the usual uniform of the Rajata City Guard. More of these elves were patrolling the streets, and from the shadows, Livia, Krey, and Emilie saw actual members of the guard on their knees, their bright red surcoats splashed with the darker, browning red of drying blood. The elves were armed to the teeth with all manner of gear; melee weapons, magic catalysts, toploaders… and some even held weapons that looked exactly like the strange magic rifle that Krey and Livia had taken from that bronze elf back at Ardour Temple. Their apparel was not exactly uniform, but visible on enough of them was the mark of Dunlark Spire branded into their skin. “Looks like Emilie won our little bet,” Krey whispered. It wasn’t just the guards who were being held at the points of swords and guns; it looked like the city’s whole population were being given the same ultimatum: disavow the gods or die. Most just did as they were told, but some dared to stand. These brave fools would not stand for long, and would never stand again.

“Is there nothing we can do for these people?” Emilie lamented.

“Not unless you think we can take an entire city of terrorists by ourselves,” grimaced Livia. “At least not anything we can do right now… but, maybe, an opportunity will present itself.”

The trio entered an abandoned building at the edge of the city, almost touching the perimeter wall, and made their way to the roof. From this perch, they could observe the situation much better… and it was not good. “This makes no sense,” Krey shook his head. “Dunlark Spire have never been able to field a force anywhere near this size before. Their main demographic has always been the desperate elves, but they’ve always been mostly too busy fighting among themselves in the Elven Theatres to be this organised. Overrunning a city and holding it with a permanent garrison is a long way from harassing convoys and raiding nameless hamlets that aren’t even on the map.”

“Notice how we’ve only seen two tribes’ members present,” Emilie pointed. “Perhaps, to sway more to their favour, they promised to back the green and bronze tribes in their petty disputes in exchange for soldiers. It would be a more tenable strategy than trying to recruit elves of every tribe all into the same group.”

“It’s possible,” Krey shrugged,” but what about their equipment? Traditional arms and a smattering of magic, that’s all well and good… but guns? And not just the mundane kind that the dwarves are so fond of, either…” he hummed and hawed while stroking his chin. “I think there’s more to this than we can see. I think Dunlark Spire themselves are being backed by a force more powerful still.” A thought occurred to him as he recalled what that bastard Hector had said to him, but he kept it buried deep for the time being, not even allowing the words to connect in his mind.

They retreated from the roof before they could be spotted, having seen all they could see. They scoured the building for anything they could used, but the place looked like it’d been ransacked already. “I don’t know about you two,” Livia said, “but I can’t see myself leaving this city without doing something to help.”

Krey nodded. “Any ideas? Like you said earlier, we can’t run around fighting everyone, we’d do more harm than good and just die in the process.”

“Maybe…” Emilie spoke slowly as she conjured up ideas behind her closed eyes. “If we found a leader among the enemy, detained them… we might resolve the situation without causing further bloodshed.”

Livia opened the door, lead the party outside, and pointed up at the tower that stood in the centre of the city, reaching up higher than even the outer walls. “I’m willing to bet whoever’s in charge of this takeover has made themselves cosy up there. That’s what I’d do, at least.”

“Indeed,” a new voice said behind them. “That’s exactly where you’re going.” At that same moment, Livia, Krey, and Emilie felt the press of cold metallic points against the backs of their heads: gun barrels. “Turn around slowly.” They did as the voice told them. They saw that the voice belonged to a green elf man dressed in slightly higher quality armour than the three bronze elves with him holding toploaders. He produced a small wooden cane with a red jewel crowning it, and used it to cast a spell. “Do not be alarmed, this is just a precaution; I’m sure you understand.” A red mist passed over the three of them, and it negated Krey’s glamour. When Emilie’s appearance remained unchanged, and Krey’s heraldry was revealed, the green elf cocked an eyebrow. “Well now… a hierophant, a knight Berodyl, and… well, someone worthy enough to share their esteemed company, it would seem. You’ll make quite a fine prize for me to offer to the boss. Make any sudden movements, and my men will shoot you down. Now, start walking.” After exchanging looks, the party silently obeyed. Looks like we’re about to find out if I was right, Livia thought.