“Transportation is the hub of civilization. Without it we would all just be living in isolated conclaves and rarely if ever interact with one another.” - Asitus Plionus Severos, Philosopher from the First Elmaiya Empire, also known as the proponent of road projects.

“Five silver per person for the trip from here to Oajib, unless you have useful skills to contribute?” asked the merchant as he eyed the three women before him with some curiosity. One of them looked and dressed like a bard, nothing unusual about that. The other two somewhat surprised him with their well-built physiques, though, so he asked in case they would be willing to contribute to the caravan for a cut in the price they’d need to pay to join them.

“Well, I can sing when we’re on break to entertain everyone,” replied Kino to the merchant’s question. She was pretending to be a lot younger and more naive than she was, which wasn’t too hard for her to do. Aideen just told her to act like how she did when she had not risen for long back then. “They can fight and want to help as guards while we’re traveling though.”

“I can reduce one silver for you, and those two can pay half price each,” replied the merchant, citing standard price for passage. If anything he gave the bard girl a bit of a deal, as normally most caravans would only cut their fees by a tenth, but with how pretty she was, the merchant figured that nobody would mind. Everyone liked having a pretty girl sing and entertain them during the boring trip.

As for the other two, halving the fees for those willing to help the caravan’s guard and fight when needed was also normal. He wasn’t sure how skilled the two women were, as he was no fighter and couldn’t exactly assess them by sight, but the way they carried themselves reminded him of the older veterans amongst the caravan guards. That was a good thing, all considered.

“Certainly, then. When should we gather for the journey?” asked Kino with a grateful nod. Amongst the things she had learned were the ‘normal’ prices for passengers hitching a ride with a merchant caravan. The one they decided on turned out to be a decent bit cheaper than most, though not by that much, and also gave them better cuts in fees after they expressed their willingness to contribute.

Some merchants drove their price as high as they could, often preying on travelers who needed to go to their destination immediately when they were the only option available. In contrast, honest merchants who abided by the general market price were more common, as predatory practices, while useful for short term profits, often gave one a bad reputation.

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Even so, it was still nice to find a merchant who saw three young women traveling together and didn’t try to take advantage of them.

Kino had been made aware by her lessons and experiences that people were all too often willing to bend the rules – and sometimes, their morals as well – for profit when they thought they could get away with it. As it was, the merchant caravan they would travel on was from Assadun, further east of Oajib where they would disembark.

After some considerations Aideen had pointed out that if they started their round trip at Assadun they would have to double back quite a bit to the west, so using Oajib which was further west as their starting point would be a better choice, even if the place had a bit of an unsavory reputation. Either way, the three didn’t exactly have anything to fear, per se, as they were more than well prepared to handle most any eventuality that they might run into.

The three waited for a couple days for the merchants to finish their business in Elezia, a trading town on the far north-eastern reaches of the Elmaiya Empire. The town was one that saw much trade from both the nations of northern Ur-Teros. The place would have been even more prosperous if it was a trade city, but unfortunately much of Elmaiya’s northern coastline was dominated by steep cliffs which made them unsuitable for ports.

Instead they depended on land trade for their prosperity.

The same mountain range that used to separate Elmaiya from Ptolodecca and Antemeia also separated them from the collection of smaller nations on the north side of the continent, with most traffic from there going through a single valley pass in the mountain range. Elezia was positioned at just the right spot to be the trading hub on the Elmaiyan side of the pass, which brought the town a lot of prosperity.

Some Jarldom traders – those who did not have access to ships or loathed the idea of passing through the Lichdom – also took the northern land route, crossing the northern nations to reach Elmaiya, so trading towns like Elezia often saw people from all over the continent. It was one reason why the three had not started looking for transportation until they reached there.

After a few days, the merchants were finished with their business in town, with new sets of trade goods loaded up in their caravans. They didn’t have much space for passengers, all considered, as Aideen, Kino, and Eilonwy were seated next to the drivers of three different carriages for the journey, as were two other passengers that had also sought passage with the caravan.

The wagons themselves were stuffed to the brim with all sorts of trade goods. On top of that, Aideen guessed that the head merchant likely possessed a larger storage artifact where he hid the most valuable goods and kept it with him for safety reasons. It was normal for merchants to do so, keep the most valuable items in the safest place, while the wagons carried the bulkier yet less valuable ones.

For a caravan of seven wagons, the merchants had not skimped on guards, as they had ten riders that followed them along the way, the guards mounted on long-bodied lizards that seemed to almost slither as they moved. The mountain valley pass was known to be a safe one, so the guards were not there to watch out for stray monsters.

They were there to guard against other people.