**Collab between Ellri and Enalais.**

The Kalesian ambassador looked down at the wax tablet that had been delivered to him detailing the request for granting an Othean citizenship in the Empire. He smiled a little, knowing that those numbers would skyrocket once the Brenhold passage was completed. It was good, he thought, that already Otheans were joining the Empire. It would save a lot of work later. He would not deny that the majority of the supplicants were those recently converted to the worship of the goddess. He was of a mixed mind as to the power of the goddess, but he had no doubts at all about the power of the Empress, may she live forever, who all know is the corporeal incarnation of the Goddess.  

Still, not everyone could be trusted. There had been more than one instance of spies claiming to convert, only to be quickly proven false. Some from the Othean government and nobles, others from the much-detested Order of Idris. While the former had at times been a challenge to root out, he had not needed the aid of the Vocators to root out the spies of the dominion. When they sent spies, they were always fanatics, fools who thought that relics were a curse. He read the notes on the tablet, clearly seeing the optimism some viewed the candidate with. She was of the wrong background to be a plausible spy. Too young, too inexperienced. The spy stationed in the hidden alcove in the tower chamber had confirmed that much. She’d not once looked at the casually placed documents and maps, other than to let her eyes drift over them without so much as focusing for a second. That left only the formalities. A task.  

He pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment, carefully scratching the task into its surface. Given the evoker’s powers, she would prove quite useful if loyal. All he’d have to do is make sure she got it without drawing attention to the other evoker, Alessia. Given the knowledge that the Order was actively hunting her, she’d also need a small escort to go outside the embassy. Using a different wax tablet, he also wrote the orders authorizing that, summoning a page to deliver those.  

After the task was fully written out, the Ambassador sealed the parchment with a blob of wax, pressing a signet ring into its softened surface. He made his way down the stairs to the room where the new evoker would be found.  

~|~  

Angie had been seated in the finely decorated room for what felt like hours after her bath before anyone came in. Considering the escort, it did not take a genius to figure out that whomever it was had considerable authority. She bowed her head in respect. The man, easily a head or more taller than her, nodded once, then handed her a sealed piece of parchment. “As you are now a Kalesian citizen, I am authorized as ambassador to assign you duties. I think, given your relic-granted abilities, you will be particularly suited to the task written upon that sheet. You will, naturally, have a small escort to ensure that the Order of Idris do not bother you while you do it.” He smiled at her and Angie did not feel any real concern at his smile, not like the smiles of many of her father’s customers over the years. Only when he spoke of the Order did he show much of any emotion, and the emotion in question was pure and unadulterated disgust. The ambassador left shortly afterwards, not giving her any time to proffer an answer. Angie broke the wax seal, realizing quickly that the message within was written in a type of writing she had no idea how to read.  

She walked through the embassy, trying to find someone to help her read it, like that woman, Alessia. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find anyone to help her, either the rooms were empty, or the people ignored her. Eventually she came out into the central courtyard, where she somehow managed to to attract the attention of a soldierly type, a man who looked old enough to be her father.  

Garet tried to exude as much composure as possible as he entered the embassy, riding a horse was bumpier than he expected and the beast was frail and timid compared to the one he was used to riding. As he entered with a few quick flicks of his hand a few men who entered with him went about wearing various arrays of jewelry, as he looked around his eyes settled on a girl no older than Shara. *”A child of an ambassador perhaps?”* The thought flickered through his mind and for a brief second Garet wasn’t sure if it was a thought of his own or someone elses then as he took the girl in further he noticed the eye color. *”Evoker!”* This thought wasn’t his own. Garet ignored the voice and proceeded further eventually stopping in front of the girl and taking off his helmet.  “Can you tell me who is in charge here?” He asked.  

Angie nodded, a little overwhelmed by just how much he towered over her. “The ambassador, I think.” her accent betrayed her Othean origins, and since she had no idea where the ambassador was, she didn’t have any idea of where to point. “Are you my escort? Apparently I’m to go out into the city on some task for the ambassador, but I have no idea what it is. I can’t read.” She held out the message she’d received from the ambassador earlier, hoping that even if he wasn’t her escort, he’d be willing to read it to her.  

Garet smiled and he spoke softly his tone of voice was like that of a father speaking to a child. “I am now.” He said and turned to the soldiers who were awaiting his command. “Ada, you are in charge here tell every guard here that he is head home. And tell them only that you are replacing them.” He said, the warrior in question only put hand to her heart and saluted outward, turning back to the girl he found her handing him a letter so he took it and read it aloud to her. “Someone here must trust you.” He said as he finished the letter.  

She listened as the tall man read the message to her, understanding the words, despite his relatively heavy accent. Immediately after he finished, she nodded and let her mind loose, searching for any nearby canines. It took but a few moments to find several, but took a few minutes to give them a rough interpretation of the persons she sought. Where humans thought primarily in images, her canine friends all viewed the world through smell enhanced by sight. She had never before sought anyone in that manner, so she had no idea how long it would take to find them.  

They left the compound, even as Angie listened to canines all around. She could hear how her request was spreading, and unfortunately, there was at least a dozen men fitting the description she’d been given. Hounds and dogs only used sight so much. What would really have helped, would have been something belonging to each person. Something with a scent. But wishes did not help. She would just have to check every one of the people who might match the parameters. “This way,” She said to her escort, leading the way towards the dock section of the city.  

Garet kept quiet and allowed the girl to do her job there was a period of silence as they stopped and she seemed to focus on something. *”She reminds us of our daughter, grown up despite her age.”* One of the voices said. *“She reminds you of your daughter.* Garet replied *”We are one and the same Garet, you are one of us now and when this gets passed on to a new wielder your voice shall meld with ours forever there will be no afterlife for you not even your goddess can stop the pull of the band.”* After the voice spoke of him joining the band it went into hysterics speaking of how the ring drove him to kill his family about how evil this ring is and when it was done it began to sob and go into hysterics Garet just blocked it out as the girl continued to move.  

Garet followed the girl through crowds of city folk who looked at him strangely, a man armed with a blade and wearing leather armor does not go unnoticed here but he ignored the looks and instead focused on hands and fingers of passersby making sure none drew a blade on them finally as they drew closer to the docks Garet broke the silence. “So what’s your name, when you’re done here have you found a place to stay or a family to take you in?” Garet asked.  

Angie turned her focus temporarily away from the canine minds all around her, distracted momentarily by her escort’s voice. “Hmm? Oh, my name? Its Angie.” She kept walking forwards, only turning her head sideways for a moment to be sure he was still following along. “No family yet. I think i’ll be staying in the embassy. Not safe outside. The Inquisitors want me dead.” Just then, a butcher’s hound ran out of the nearby alley. “In here! In here!” it kept shouting to her. Which to everyone else sounded just like excited barking. Despite the size of the huge hound, she easily reached out, scratching it behind the ears as if it were the smallest of puppies instead of a slavering beast. “There’s a good doggie…” she muttered. “One of the targets may be down this alley.” she mentioned to her escort.  

He chuckled at the sight of a huge dog acting like a puppy in the girls hands, but at the mention of target he drew his blade and went first down the alleyway, looking around for possible ambush points and places where the enemy could pop out, at this moment all the voices melded with a single purpose to chase down the enemy, almost instinctively his hand raised to tell the girl to move forward but he realized the hand talk used amongst his soldiers would seem strange to the girl. “Come on we can move up.” He said quietly,  his voice was void of emotion.  

Angie rested a hand on the hound’s neck, staring after her escort. He peeked quickly into the alley, perhaps searching for possible enemies. From both her own and the hound’s sense of smell, she knew well that there was no ambush within, but knew on some subconscious level that her escort could not possibly understand that. She stood there confused for a moment when he raised his hand, not realizing that it had some sort of meaning to military men like him. Only when he spoke to her did she realize its meaning. She immediately followed him in, the dog following at her side.  

With every step into the alley, she sniffed the air, trying to take in any unfamiliar scents, barely relying on the hound’s senses at all. As expected, the alley was clear. They moved deeper into it, eventually stopping before a small, makeshift shack almost at the far end of the alley. “In here.” she whispered to her escort, stepping aside to let him enter first.  

Garet swung open the door and proceeded inside blade drawn, Garet’s eyes switched to the man who was backing himself into the corner a frightened look in his eyes as he took in the pair. “In the name of the Empress you have been charged with treason against the Empire, Idris gave you nothing but your death as the eyes of the Empress find you.” Garet said driving his blade through the mans chest as the mans life faded Garet put a firm boot on his chest and withdrew his sword flicking his blade sent spatters of the mans blood across the floor. “Who’s next?” Garet asked looking to Angie.  

“Not entirely sure…” she muttered, a bit shocked at her escort’s brutality, but also a bit awed at his efficiency. “I think its somewhere in the inner city. There’s no clear scent trail to follow. Possibly in the arena. The hounds haven’t found out exactly who it is yet. They’re still searching.” She followed led the man out of the alley, heading for the inner city, presuming he wasn’t familiar with the layout of the city.  

Garet sheathed his sword and closed the door of the hut behind him, he let the girl lead as she knew the city better than he did and he would probably get them lost among all these twists and turns. “If you need someplace to stay back in Kalesia there is room within my home, My wife has begun to speak about wanting another child.” He said his voice sincere.  

Angie was a bit stunned by the offer. She hadn’t had time to think about the future, about what she would do in the Empire. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to think about it either. At least not yet. With how much she’d been changing lately, she didn’t know much of anything about what she was becoming either. Some feeling deep down told her that all that had happened so far was just the beginning.  

She thought back to the bath earlier that morning in the embassy, to what she’d seen on herself. It didn’t show yet on the outside of her clothes, but she’d seen it then. Seen the nascent lupine traits on her torso. Seen how her toenails were starting to turn into claws. The thin spread of hairs in certain regions. Without thinking, she touched herself on the midsection, but could not feel the difference she knew to be there through her clothes. It would, she knew, be interesting to see what it all ended up with. But also a bit scary, she had to admit.  

Another thing that worried her, was when the other traits would begin to show on the outside. like just how lupine she’d end up looking. After leaving the southeastern quarter of the city behind, they made their way first a bit north, then west and north again, heading along a slightly roundabout route to the inner city. With each block they passed, she communicated with more and more canines. Among the tens of thousands of residents in the city, there were thousands of hounds of all sizes and shapes, from the massive butcher dogs and warhounds, to the smallest puppies. She felt a sort of camaraderie with them all. To her, they weren’t pets of mere animals. They were friends, kin almost. The further north they got, the more some of them spoke of a strange creature, a massive, two-legged wild one. he-who-smells-blood, they called him. Or at least thats what she thought they meant. It wasn’t clear if they meant that he sought blood, could find it, or if he smelled of it. For all she could know, it could be all of those. Or just some. Most hounds, it seemed, gave him a wide path. As if he were the city’s ultimate alpha. She suspected on some level that he could have taken control of all the canines in the entire city if he’d wanted to. But they also kept referring to him with references to three crescents, but she couldn’t figure out what they meant by it.  

Eventually the two of them came to the inner city’s southeastern gate. They’d had to follow the tall wall for a while to get to it, and it could possibly have been shorter to go to the western gate, but Angie did not quite feel up to passing the so-called Sanctum of Idris. Not yet at least. She’d heard tales of people disappearing near there. And the hounds didn’t like it for some reason. Like so many other things, they wouldn’t explain what it was they were afraid of. Or maybe they couldn’t. They just didn’t like the place. And she couldn’t blame them.  

Passing through the gate, they joined a small crowd of people, all heading in towards the market and the arena. people from all over the countryside were coming to partake in the royal celebrations. Angie couldn’t blame them. The marvels of such a festival had never come before in her short life. Not at least that she could clearly remember as more than a vague, fond memory.  

Garet followed quietly he had the feeling he had brought up a sore spot in the girl he didn’t say anything as they reached the inner city and the crowds within. Moving through the crowd as they passed a few alleyways within the inner city he stopped and looked down one. At the end of the alleway were four men and it appeared one of the bigger men was suffering from a grievous wounds and the other was holding him aloft, as the two smaller men were brandishing weapons and it looked like they were trying to mug both men but then the unexpected happened stone spikes shot out of the ground at the mens feet causing the two of them to scatter. “Evokers.” Garet said, pointing them out. “Nevermind them they can handle themselves, let’s keep moving.” He said, keeping the two men in mind so he could write a report and get the “Guards” that came with him on it.  

When Angie saw those four strangers in the distance, she felt a sort of uncomfortable cribbling at the pit of her stomach. A cribbling she really didn’t like. When her escort suggested moving on, she was very much happy to do so. It was only several minutes later that she realized that one of those individuals must’ve been the one the canines called “he-who-smells-blood”. She idly wondered which of them it had been, even as she knew deep down that he was an evoker. The further they got from that particular alley, the more at ease she felt. She did not, however, think to ponder why. It simply was. Eventually they got to the entrance of the grand arena, right beside the bustling marketplace. Here she let her escort take the lead again.  

Garet looked up at the marble arch that was the entrance of the the arena, within the plaza before the arena people were hawking food and drink but Garet paid them no heed as he entered the stands, below them was a simple dirt arena with bits of dried blood upon the walls. The crowd eventually began to rise and cheer as two groups of six men entered the arena various weapons in hand the grand announcer began to introduce the fighters but Garet paid the words no heed as he scanned the stands for the man they were looking for.