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Tell Arran - The Imperial-Anirian border.
It was nearly twilight. The Sun, though well past its prime, still shone brightly over the horizon, glimmering in-between the clouds and intermittently casting its rays upon the city below. Tucked away in one of the many narrow mountain valleys that rose as the Fel Draza peaks gave way to the vast wastelands of the Amol-Kalit desert, the fortified city of Tell Arran stood on those final stretches of bumpy terrain, before the rock passed on to sand.
A way-stop for caravans making their way to Aniria, Alliria, or beyond, Tell Arran was a popular spot for merchants and convoys, and its markets were, at any given time, awash with travellers from far and wide that sought to exchange whatever wares they carried for others that would fetch a higher price somewhere else.
Of course that, in the midst of all the bustling of traders and peddlers, there were bound to be those whose motives were not so… legitimate.
Seemingly alone among the crowd, a passer-by made his way through the narrow streets of the market quarter, ignored by most of the other shoppers that made their way to and fro the myriad shops and stands the markets of Tell Arran had to offer. Clad in a non-distinct outfit of a desert nomad, he donned a dirty-white tunic, accompanied by a cloth mask that covered the lower half of his face and a hood that kept all but a handful of the most stubborn strands of his blonde hair out of sight. All in all, though a few spots of his appearance could appear misplaced - not least of all, the fact his complexion seemed a bit too pale when compared to the rest of the native Kaliti - one would have to take a long look at the lone stroller to deduce he seemed rather out of place here… one long look none of the busy market-goers seemed to dispense to him, at least so far.
Ivan had arrived in the city that same day in the morning. He’d rented out a room at a shoddy inn on the periphery of the market quarter, and had immediately set out to work. His task here was to investigate a rumour about an Imperial army massing on the Anirian border, that had filtered its way up to Vel Anir’s high command. Though they had remained at peace for the time being, the Republic still deeply mistrusted the Empire, and so the possibility of an army massing on its border - even if stemming from a simple rumour - warranted an investigation.
Laying fairly close to the Fel Draza mountains, and the Anirian border by extension, Tell Arran had seemed like a good place to start. It lay on a busy, strategic junction point for those travelling from Amol-Kalit to Aniria, and its markets were the perfect place to eavesdrop on whatever strange tales might be circulating. Large armies had a tendency to get noticed, after all.
So it was that he went on, unperturbed by those around him, all the while listening intently to the conversations around him. While his knowledge of Kaliti was enough to enable him to understand the conversations around him, his spoken skills were far less impressive, with him having a rather perceptible Anirian accent when speaking. That had been why he'd made it a point to assume an identity as a Cortosi traveller. His Cortosi was far better than his Kaliti and while he did have a slight accent, most people just identified it as that of some hopeless hick from the Cortosi mountains. So far the ruse had worked; he could only hope it would continue to do so.
A way-stop for caravans making their way to Aniria, Alliria, or beyond, Tell Arran was a popular spot for merchants and convoys, and its markets were, at any given time, awash with travellers from far and wide that sought to exchange whatever wares they carried for others that would fetch a higher price somewhere else.
Of course that, in the midst of all the bustling of traders and peddlers, there were bound to be those whose motives were not so… legitimate.
Seemingly alone among the crowd, a passer-by made his way through the narrow streets of the market quarter, ignored by most of the other shoppers that made their way to and fro the myriad shops and stands the markets of Tell Arran had to offer. Clad in a non-distinct outfit of a desert nomad, he donned a dirty-white tunic, accompanied by a cloth mask that covered the lower half of his face and a hood that kept all but a handful of the most stubborn strands of his blonde hair out of sight. All in all, though a few spots of his appearance could appear misplaced - not least of all, the fact his complexion seemed a bit too pale when compared to the rest of the native Kaliti - one would have to take a long look at the lone stroller to deduce he seemed rather out of place here… one long look none of the busy market-goers seemed to dispense to him, at least so far.
Ivan had arrived in the city that same day in the morning. He’d rented out a room at a shoddy inn on the periphery of the market quarter, and had immediately set out to work. His task here was to investigate a rumour about an Imperial army massing on the Anirian border, that had filtered its way up to Vel Anir’s high command. Though they had remained at peace for the time being, the Republic still deeply mistrusted the Empire, and so the possibility of an army massing on its border - even if stemming from a simple rumour - warranted an investigation.
Laying fairly close to the Fel Draza mountains, and the Anirian border by extension, Tell Arran had seemed like a good place to start. It lay on a busy, strategic junction point for those travelling from Amol-Kalit to Aniria, and its markets were the perfect place to eavesdrop on whatever strange tales might be circulating. Large armies had a tendency to get noticed, after all.
So it was that he went on, unperturbed by those around him, all the while listening intently to the conversations around him. While his knowledge of Kaliti was enough to enable him to understand the conversations around him, his spoken skills were far less impressive, with him having a rather perceptible Anirian accent when speaking. That had been why he'd made it a point to assume an identity as a Cortosi traveller. His Cortosi was far better than his Kaliti and while he did have a slight accent, most people just identified it as that of some hopeless hick from the Cortosi mountains. So far the ruse had worked; he could only hope it would continue to do so.
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