We reached Brookfrid with a rather exhausted commander somehow having managed to quell the never-ending fountain of question that was Circe. The girl had mostly asked for stories or if rumours she heard were anywhere near reality. Cerberos even aided Jane in answering the onslaught.

The city that was the seat of the local Lord was large. Not dwarven large but still. It was bigger than Borsdown before the expansion. Jane gave me an estimate of nearly 25,000 people. The buildings were mostly two or three storeys tall and made from stone and timber frameworks. The roofs were straw on the outer edges and tiles further inside.

There were two walls, one about a third of the diameter into the city and about eight metres tall. The houses outside of it were all single-storey and interspersed with small fields the further out one got. The inner wall split a river running through and protected a fort. Overall, it looked much like medieval Europe, which was quite the contrast to the more modern dwarven cities. There was only a single building with glass windows. One I could only call a church.

It looked a little like half an oval from above, the flat front wall holding a wide door. The walls were slightly slanted inwards and on top was a flat platform covered in smaller buildings. A circular tower sat in the centre with the Crimson Church’s cross visible from every cardinal direction. The symbol was shining golden in the evening sun. Four equal-length arms ending in a T were split in the middle. The centre had a circle connecting the pieces with tips pointing inwards where the gaps in the arms were. I could faintly see the black spiral with the six-pronged star on top.

The glass windows were evenly spaced and single-coloured with metal grates holding small glass pieces. I later asked Jane about the meaning and she said there was a window for every aspect of life. It turned out, those were simply the thaumaturgical aspects and not anything like virtues or guidelines for the people but the priests often connected them to normal people’s lives in their sermons. When I asked about the meaning of the cross, she simply told me I should wait until we reached the Crimson Heart.

My magical senses spotted two distinct sources of vis, one in the fort, the other in the church. The latter also held a considerable amount of flux but it seemed to be manageable. I decided not to ask about that for the time being. I was not sure if the mercenaries were supposed to know about it and did not want them to overhear. That might bring me in bad graces with the church.

I landed on the wagon as it was still an hour or so away from the city’s outskirts. Some people were out in the fields and waved to an energetic Circe. It was not until we reached the buildings that people started paying more attention to me. Hushed whispers laced with fear and suspicion were the most common but some of the younger generation were mostly excited something was happening.

We arrived at the gate an hour before nightfall, the guards hailing us. One of the villagers walked up together with Joachim and Jane and they soon disappeared into the guardhouse. They came out a good ten minutes later which Circe used to gawk at the wall and the people around. In front of the gate was something like a market. Cerberos told me the outskirts were not considered part of the city and only inside the walls you would need to be identified by the guards.

When the others returned, the guard waved us through and we entered the gate. We made through about five metres of tunnel only to emerge on another bustling square, though it looked a little cleaner than the one outside. I had not felt anyone [Identify] me and asked the paladin about it.

“I vouched for you. I’m still a commander and thus outrank pretty much everyone in town. Only the Lord would be my equal.”

“Wait”, I said, “If the lord is your equal, what about the Knights?”

“They’re on the same level as the King. Only the Clerics stand above.”

“Clerics?”

“Crimson Cleric is the highest rank a member of the Crimson Church can have. They are exclusively stationed in the Cathedral, most of them never leaving it.”

“And what’s so special about them?”

“Well, we have paladins, priests and thaumaturges for our rank and file, Commanders need to hold two of those positions and are basically being tested to become a Knight. Most Knights are paladins and thaumaturges, I’d be an exception if I make it with my priest path. Clerics are all three positions combined and elevated.”

“You’d know that if you listened to us”, Circe chided, “I asked that question yesterday.”

I clicked my tongue at her.

“I don’t have the patience to listen to everything you say all the time.”

When she pouted at me, I laughed.

“Don’t be so down. I listen to you a lot. Just not always.”

“Fine. Buy me something nice to make up for it?”

“You wish.”

“This is where we separate”, one of the villagers called out. I could not remember his name.

“We’ll be at the Dancing Jugs for the next week. Come say goodbye at least if you want to stay out, Circe.”

“Will do, Trick. See you!”

Jane turned to Joachim.

“Where will you be staying?”

“We’ve got our guild. There might be rooms for you but it’d be a bit expensive. Best just take a room at an inn. Though we got to check in with the castle first. Maybe the Lord wants to see us right away.”

The woman looked over at us.

“What do you want to do?”

I blinked.

“You want me to decide? I don’t know the city. At all. I’d just tag along, for now.”

“Can we see the Lord?”, Circe asked.

Jane groaned.

“Probably?”, Joachim shrugged, “I can ask.”

“So cool!”

“We’ll stick with you, for now”, I said, “Any inns you’d recommend?”

“Plenty. I’ll point them out to you on the way.”

“Wait!”, Circe giggled, “You could just tell the Lord to host us, right Jane?”

“Not a good idea”, the woman frowned, “I’m only equal on paper. I don’t have any actual say and he could make things quite uncomfortable for us.”

The girl pouted which elicited a chuckle from Ludwig.

“We’ll see what’s gonna happen. He might not even meet us today. It’s quite late already.”

It turned out that was exactly the case. The guards sent for a steward who sent a runner to his lord only for someone else to return and the steward told us to come back the next day. At least we would have a restful night.

There was an inn only a few buildings over from the mercenary guild the Plains Brigade belonged to. It was simple in décor but had tasty food, according to the humans. I settled on hunting something after nightfall. It was not very difficult to get out of the city. There were guards on the walls, some with torches, some without, but they lacked the Skills to detect me once I rose a few hundred metres into the air. Or they had been informed not to stop me but I doubted I was that important.

There was activity on the church’s roof even this deep into the night. The little buildings on top were lit up by torches and candles and a few people moved in between every once in a while. I spent some time observing and found a barrier reminding me of some unpleasant company. This one seemed sturdier, though. I would likely take much longer to get through without being noticed than that ork idiot’s simple construct. The Lord’s castle had no such security, at least around the walls. From my vantage point, I spotted some wards around the central building. This one was looking rather thorough but it mostly protected the bottom half.

I ceased my observations and returned to the inn. A simple shift and I was back in the room I shared with Circe. Jane had taken one for herself, which I appreciated. My friend was sitting on the cotton mattress huddled into her blanket. She was fiddling with her fingers and did not notice my return into the dark room.

I jumped up on the bed table and she looked up.

“What’s got you down?”, I asked telepathically. The walls were not very good at blocking sound.

She pouted and dropped to her side.

“I’m fine”, came the answer in my head.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded weakly.

I spread a wing and gave her a pat on the head.

“You can always talk to me if you want to. You know that?”

The blanket slid up the rest of her face.

“… I know”, she sent eventually.

“You’re also getting very good at [Telepathy]”

“Really?”

Her face peeked from the cocoon.

I nodded.

I saw the smile reach her eyes.

“Thanks!”, she sent.

I retreated to the other bed, simple resting on the end of it. My mind slowly wound down. Just before I fell asleep, Circe whispered my name.

“Fio?”, she asked, “Are you awake?”

“What is it?”, I sent.

“I… can’t forget the eye.”

“Oh… That’s what’s plaguing you?”, I asked.

“Mhm.”

She even mumbled telepathically.

“… I think you’re warped pretty badly”, I eventually said.

“What?”

“You were definitely able to take it but… some things might not make all that much sense. Take your time to figure it out. Once we get some time I’ll show you the Thaumonomicon again. Alright?”

She was not able to see much in the darkness but still smiled at me.

“Thanks, Fio.”

“Always. Now sleep. It’s late.”

After a short rustle of her blanket, I soon heard Circe’s breathing slow down. It looked like the encounter with Truth had left its traces on her as well. She should have been like the villagers; knocked out and none the wiser. But she was not. Truth had gauged her to comprehend more. Maybe the close proximity to me had eased her in?

More importantly, the main hurdle for a mutual [Familiar Bond] was breaking down. We would have to make a decision soon.