[center][b][u]Rali Corcaleo[/b][/u][/center]

The dark storm clouds overhead were indicative of a coming rainstorm, and Rali didn’t need her magic to see that, which was a good thing, as the pink metal bracelets on her wrist kept her from accessing her magic at all. They and the dirty, woolen tunic she was wearing were painful reminders of what had happened to her, and she couldn’t wait to be rid of both of them. A nice warm bed and a set of clean clothes, in addition to a key that would remove the bracelets, were essentially her idea of paradise at the moment.

Sir Julius had done an excellent job of teaching her how to observe weather conditions from the shape, color, and altitude of the clouds alone, though there were numerous other methods he had imparted to her before his death a little over a year ago. It had taken several months, but she had eventually gotten over her grief, both for the loss of her mentor and for the loss of her homeland, though she wasn't sure which had hurt the worst. One thing was certain, however: the sinking of the pirate ship and her resulting freedom were without a doubt the best things that had happened to her since the war, certainly ended by now, had started.

Apart from that, she didn’t really have all that much time to think about what had happened to her homeland, or the people she had loved the most. Focusing on putting one foot in front of the other took up enough of her attention, especially as her stomach growled in protest over lack of food and her lips and mouth dried up from lack of water. It had been quite some time since she had left the forest that had started a short distance from the beach she had landed on, with its fresh water streams that she could just get a mouthful of water from when she needed one.

As she crested the little hill that she was on, the first she had seen since emerging from the forest several miles behind her, she saw the large grey walls of Vespar. The knowledge that she was only about two miles away, to the best of her approximation anyway, from a place of civilization gave her a new energy that allowed her to keep going. There had to be somewhere in the city where she would be able to get a bite to eat, something to drink, and a comfortable place to sleep.

From the top of the hill, it was also evident that the city was a port city, as the coast line angled to touch the city’s boundaries. Though it didn’t spur her on as seeing the city itself had, it was something of a comfort to her homesickness to see that not everything about this land was entirely foreign. In fact, the smell of the sea was distinct on the breeze that blew over the plains, bringing with it memories of home.

Shaking her head slightly in dismissal of such memories, she continued on her way, if a little faster now that the end of her journey was in sight. On the way, Rali saw a few armored individuals on horseback, some of the only people she had seen on the road the entire way. They paid her little mind, no doubt because of her appearance. Few things were as non-threatening as a small woman covered in dirt after all.

Upon approaching the walls of the city itself, Rali noticed that there were similarly armored men atop the wall, each one holding a large bow and a quiver full of arrows. In addition to that, the solid wooden gates were closed. While Rali was entirely unfamiliar with the customs of the strange land she had found herself in, she had a strange feeling that what she was seeing wasn’t the norm. In short, it gave the city a somber feel, which certainly couldn’t be a great thing.

Before Rali could contemplate turning back, one of the guards atop the wall called out to her. “Who goes there?” he shouted, his deep, gravelly voice reaching her ears perfectly. Unfortunately, the language wasn’t one that Rali recognized. In fact, it didn’t sound even remotely close to any of the languages that she had been exposed to back in Aerian.

“Do you speak Aerian, sir?” she responded, trying to project politeness in her voice. There was no telling what the guard would think she was saying if he didn’t know her language, which could lead to a variety of unpleasant, though admittedly interesting, results. The guard scratched his head as if unsure of what she had said, though he didn’t respond. Instead, he turned and talked to someone else on the wall that Rali couldn’t see from where she was.

A few moments of silence later, the gate was being opened, albeit rather slowly, and a pair of guards emerged. “What did you say that your name was, lass?” the one on the left, a slightly overweight individual with a beard of dark brown hair, said. The guard on the right, a tall, lean man with a clean-shaven, freckled face seemed rather uninterested in the whole scenario, indicating that he had probably been selected for the task without having much choice in the matter.

“I take it that you don’t speak Aerian then?” Rali replied, still keeping her tone and mannerism polite, though expecting that they would just look at her. Her prediction, however, turned out to be correct, as the guards looked first at each other and then at her as if trying to comprehend what she had said.

“So Rickon wasn’t hearing wrong then,” the overweight guard said, “you really don’t speak Common. Am I right?” Rali didn’t answer, blinking at the guard and waiting to see what he would do. Nodding, he turned to the other guard and started whispering, presumably about what should be done about her.

After a few moments, the tall, lean guard motioned for her to follow, and the pair led her into the city, the gates closing behind them. As expected of a city, there were certainly a lot of people out and about, but the strange thing was that almost all of them had a look of despondency about them, which Rali supposed should have been expected considering the feel she had gotten from seeing the city all walled up.

The guards wasted no time in leading her through the streets towards the inner areas of the city. Considering the fact that there weren’t a ton of people on that road, and that they moved out of the way for the guards, they moved at a rather quick pace, which prevented Rali from really being able to observe her surroundings. She noticed several things that looked like shops or inns, but specific details eluded her.

As they got closer to the inner city, which involved ascending a fairly steep hill, it became apparent that they were taking her to what appeared to be a manor of sorts, with large stone walls that loomed over the city itself surrounding it. At first, the walls gave the impression of strength and resilience, but, upon closer inspection, it became apparent that they were beginning to fall into disrepair, with several sections of the wall worn down.

They paused at the gates while the two guards who had lead her this far explained the situation to the guards on duty there. Once everything was explained, they were permitted through the gates, which lead to a twisting path up another section of the hill to the keep itself. Rali was rather curious to know why they were taking her there, but contented herself with the hope of a warm bed and fresh clothes.

Once they arrived at the entrance to the keep, they were subjected to the same procedure as what had occurred at the gates of the inner wall. The guards at the door were a little quicker to understand the situation, probably due to the credibility imparted by the fact that the trio had made it through the gates of the inner wall. After being given what seemed to be directions, the guards were allowed to lead her into the keep.

The interior of the keep was, in short, lackluster. There were few tapestries still hanging and faded spots where others had hung before, the flowers and such that decorated niches every so often were wilting, and there was barely an ounce of gold, or silver for that matter, that she could see. It matched the outer appearance of the keep perfectly, so Rali supposed that she shouldn’t have been surprised, but she was curious as to what was going on in the city to result in such conditions.

After numerous twists and turns through the halls of the keep, the trio arrived at a door that stood out from the ones that Rali had seen before. Clearly, it lead to a particularly important room, though Rali wasn’t entirely sure what purpose it had. Odds were that it was a throne room or something along those lines, but Rali wasn’t familiar with the customs of the land she found herself in at all, so her guess was as good as anyone’s.

The guards knocked on the door a little hesitantly, clearly hoping that they weren’t interrupting anything, as muffled voices could be heard on the other side of the door. “Sir Elric?” the tall guard asked. “We were told that you were going to be in here? We have a bit of an issue on our hands and were hoping you could help.”