“So that’s where the Riizen Council presides?” Mithel asked, curiously looking out in the distance towards the sole titanwood within the city. It was draped in all manner of flags and clan symbols, though none were directly engraved into the bark of the tree–save for one, a serene lion’s face carved with such exquisite detail that it almost looked alive.

“That is so,” Sasha answered, “That tree is hundreds of years old, young by the standards of many of the titanwood we passed on the way here. It is meant to remind us that no matter how large we may be, we are but one among many.”

“Always a bigger fish,” Dachna nodded, “We heard that saying a lot growing up in the capital. It’s a pretty good one, truth be told.”

‘And frequently too true,’ Niko thought to himself, feeling a similarly cynical note from Skye’s mind. The two exchanged knowing looks before Sasha began speaking again.

“That image carved upon the tree is my father. At least, when he was younger. It’s the only one allowed to be there.” As they walked, she gestured with her snout to the many flags and carved plates, “Every single family, no matter how big or small, gets a place on the tree. Generally, we try to put them in proper positions based on how influential they are, but no one really pays attention to them, save for those on the main branches.”

“I take it that means main families?” Stella asked, and as Sasha nodded in affirmation continued, “How many of such families are there?”

“There are eleven main families, though not all of them get involved in the decision making for Riizen. The Rava Clan are a good example of that; they are fighters and warriors and not especially interested in the management of the city.” The sabrecat explained, before turning her attention back to where they were walking. Niko followed her gaze, before realizing that the buildings around them had changed in style. Whereas before, the style was chaotic and disordered, this area was much more thematic. It wasn’t uniform, per se, but they all had the same general themes to them.

Arching beams of shaped wood and abundant slates of stone formed a very sweeping, curving architecture for the buildings in the area. Busts with vague likenesses to various sabrecats that Niko had never met were mounted on a stand next to a home, and in some cases flanked by many others. Niko felt his brain heat up as he focused on the words. Alterra’s gift deciphered the language for him. In moments, it clicked, far easier this time than with the first language he’d ever read in this world.

‘Why didn’t it trigger earlier, though?’ Niko frowned, having already looked at plenty of examples of writing previously on the way there, ‘Was it a focus thing?’

Whatever the case, reading what was carved into the base of the bust turned out to be hardly important. On each one, there was what appeared to be a name carved into the wood, likely belonging to the likeness of the bust and, probably, the one who currently resided in the household itself.

“What’s with the heads?” Dachna asked with a mild frown on his face.

“They are the owners or residents of the home they are attached to,” Sasha informed him without slowing in the slightest, “If you look closely, there are often other symbols carved into them that tell more about them. At least, for those who wish to do so. There are plenty who leave only their name in place, either unwilling or uncaring to divulge anything more.”

“Why use faces at all?” Mithel followed up curiously, “It seems… a little extra, I guess.”

Thokk leaned down and answered, “It is based on a superstition that the busts will ward off unwelcome spirits while the owners are away. It is silly, in my opinion.”

Sasha let out a low yowl of annoyance, “We do not all think of it as such. It is useful for finding specific individuals at times, and doubly so as valuable keepsakes.”

Niko slowly nodded at Sasha’s explanation, unable to keep the amused expression from his face. Sasha pretended not to notice, instead going on to explain how this area belonged primarily to her family. It wasn’t as though others couldn’t live there, however there was at least a general tendency for those of the same family to stick together.

It was exceedingly rare that other families might ever attack one another, but there were occasionally incidents between the younger generations. Even those were rarely anything more troublesome than spats between peers. The reason was simple enough; the council system was generally fair and well reputed, leaving most people with few complaints even if a matter did not side with what they wanted.

It wasn’t perfect, of course, as no system ever really was when it met the real world, but Niko imagined that the higher families would then be able to determine what path they would take going forwards. It wasn’t strictly the fairest for the smaller houses. However, there was no way to make everyone happy, so either one had to cater to the larger majority, or the more powerful minority.

Niko hadn’t seen any of the telltale signs of oppression and discontent, but he wasn’t naive enough to believe that there wasn’t any of that around. Surely, there were families and clans that didn’t quite agree with the majority. But, even with all that said, Niko wasn’t sure he should be worrying about that just yet. He was just a guest in Riizen, and as far as he was concerned, they were here to secure aid to Greenleaf and to find better hunting grounds. A very short vacation wouldn’t be amiss, but if nothing else, recent events had enlightened Niko all too well that he wasn’t strong enough.

“Here we are,” Sasha announced proudly, flanked by Roan, “My family home, the Blue-Claw Estate.”

Niko trilled lightly at the sight of the building, which was a full four stories tall and three times as wide as the guildhouse had been, with the same kind of curving architecture as the rest of the district. A fence, decorated to appear more like winding vines, encircled the estate's property, larger than what Orson’s own home had occupied. It made sense, though, as Niko saw many other buildings on the property, each with subtle embellishments that set them apart from one another. Each of the auxiliary buildings surrounding the central one, though, focused the attention on the resplendent estate that Niko guessed housed the head of the family.

A pair of sabrecats barred their entry for a moment, before they released a pulse of essence into the ground beneath them. The heavy, eight meter tall gates then began to open with a motion smoother than their size would otherwise allow for, with hardly a sound. Moreover, Niko could see the flare of essence-dense sigils as they reacted to the injection by the guards, both of whom Niko realized were high tier three at the least. They bowed their heads low as the group approached, issuing their official greeting towards Sasha as their princess.

Niko couldn’t pay that much mind, though, as his eyes positively blazed from the essence in the environment. Whatever else the fence did, a potent amount of essence remained trapped upon the estate grounds, which was at the very least tier three. For everyone in the procession, breathing seemed to become easier, the lively pulse of potent essence filling their veins. Niko relished in the sensation, as he breathed in the ambient essence deeply.

It was lightly aspected essence, that much he realized almost immediately. While that normally made absorbing it at least slightly more of a task, this essence seemed to almost be like a warm hearth, a certain quality of invitation and a ready will to be put to use. Niko’s footsteps slowed slightly as he breathed in even deeper, pulling on the essence with his own essence body. As expected, it flowed easily into his body, siphoning down into the core of his body and filling him with power.

“Niko?” Skye broke him from his attention, “Are you doing something?”

Niko startled to attention, realizing that the eyes of those near him were all set on him. He cleared his throat embarrassedly, “Sorry, I was just savoring the local essence. It’s… Uh, really good.”

“Maybe leave some for the rest of us?” Dachna poked fun at him, “But, yeah, I do feel better here. What’s up with that?”

“There are several sigils that help to draw essence in,” Sasha then shook her head, “That said, I don’t know the exact source. I suspect it’s something of a family secret, but my Mother hasn’t yet told me of it.”

“It’s appreciated, in any case. Speaking of your Mother, do we need to address her in any particular way? As guests, I mean?” Ronald asked, prompting Sasha to pause in consideration for several seconds.

“Hmm… I would say the general greeting would be the most appropriate. ‘Greetings to the Matriarch of the Blue-Claw Clan,’ or some such. She is marginally more of a stickler for official conduct… However, I’m certain she’ll forgive most any breach in etiquette, considering we’ve not had contact with humanoids in so very long, and as you are all not nobility.” Sasha answered at length, satisfying Ronald’s question and then some.

As they walked, Niko noted that instead of a standard garden with shrubbery and flowers–though there was indeed that much there–there was also an abundance of sand and rock. The rock gardens were austere and well decorated, and Niko felt the sudden urge to roll in the extremely fine sand.

‘The only question is if that’s a good idea or–’ Niko internally scoffed, ‘Wait, why am I even considering that, I’d rather just take a water bath.’

Still, even with the insistence, Niko made a mental note to try sand bathing at some point. Probably not with the fancy sand they kept out front for decoration, though.

The yard and its decor competed actively with what the Baron and Guildmaster had while in Greenleaf, but upon approaching the building itself, Niko had to admit that neither could compare to what his Aether Sight was currently telling him. ‘This building contains tier four essence, and is absolutely bedecked in hidden sigils. I can’t even make them out clearly, there’s just too much interference. Plus, it looks like the whole thing has been painstakingly carved.’

His eyes followed the spiraling patterns, graceful and elegant while somehow toeing the line of excess, but never crossing it. Gilded railings glinted in the light, and the structure somehow seemed to stand even taller as they approached the threshold to enter the building.

Niko felt the sensation of someone watching them, then, and he instinctively sought any trace of observation with his Aether Sight. Nothing obvious presented itself, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling from the back of his mind.

“Princess Sasha,” A large, pure black sabrecat that stood at two and a half meters at the shoulder, suddenly appeared in front of the doors. “Welcome home.”

“Ottowan,” Sasha greeted with a nod and a smile, “Thank you. Will you be announcing us to the house?”

Ottowan blinked his eyes slowly while answering, “Indeed. May I inquire as to their identity and status?”

“They are collectively known as the Wyldwalkers, a Guild Team from Greenleaf. They are also on the pilgrimage, and I owe them a great deal. They should be respected as equal to myself.” Sasha answered confidently.

Niko watched Ottowan for any shift in expression, but aside from a marginal raise of his eyebrows, nothing more happened. “Very good, then. I will take care of it.”

The black sabrecat vanished before Niko’s eyes, but that alone didn’t bother him. What did bother him was the fact that the essence where he’d been hadn’t shifted in the slightest the entire time he was there. Niko wouldn’t have known that he’d been there if he hadn’t directly spoken to them.

‘Holy squawk, I really need to figure out how to find this kind of stuff. How are they not leaving essence traces at all?’ Niko groused to himself, looking around once more and failing to find even a trace of Ottowan’s departure or arrival.

The wide and tall double doors to the building before them opened following Ottowan’s departure, permitting them all entry. The wide stairs leading up to said double doors, were covered in a rough and sturdy material that reminded Niko of a doormat, easily allowed even Thokk to stride up to the doors. Similarly, no single part of the architecture seemed to be built too small, and the entire procession was able to enter the home at will.

A ripple of essence passed over Niko and the others, but even though he’d felt it, he couldn’t tell the source, aside from that it was very near to them. A voice accompanied it, one that he recognized as belonging to Ottowan. “Announcing the Princess’ return, along with her honored company, the Wyldwalkers.”

The essence ripple emparted a perfectly clear image of their group, and Niko noticed that there was writing within the image, roughly giving a set of instructions for what Niko presumed to be the servants or employees that the message was intended for.

And, a few seconds later, a flurry of activity began, where Niko saw several other sabrecats and a handful of other beasts move to action, several of them pausing as they made their way through the reception hall to greet the party before rushing off further.

“They will prepare rooms for the guests to stay in. The Matriarch is busy at the moment, but she will be in attendance for dinner. Please, make yourselves at home, and let us know if you need anything.” Ottowan dipped his head in a slight bow.

Niko looked to the rest of his companions, but before he could say anything, Sasha spoke up, “I plan on taking them all to the bathhouses immediately.”

This time, Ottowan got a wan smile on his face, “Of course, the extra treatment?”

Sasha vigorously nodded, “Yes, most certainly.”

Niko and the rest of the Wyldwalkers all exchanged dubious glances. With a mental flex, Niko asked Skye, “You think that’s why she wanted to get here before it got too late?”

“Better be a good bathhouse, if that’s the case.” Skye replied internally with a chuckle, “I’m not against it, though. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a proper bath.”