An idyllic scene:
The beautiful woodlands stretch off into the distance in all directions, a small muddy cart-track meandering off to join the Trods.
A selection of surprisingly calm Spring-touched individuals, sitting or crouching by a sparkling stream, panning the water for something - not gold, something more precious than gold, something more magic...
A few Briar children running here and there, fetching and carrying and dancing and playing. Some simply a little green-veined, some with scabs of bark from inevitable childhood accidents.
In general, a peaceful and Prosperous place, if a little light on infrastructure and facilities; some wooden structures cling to the forest above the brook, haphazard shelters built with love and energy and not very much in the way of skill and patience.
"Oh, go on right past me if you like." She walks to the side of the road. "I'm not some dragon squatting on the road to demand tolls. And unless you can make change for a Throne I can't pay you a token amount, currently."
"Theoretically I could, but I suspect you meant that rhetorically," replies Yasmina, stepping aside with Lenora and watching the man who is presumably her dhomiro attempt to herd curious onlookers back into the wagons, with limited success - especially with the children, who gleefully hop back out as soon as they can to continue blatantly eavesdropping.
"I must admit I'm blazingly curious about your mode of transportation, and what you intend to achieve here, if you came with any intentions at all and are willing to divulge some or all of them?"
"I can't replicate most of it beyond myself, fair warning. Explore, figure out the Empire, maybe decide to help people. That sums my intentions up."
"Fair warning in return: I've lived most of my life in the Empire, was born here, was one of its generals for a few seasons, and consider myself quite good at investigation, and even I haven't figured it out. But I'd be very happy to answer what questions I can, in return for a chance to learn more about your capabilities, what might make you decide to help people, and perhaps what happens next - and, in part, just because I like to have a chance to talk about what I have learned in my life."
"Ooh. A general. I might have some tactical questions. Don't want to get overconfident. Is that armor magic? It doesn't seem great as armor, shaped like that. I'm mostly trying to see whether the politics of the empire can fit into the way my homeland works, and I'm happy to defend the innocent. It's just that I can't be confident that the Druj, for example, are the baddies without seeing it first hand."
"This particular set isn't magic any longer - it had artisanry on it once, but it outlived its enchantment and I haven't really needed to get it replaced, since I don't actually do much fighting any more - it's mostly for show, it's what people expect of me. Anything that's over three millimetres of hardened leather will turn the most common of lethal enemy attacks into a less immediate danger, though.
The Druj are pretty much the only group of our enemies that everyone can absolutely agree are the baddies, including all of our other enemies, or at least those who have a mind to make that determination with; their entire society is built around fear and torture. If you can freely scoot around like you did just then, it shouldn't be too hard to get an eyeful of the fences of impaled prisoners they like to leave wherever they think someone might be upset about them - although do be careful of the Druj miasma, I don't know how you are against supernatural auras of hopelessness and despair, they're not much fun - it generally doesn't stop people leaving the area if they're not otherwise prevented, though.
Everyone else is at least somewhat ambiguous - even the Thule, whose hobbies include necromantically enslaving anyone they can get away with, are currently not on the kill on sight list because we've made an alliance of convenience with them against everyone else who's trying to kill us. I suppose the Vallorn is not so much 'ambiguous' as 'more dangerous when provoked' - but that also means it's a bad idea to poke it without knowing what you're doing.
If you really want to defend the innocent - I suspect the best use of extreme mobility is rescuing Druj prisoners, and providing an early warning system to border settlements. If you've got anything else up your sleeve and you tell me about it, my recommendations might change. Do get anointed before you go Druj hunting though, or at least pick up a Banner of the Bold or something if you're morally opposed to anointing for some reason.
Sorry, I am absolutely prattling on, which is a terrible habit that I have whenever I see an opportunity. Do you have anything more specific you'd like to know?"
"How much is that Banner? Know anyone who can make extremely precise small metal objects? I have a railgun that propels five millimeter needles at two point three miles per second. But I only have so many rounds."
"Couple of crowns if you're in a hurry, you could get it for less if you shop around, I don't think we have any in stock but if you keep following this road in the direction we were headed you'll get to a town in about a mile or so which will have them for sale in the market.
Extremely precise small metal objects... you'll find jewellers in every town in the Coast, needle-makers in most large-ish villagers, but Siroc will house the very best.
Or if you're talking clockwork kind of precise, which it sounds like you might be, then while you might find a few craftspeople who can do it in Siroc, you're really looking at Holberg - which is right over the other side of the Empire, one of the cities of the League, right on the doorstep of the Druj. There might be some in Sarvos, another Leaguish city that's much closer - but like those you'll find in the Coast, they'll be more into decorative work than batch production.
You might be in luck and a needle-maker will do the job for you though - that is something we do in batches and in quite considerable variety for sewing needles, the Coast gets through a considerable number of embroidery needles!"
By this time the caravan has just about got underway again; Yasmina seems supremely indifferent as to whether she gets back on it or not, entirely focused on Lenora.
She appears one in cupped hands with a little flash of shimmery blue. It's subtly pointed, some kind of steel alloy, with three thin, short fins protruding from the length of cylinder. "The flukes here are important, they're what the rails grab."
"That is a neat trick... I'm no artisan but I've done my share of Timeless Hammer Rhythm, uh, that's an Autumn ritual for crafting a magical item overnight, and that definitely looks like a jeweller could do the shape - it'd have to be a fairly experimental one with a really good forge to get it done in, what is that, an orichalcum and greensteel alloy? Probably not in this town, definitely in Siroc or Sarvos but they'll do each one by hand, they might be able to cast that in Holberg. Or I guess up in Wintermark, but I'm not as familiar with runeforging work and they do tend to work bigger rather than more intricate."
"Tungsten-steel-molybdenum-chromium. I can probably get away with slightly imperfect shape, or a different alloy. It'd take experimenting. And if they could be mass produced that would be great. I might be getting confused but I heard you had electricity down here. There's a lot of promise in that."
"I'm not sure we mean the same thing by the word then - you get static electricity which is good for a kid's trick of sticking things to other things, or setting up to give someone a small shock, and I hear in Siroc there's some kind of grand entertainment where someone makes a whole load of it, makes your hair stick up on end, then makes a huge tamed lightning bolt for show? I mean, I think it'd be dangerous if you got in the way of the tamed lightning bolt, but I don't think they can shoot it at people like an arrow, it takes a lot of setting up."
"Not as a direct weapon, no. You can run machinery with it, do some neat chemistry. Make lye from salt. Make fresh water from the sea. All my stuff is electric. Oh, forgot to introduce myself. Lenora Wilson. Of the United Nations Earth Defense Command, I suppose."
"I've given you my name, but not explained the parts of it - Yasmina is just my given name, Ezmara is my family, Erigo is my tribe - the Brass Coast are of three tribes, Ezmara, Guerra and Riqueza, the three sisters who founded our nation. I am of the Brass Coast, one of the Freeborn, although I lived for a time in the Commonwealth and I learned my magic there in the great university of Volkavaar.
We make lye from wood ash, but fresh water from the sea would be incredibly welcome, especially if you could fit the device to a ship; even if not, Madruga has many islands which have to get fresh water from the sky. If you are willing to make the attempt to build such a thing with our materials, I can introduce you to some innovators on the shipyards of Siroc who would make it their ambition to realise such plans, and consider having been able to facilitate the attempt as payment for the introduction.
Although if you can travel much faster than walking pace, you might want me to send you with a letter, which is not quite as guaranteed as a personal introduction to work, but would be much quicker, unless you can convey multiple people.
And you might have more questions before handing us such an advantage, of course."
"Oh yeah, much faster. I can print pressure membranes, but manufacturing everything locally would be a lot harder. Mostly it's fancier methods of thermal distillation. Probably more efficient than whatever's been tried. But reverse osmosis rigs can be compact, though they still need you to, like, power a pump somehow. Little windmill or something? Probably doable, but I'd have to make critical components of those."
"That sounds like it would be right up their street - sails and windmill blades have a lot to do with each other especially in lightweight versions, and the current obsession is for all metal ships that don't catch fire - burning shipyards has become a bit of a fashion, the Grendel did it to us and then we did it to them, so even though it's maybe not the most practical way to build a small fast blockade runner - the Grendel basically own the Bay at this point, so those are in demand - it's popular as a a dream.
Would you like a hastily scribed letter of recommendation out of my notebook, which you should also be able to show people for directions along with a bit of change - I can break one of your Thrones down to crowns and rings, you'll have a better time of it if you can hand over a few rings for this and that - or we can walk into town and get a proper scrivener to do a fancy one?"
Yasmina pulls a hardback notebook and a wooden pencil out of her satchel. "What do you prefer me to introduce you as, both names which you'll have to remind me of, also your affiliation, 'the stranger I met on the road who is now carrying this letter', anything else you'd prefer I include?"
She starts writing the salutation and initial plesaentries as she keeps speaking - it seems like she's had some considerable practice at writing while standing around holding a conversation, although her handwriting is childish and sprawling.
"A Grendel is someone from one of the neighbouring countries who have habitually been at war with at least the Brass Coast for time immemorial, although sometimes like now there's a ceasefire. Mostly orcs, at least in positions of power; basically entirely about accumulating wealth and power, they consider Audacity to be a virtue, they like to take slaves, they're the best seafarers around and don't let a Corsair hear that or you'll have a potentially bloody argument."
"See, I'm not blind to the power of logistics. Giving y'all and not the Grendels water purifiers is a pretty major advantage, and maybe I should just go after things that are more clearly to my sensibilities bad news, like the Valorn."
This pronouncement causes Yasmina to briefly fail at writing, leaving an awkward line on the the page, swear under her breath, and look around fearfully for a second in case they are being overheard.
"...the caravan is mostly out of earshot.
Admitting that you might be at all sympathetic to the Grendel.. will probably produce violent outbursts from... almost anyone in this nation."
She collects herself a little - like she's slipping into some kind of habit of communication she uses with specific strangers.
"I happen to understand you simply don't have enough reliable information, but not many people will. I understand it's deeply unpleasant to be circumspect but we have just lost quite a lot of people and territory to them and almost nobody will be inclined to be charitable about it."
"Legit. Like someone suggesting we just try and talk to the fucking Ants. And yet.
I'll go watch the sea for a while and if they're truly that bad I'll find out in a day or two tops."
"Yes. Make sure to catch the slave ships they're sending from Feroz to the salt mines.
Did you want this awful scrappy note just in case, or would you rather come back here in a couple of days and I'll have a much nicer letter?"
"Few hours, more like. Yasmina Ezmara Erigo is who I should ask for upon return, yes? Ooh, wait, would the Grendels have anything exotic to attack people with? Anything that doesn't involve flinging heavy objects or physically touching me that could be a threat? Mostly I'm considering magic."
"Probably best to ask for the Brazen Parador caravan and then ask for me, but I'm suitably impressed you got all the name segments first time - there are technically syntactic markers between them, Yasmina i Ezmara i Erigo, but running them together sounds more like you're foreign which isn't a bad thing for your prospects of not putting your foot in it."
Doing name explanations appears to let her recover a bit more from the concern over even-handedness towards the Grendel, although she is much more all business rather than friendly curiosity still.
"They beat awareness and attention to detail in you really hard at flight school, I'd never have remembered it first time two years ago. Brazen Parador. Since caution is the enemy of friendliness here, have you got any questions before I go out and scan for a slave ship?"