Chapter Text

A thick fog hung lazily over the Imperial city of Nuln, its high walls holding the pollution-tinted clouds in the city like a quiet valley and its tall buildings hulking like islands in the grey sea. The foundries puffed black smoke into the sky and the furnaces were cleaned in preparation for the day’s forging. The last dark clouds of winter lay over the city like wet cotton, blocking out the springtime sun which was lighting up the distant mountains in a golden hue, contrasting the still dark city.

Near the southern gate of the city there was already bustling activity. Oxen were being tethered to a wagon train that wound up through the street, stretching several city blocks in length. The street was hectic, with several dozen people coming and going from inns and warehouses that lined the street. They loaded bundles of various goods on the back of the carts and lashed their own packs and belongings where they could find room.

Watching all of this from the back of her dappled pony was Tess Moriarti. She drew the hood of her riding cloak up higher in vain as she tried to fight her chills, the thick wool heavy with damp. She caught herself staring at two other figures on the far side of the street, her employer and the owner of the entire caravan, Friedrich Ulhan and his son. Ulhan was a now wealthy and rather renowned Merchant originally from Talabheim of all places, Tess had learned, but now had Caravans and warehouses in most Imperial cities. This year was looking to expand his business to the merchant city of Miragliano in Tilia, which she guessed was why this was such a hugely expensive undertaking befitting of the man’s personal oversight.

Tess Moriarty was a small woman, easily small and petite enough to be confused for a lass barely coming of age. Her skin, originally a light olive, had begun to pale in the harsh climes of the Empire, and her hair a dark grey, eyes brown enough to be black on first glance. Little of that was visible currently as Tess was bound in her traveling clothes to ward off the morning frosts of early spring. Tess absently rubbed her legs through her trousers willing them to avoid the cold, knowing that she would have a long day of riding ahead of her. She was distracted enough that she didn’t notice one of her new traveling companions sidling up to her until he spoke.

“Is int’resting how diff’rent the two of them is no?” The Kislevite spoke, his mustache shaking slightly as he chewed on his lip. The man was tall, his head level with Tess’ waist even with her on horseback, his hair a deep brown and as undoubtedly large a man as he was he had bear furs of the same color as his hair piled around his chest and shoulders, giving him all the appearance of a bear himself.

“Not nearly as interesting as the company we will have with us on this journey Vladimir.” Tess responded rolling her eyes, knowing that the man would fail to catch the jibe in her words.

“Ach,” The Kislevite grunted in agreement, “A hanfull of Dwarf folk and da’ elfy woman. Ah never understand how you Imperials let so many non-humans run ‘round.”

Tess sighed inwardly at this gross insult to her own Tilian ancestry and thought to herself, That’s not to mention the Estalian, or the wild mage or even herself. Tess knew she stuck out just as much as the rest of them, her size even at 23 summers she was barely taller than the dwarves, she mused, and yet all the Kislevite could see human versus non humans.

Tess noticed Freidrich and his son turn their mounts to the city gate and begin riding towards the front of the caravan, halting occasionally to make sure their goods would be secure for the journey south. She slipped on her riding gloves and prodded her mount forwards as she thought back on the evening before, when she met the two Ulhans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tess paused for a moment before the door of the ‘Heavy Purse’, a tavern which enjoyed popularity with both traders and those wishing to work for them. It was a large establishment, playing host this evening to one of the largest caravans in recent memory, not only was it a brand new endeavor for a well-known and respected merchant, but it was also the first caravan to plan a journey southwards across the mountains since the new year. Most others wouldn’t be ready to head off for several weeks.

Tess took a deep breath and pushed the door to the establishment open, going over her plan in her head. This caravan was what she came looking for after all, hailing from Tilia originally she needed a way to find her way back home from her studies in Altdorf, and her profession all but required her to find something a bit more adventurous than a ship. Not to mention her propensity for sea sickness.

Besides, Tess considered, If there was a way she could get paid for going home, it was worth the effort.

Tess strode purposefully into the tavern. She acted as though she belonged, pushing between people as though it were a minor inconvenience, and they treated her in kind. Just a short shadow that was in their way for a moment. The wide and long common room was bursting with people fighting, gambling, and drinking with comrades. Tess was well prepared though, having spent the last several years receiving training in remaining unnoticed. She stuck to the wall, and began walking down it, her hood still up.

Tess surveyed the room, taking note of the occupants and activities, her drab cloak and diminutive stature keeping her from attracting second looks from the few that she passed closely on her patrol. Near the hearth Tess spotted the merchant that she had come to see, he was an old man now, his face pitted and scarred, though she could still see the handsome man that lay in his past. She was too far away to see details, but he appeared to be still hiring for his caravan.

The merchant was seated on the long edge of a table, ledgers and papers stacked in front of him, and seated opposite were two dwarves speaking animatedly and drinking long from well-worn wooden flagons. Both of the dwarves looked to be warriors, both carried crossbows slung over their backs along with circular shields and swords on their hips. Packs lay at their feet, overstuffed and lumpy with traveling supplies. Their shields were decorated with Khazalid runes, of which Tess could only identify the mark of Karak Norn, recognizing it from her studies as a hold in the Grey Mountains west of the Empire.

As the dwarves stood and began to shake hands with the merchant Tess readied herself to approach the merchant. She took a deep breath and lowered her hood, shaking her hair out to give life back to her massive curls.

She felt the suspicion of the men immediately around her as she revealed herself and they actually saw her for the first time. Deeming them insignificant she smoothed her skirt with her hands. It was short, only a few inches below her knees, and gathered to keep from restricting her movement.

As she passed the leaving dwarves she was momentarily surprised, they appeared to be twins, both almost identical looking, with braided mustaches and burly beards. As she got closer she began to notice slight differences however. One had a thin scar on his upper lip where hair did not grow and small charms braided into his beard and mustache, his eyes were sharp and quick. The other seemed almost opposite, his cheeks reddened in the warm glow of merriment, with glass beads in his beard, his eyes were much more cheery, staring at various places around the room in excitement rather than paranoia.

Tess pushed forward quickly, the slight heel on her riding boots clicking faintly on the wooden floor. It was not loud enough to be heard from more than a few feet away in the din of the building but the sound reminded Tess of her purpose and the power she held. She raised her head high, letting those she passed see her confidence as well. When she was only a few paces away she saw the merchant look up at her and his eyebrows furrowed quizzically. Before he could say anything she stopped, standing before him and stuck her hand out.

“Tess Moriarti.” She offered. The merchant quickly stood and took her hand, shaking it lightly as was polite. Tess took his hand with both of hers, firm gripped. Good, Tess thought to herself, already achieved a position of advantage for negotiations.

“Freidrich Ulhan.” He recovered quickly, “Good evening Miss Moriarti.” Freidrich gestured at the chair before him, “How may I assist you today miss?”

Tess pulled her skirt against her legs and sat politely, as a lady would, knowing that the odds of her manners against her appearance would keep the merchant at a disadvantage. “I’m here in inquire, sir, if you are still hiring escorts for your caravan south tomorrow morning?”

Freidrich coughed uncomfortably, “Well most of the men I have in here tonight,” he broadly swept his arms across the entirety of the common area as he continued, “are contracted through a company. I can’t risk everything on someone I can’t trust, you understand.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “However, I still am hiring specialists, since we will be traveling so far through the mountains, and passes not used since before winter at that.” He boasted the last part.

“I see,” Tess began, chewing her lower lip, as though lost in thought. “And you will be using the Brenheim pass out of Kreutzhofen then?”

Freidrich eyed Tess warily, “You seem rather well versed on lesser known mountain trails miss.” He left the accusation hanging, clearly hoping to draw a response, which Tess was happy to provide.

“Herr Ulhan, it is no secret that you make for Miragliano, and the Brenheim pass is the only way straight to Tilia. Why unless you plan on marching through the Border princes on your way which would be foolish for a caravan this high profile! My father, a Miragliano merchant himself, would simply never allow any of his land based shipments to go through that place!” Tess spoke carefully, tilting her head and making the socially correct inflections in her voice at the right time to lure Freidrich into hiring her.

His eyes widened with implication as she drew to a close, “Ah you’re a daughter of a Tilian merchant family then! Trying to get home are we? And you were hoping you could join me as my guest on the way?” Freidrich’s tone became more pointed as he believed to be drawing a bead on Tess, but she decided to deflate him before he withdrew too far from the warm atmosphere she had been building.

“Not at all. I’m here to be hired as one of your specialists.” She stated flatly and suppressed a smirk as the merchant’s eyes narrowed; unsure of which direction she had just turned the conversation.

“Surely a lovely ahh… Woman such as yourself would rather ride in comfort rather than with the outriders, no?” Friedrich asked, trying to regain control of the conversation.

Tess allowed herself a small smile as she closed the trap, “You overestimate my position, sir, I am no heiress to a fortune. As the seventh daughter, I in fact had to find my own way to a fortune, and am on my way home from the Imperial Colleges of Altdorf,”

Tess drew herself as tall as she could manage as she continued, trying to swing the hammer of her reveal hard enough to shatter the merchants preconceived notions of her and leave her entirely in control of a contract for her position as one of his specialists. “You see I have just completed my education as a Magister of the Grey Order, and need to seek work, as such, on my way home.”

Freidrich’s eyes buldged with comprehension for but a moment before he recovered, “Ah, I see.” He said flatly. “Unfortunately I do not know if we have room for a wizard of your order on this journey, you see-“

“I do believe YOU should see. As I am sure you know an Imperial Wizard like myself brings not only safety to your caravan but prestige and power to yourself.” Tess countered.

Freidrich interrupted her with a raised hand. “You make a good point for yourself miss. A Shadow Wizard may indeed prove useful to our outriders. I can offer you one silver a day plus expenses until our arrival at Miragliano.

“Don’t entertain her father.” A new voice interrupted and Tess saw Freidrich’s son separate from the crowd behind the merchant. He had a mop of pale hair tucked behind his ears, his bangs hanging loose to frame a gaunt, unsettling face. Tess observed him silently; individually each of the features on his face appeared well cut and defined, but appeared almost lifeless. Tess was immediately unsure of the man, and could not bring herself to trust a man whose face was so difficult to read. His dress was designed to do anything but deflect attention away from him, well cut riding trousers and tall boots just worn enough to give the impression of use. Tess noted that his black long coat at least appeared functional for a traveler, having a split for riding and a collar tall enough to block wind and rain.

Tess’s eyes locked with the son’s lavender ones and she could see the ego of a man who would not stop until he had what he wanted, and the surety of one who was rather used to doing the manipulating rather than receiving it. “You plan on leaving this branch of our office to me next year anyways right father?”

Freidrich raised his head slightly, looking down his nose at his son, knowing where the conversation was going. Tess was sure he was about to fold but he spoke, fire being stoked by his son’s arrogance. “That’s next year. For now you would do well to remember your hubris Nik.”

“Father I simply do not want to have to trust yet another wizard standing behind me in the outriders” The young man continued. His voice and eyes both burned with anger but Tess found his face unsettling, an impassive mask.

“This is my final word. You know full well how much power and prestige we will wield having two more Wizards in our ranks.” Freidrich turned back to Tess again, cutting off any of his son’s further replies. “Do we have an arrangement miss Moriarti?”

Tess had planned on negotiating for a higher price, but due to the son’s interruption she felt that Freidrich had more leverage than she felt comfortable fighting against. “We do.” She shook Freidrich’s hand once more as he made an annotation in his ledger.

He stood and offered his seat to his son, speaking still to Tess, “My son here will be in charge of the outriders. He will be in charge of the day to day activities for the rest of the specialists and yourself.”

Friedrich walked away as his son sat before Tess and pulled out his own notebook, much smaller than his father’s great ledgers. Tess decided to antagonize the man once again, “So what’s Nik short for?” She said, sweetly enough to let him know that his objection to her was mutual.

He did not look up as he scribbled down one final note in his notebook, rudely ignoring her for a few seconds more as he finished. As Tess began to think that he would require a subtler approach he closed his ledger with a small snap and stood himself quickly, leaving Tess to catch up.

“Please miss Moriarty, for the sake of our business relationship, let us leave it at Master Ulhan for now. Or simply Ulhan, if formality is not needed.” He locked eyes with Tess again, and still with an impassive face bowed as deeply as he could while still keeping eye contact.

Tess curtsied in turn, “Very well… Master Ulhan. I bid you a goodnight.” She spun on her heel, annoyed at this ‘Master Ulhan’ for his rudeness (never mind her own previously). She decided immediately that she did not like the man, but seeking to salvage the situation she strode to the table where the two dwarves from earlier had moved to.

It appeared to actually be a few larger tables, pushed together in a horseshoe to allow for more seating for those grouped at it. Tess guessed that this table must have belonged to the ‘specialists’ hired for the caravan, as compared to the uniforms and standardized equipment of the rest of the tavern. Every man and even another woman at this table looked unique and rather self-supplied in their equipment.

Tess sat down at the empty chair next two the two brother dwarves and made her introductions, giving a curt nod or handshake to each of the dozen other people at the table.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tess was dragged from her reverie as Ulhan the younger stood in his stirrups, calling out, “Vanguard and all you specialists! To the front of the caravan!” Tess noted that his voice didn’t waver, staying at the same impassive tone as last night, only increasing it’s volume.

She prodded her pony to the front of the convoy, where one open wagon lay half filled with foodstuffs and other supplies. Ulhan had stepped from his horse onto the back of it to clearly see as the rest gathered around. While she waited she noticed that he had not changed from last night at all save a wool cap over his ears, with leather gloves the same shade as his boots.

Arrogant bastard, Tess thought to herself as the Kislevite walked up, leading his pony by the reins. He had a small recurve bow in a leather case on his hip and a large curved blade under the furs across his shoulders. Otherwise he looked the same as before, and Tess nodded at him as he approached. He was trustworthy, his people being too direct to worry about betrayal or deciept.

Tess was less sure of the two dwarves ambling up, still drunk from the night before. They were the brothers Janik and Jalik, of Karak Norn. Rangers by trade both had a mission to scout the entire length of Brenheim pass for their Karak, and had decided to join with this caravan both to make the mission easier, and earn them extra coin while at it. They were both young and loud, a total contrast to the party’s third dwarf, Tybalt.

Tybalt was an Imperial dwarf, raised in the Empire rather than the traditional mountain home. He was a bodyguard by hire who had been traveling with the Ulhan trade company for some time, having been brought for this mission due to his reliability and expertise. Contrary to the lighter armor and ranger cloaks of the brother dwarves, Tybalt wore scale armor, with a heavy helm and shield. He carried an enormous axe and crossbow much more suited for sitting atop a rampart than light skirmishing.

Tess looked back to the young Ulhan as he began to speak now that the rest of the specialists were almost to the cart, “Good morning everyone. I hope you’re all ready to earn your pay. As you’ve all had the chance to introduce yourselves last night we won’t be dallying. You all are this caravan’s vanguard. A caravan as large as this will attract some attention going through the pass, and simply huddling around it like a bunch of guards will get us all ambushed and killed.”

Ulhan began to pace on the cart, becoming more animated as his words carried across the group surrounding him. Tess noticed that his eyes had not changed at all, and realized that this was all an act to give his merry band of idiots something to be loyal too. Tess rolled her eyes and her attention drifted.

“We have our own mission and will be moving far and fast to achieve it. In that vein, if you do not possess your own mount you will ride in the cart with our extra supplies. No one will be on foot.” Ulhan stepped off the cart and back onto his own horse, “We leave in ten minutes, we have a slight detour. But will meet back up with the caravan before we hit the pass.”

With that, Tess saw a silent Tybalt ushering the rest of the parties dwarves onto the back of the cart while he adjusted the reins for his size. Everyone else began mounting up and Tess turned her horse to the gate, ready to breathe fresh air again. What a disgusting city, she thought to herself. Unsure of how the Imperials could live in such dirty conditions.

As she approached the gate, Tess felt the winds of magic surrounding her stir. The winds of magic were ever-shifting and changing, ebbing and flowing in tune to the two moons and the happenings of magic elsewhere in the world, but there were always consistencies within it. Whenever you were near a large gathering of people the winds would stagnante. Tess’s professors at the Grey University in Altdorf explained that this was due to magics innate, almost sentient need to be utilized. It would latch onto places or people of great power, and failing that, where enough people of middling power gathered. The result of this was that while in a city you were never lucky enough to feel winds strong enough to invigorate and empower youl; but you never found yourself without magic as the winds outside the city shifted pulling the magic along with it.

A byproduct of this stillness was that magic users would feel the stagnant air react to any magic being utilized nearby. Tess’s own order of Shadow mages exclusively trained in the use of Ulgu: the Grey wind, as opposed to any of the other seven winds. Tess did not feel Ulgu being drawn anywhere, instead she felt if shift slightly, as if to fill a vacuum left somewhere else. This Tess recognized as the sign that magic of a different color from her own was being used, and she wanted to know who this other magic user was.

A scant hundred paces from the gate Tess found her answer. Standing along the road between two rickety houses stood an ancient looking man, his feet were bare and looked tough and calloused, a fraying wool robe of brown hung loosely on his frame, and he had a large beard of salt and pepper hanging halfway down his chest. He had a crown woven from thin branches with a few flowers growing from it. It also had dead grass falling from it as though it was a bird’s nest before the snows came. The man stood with an arm outstretched, the tips of his fingers resting on the nose of a large buck that was sniffing at the man intently.

Tess watched silently as the man slowly stepped forward, his hand brushing up the deer’s cheek and down its neck until his chest was brushing up against its own. He spoke softly, his voice melodious like a birdsong, “You are the shadow mage correct? What is your name young one?”

Tess snorted, knowing full well that the druid would have heard of her after her entrance into the inn last night. “Tess. Yes, a magister of the shadow college. That makes you a druid of the Amber lore.” She stated simply.

“Ghur yes,” He nodded slowly before looking at her from the corner of his eye. “But I have been around a long time and know not many mages as young as you. Why you have yet to adopt the physical manifestations of your order even.”

The druid turned to face her, leaving one hand on the deer’s shoulder as she responded, “And what do you know of our order birdbrain?”

The druids laugh was heartfelt, as soft as the rest of him, “I know little of your secrets, your kind as rarely as open or honest as the forest. But I suspect that your kind sends apprentices off on their own to further their training, which would make you not quite a magister yet.”

Tess’s eyes narrowed as she retorted, “Listen here, I have no doubt that you’ve many more years talking with animals than I, but if you believe that a shadow mage lacks tricks that you’ve not yet seen…” Tess let the threat hang as the druid raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.

“Please, I believe we started wrong here.” He sung, “We are both mages of the Empire, and though our orders often are at odds, I see no reason why we cannot at least get along on this trip.”

He smiled meekly, “I am Kragun, and I feel your companion sizing my new friend up from somewhere behind me. So if you could be so kind as to invite him out so I may introduce us?”

Tess smirked, knowing that the Amber mage would have detected her familiar. She whistled and a small brown and golden wolf slipped out from the forests edge and trotted up to Kragun, sniffing him intently. The druid for his part used both of his hands to calm and control the deer, allowing the wolf to acclimate himself to his scent. After he had assuaged the deer he allowed himself to fall into a cross legged seat on the ground, holding a palm out for the wolf, who began licking it lightly.

Tess bristled at how quickly he had won over the beasts trust but understood that it was simply a result of his many years of becoming one with the creatures of the world. She spoke, “His name is Belgair, he was originally from Araby. A pet of mine from when I was sent to Altdorf, and I took him with me.”

Kragun nodded and spoke, his voice raising in pitch in a cute way as he began playing with Belgair, with his hand. “I thought he was rather small for a wolf of our forests. I have never had the pleasure of meeting with a beast from another world entirely.”

Kragun smiled as Belgair rolled onto his back, and used his paws to pull Kragun’s hand to him while he chewed on it playfully. “He is beautiful, and I can feel the love and connection he has to you easily enough. You have made him your familiar?”

Tess nodded, embarrassed and not willing to admit she poured a piece of her soul into the wolf knowing that in giving him a piece of her soul and sharing her magic with him would elongate his natural life, and allow him to stay with her in this world for longer. “Of course, he was always incredibly receiving to training and his loyalty made the bonding easy.”

Kragun nodded as he stood, “Just like you Gray types. Always pragmatic. Out of respect for your status and the good treatment you provide your familiar with, you can count on me in the coming weeks.”

Tess hummed, signaling Belgair to heel to her as she turned her horse back to the gate, seeing the rest of the Caravan’s vanguard coming out of the gate. She patiently waited for the group to catch up to her on the road and pass her as Kragun mounted the deer behind her and goaded it foreword softly, allowing it to accustom itself to his weight.

Ulhan, leading the vanguard frowned and turned up an eyebrow at Tess as he saw the wolf resting on its haunches at her horses side, but did not say anything as he led the group past. Tess allowed herself a smirk as she fell into the group. Now that their entire group had seen Belgair and knew he was with her she trusted in his intelligence, enhanced from residual magic exposure, to work in conjunction with his beastly wit, and told him to run off, trusting that he would not stray too far from the group as he entertained himself hunting small game alongside the road.

Tess didn’t look back at Nuln as the party rode into the forests heading south. There was little for her in the past, and it all lay ahead of her back in Miragliano, she no longer thought of it as home, as a Grey wizard it was her fate now to wander, plying her trade and improving herself wherever she could. Home was wherever Belgair and her lay down to rest, her fate to to improve her skills and knowledge within her order.

This journey would be unlike anything she had ever experienced before, when she was sent from her families mansion in Miragliano to study in Altdorf as a small girl she didn’t have strength. She had a caustic wit and sharp intelligence, bred from her upbringing as one of the bottom rungs in her family’s social ladder, but she had strength now. Born of her comfort and knowledge with magic, she had the strength to see her ambitions through, and this journey would be the first step towards giving her the strength to forge her own fate.

Tess smiled as she looked up, the sun finally breaking through the cloud cover overhead and its rays warming her face. She would chase her ambition back to Miragliano and then beyond, there was nothing that would stop her now, and the experience she would gain from this adventure would only strengthen her on her inexorable march into her future.