It had taken Jorak longer than he wished to leave home, but ultimately he woke two days later since the dreams had began with preparations to leave the town complete. The hardest part had been to convince his parents that he was not on a fool’s task, which had been difficult when the dreams had clearly said to reveal nothing. The vagueness of his request had hampered his attempts, but his continued convictions had bore fruit the previous night. 

As the night’s guards turned in for the morning, he took one last look at the flickering torches atop the wall before he ventured into the fog that shrouded Lorcrove. The heavy fog was enough to muffle the noises from his surroundings and though he headed away from the forest haunted by monsters and creatures, Jorak swept his head back and forth for any sign of danger. It took several hours of quick march for the fog to begin to recede and the mountains he had followed to be revealed. As wisps of mist rolled off him, unable to cling any longer, he sighed in relief at the warmer air around him.

With mountains to both sides of him, a quick check of the map confirmed that if Jorak were to cut through those directly in front then he would end up maybe a day’s march from Jerova. With the sun long out of sight thanks to the large landforms around him though, he decided to simply make camp for the moment and wait until tomorrow for the treacherous climb. With a bundle of firewood he had gathered from the forest since broke away from the treeline he settled down for the night.

The next day saw Jorak navigating in between two mountains through whatever paths he could find. The two landforms met about a quarter of the way up thankfully, meaning that he didn’t have to contend with the sheer cliffs that became present the higher one climbed. It was still a rather long journey, but he reached the other side just shortly after noon. From this high up he could see, far off in the distance, the shimmering waters of the lake Jeorva sat next to. The city was indistinct at this range, but it was easy to tell that Lorcrove didn’t even hold a candle to it in comparison. With a determined huff, he began to make his way back down to the ground.

With the sun beginning its descent to the horizon by the time he stepped onto the plains once more, Jorak decided to nonetheless push onwards. From what the map indicated it would be another few hours if he were to make a beeline towards the city. Not too bad and the chance at an actual bed to sleep in was more than enough for him to tough it up and keep up the pace. 

Despite nightfall, Jorak’s eyesight remained almost as keen as ever and his pace slowed as he neared the city. Torches flickered within, moving about with the guards that carried them, and he could see several at the gate. His eyes narrowed further at the greyskins that manned their positions there. So it was true… 

He spent more than a few minutes considering his options. The walls didn’t look too easy to scale even if the patrols that manned them seem awfully lacking. The front gate was also a bust given it was unlikely he would get through without some fuss or scene of sort. With a reluctant sigh it seemed that his best choice would be to simply spend the night outside the city walls and enter when there was more traffic during the daylight. 
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So another night was spent just an arm's reach from the comforts of a bed and warmth in general. This close to the city he didn't want to risk a fire that might draw the attention of some guards who found curiosity stronger than laziness. Even after the sun rose, traffic was fairly light and it wasn't until a few hours after first light that there was a steady stream of people from and into the city. Hefting his pack, destroying the traces of his stay, and making sure his weapons weren't easily visible, Jorak finally made to enter Jeorva.

Rather than make his way immediately towards the Academy that sat in the north of the town, he wandered the market at first. It was quite something when that area alone could have matched Lorcrove in size, and there were probably several times the population in market goers. The awe held him momentarily before aromas and tantalizing scents urged Jorak forward to discover something new to eat. It had been a few days since he last had an actual cooked meal, and though rations were fine and dandy, they obviously didn't quite match up.

With a watchful eye, he managed to steer clear of the orc guards roaming the city streets. Just as he might have been easy to see among the crowd, it also made seeing the weapons they carried simple. A subtle turn here against the flow of the crowd and he was down another street. It took a lot longer than it would have to make his way to the Academy, but shortly after noon he stood at the bottom of the steps before the grand building. He watched the people that came in and out for a moment before he shrugged and began to walk up, ignoring the fact that he didn't quite fit in. 

He didn't step through the oaken doors but [u]instead took a spot off to the side of the massive Academy[/u] beneath the shade. Though he dug into his meal ravenously, and boy was the thick broth filled bread delicious, Jorak also kept an eye out for those who came and went from the Academy. He didn't expect to find answers to the dreams that easily, but it couldn't hurt to watch for those that didn't seem to belong. As he licked his fingers stained with broth, he sighed in contentment and settled in for his first of who knew how many shifts.

He returned to his "post", dinner in hand, just in time to catch someone who very much did not fit in begin the climb up the stairs to the Academy. In no hurry, he watched as she climbed the stairs with an almost vicious posture and disappear behind the heavy oaken doors. With a shrug, he followed upwards but [u]turned to the side once again and took up his position again.[/u] Maybe it was usual to have a few odd visitors to the institute in search of the wealth of knowledge its attendees might have to offer. Certainly that was a reasonable belief to have, but his gut told Jorak otherwise.