The Thief of Alvera
It takes you a good four days of hard travel to reach Tulon. Tulon is small dirty mining town with a military barracks for the border patrol. The houses are mostly made of stone with slate roofs. Th town consists of s single dirt street with a few shops, two taverns alongside. The road ends at the barracks. The side-roads are even dirtier than the main street and most of the houses are in a deplorable condition. It reminds you of the Alvera slums though they are larger than Tulon without doubt. Drunken miners lurch and stammer along the road and children and women stare as you enter the town.
Vin's face assumes a disgusted expression."Typical mining town. I hate these places."
"Why are these people so poor?", you ask.
"They sell ores. That isn't a very profitable business."
You stop in town to buy a few essential supplies from a shady looking merchant and then move on to the mountains.
"We need to get to the mountains before sunset. We'll probably have a full moon tonight so we can hide in some cave till nightfall and then make our way to the smuggler's cavern.", Vin says.
You ride across a barren stretch of land, passing through a range of black hills." These are where all the mines are located." Vin tells you."The caverns we seek are spearated from this range by another stretch of dirt."
You manage to settle down in a cool cave by sunset. You rest yourself on your backs and fall asleep.
You feel someone shaking you and calling out your name. You open your eyes slowly to see Vin waking you up. It's night already and there's a full moon just as Vin expected. You gather your supplies and climb down the hills though a gentle slope. After a few more hours of riding, you climb up another huge mountain and enter into a large cavern hidden from view by a barrier of rocks placed in such a way that it seems like a natural formation. Vin searches in his packs for a bit and then lights fire using his dry tinder and a small torch. The cavern is as cool as the last one you had entered. You see an opening on one side, going downwards. You go down deeper into the caves, the air seems to be getting thicker and you start feeling claustrophobic. You don't talk much out of fear of causing the wall to collapse. The roof and floor of the caves are riddled with stalactites and stalagmites and you often stumble upon the protruding rocks. Moreover, the caverns are low roofed and you just manage to squeeze in the horses riderless.
You see an opening in the cave wall up ahead after two more days of travel. Your heart leaps at the thought of being back on open ground again. You exit the caves and climb down the cliff onto another barren stretch of land. You notice sparse vegetation at places and almost no animals.
"Prera is just a few hours away from here, we can stop there for supplies and move on tomorrow.", Vin says.
You nod without a thought. Over the course of yor journey, you've begun to trust Vin more than you did when you first met him and you don't doubt his decisions anymore.
Prera, you observe, is a small fortified town. The street's are clean and broad, the houses are all uniform, everything is neat and a sense of rigid discipline oozes from every part of the city."Wow", you remark.
"Prera is a military outpost. The whole city was planned and built by the military.", Vin tells you. His face assumes an expression of disgust."This place is hell for criminals. No slums, too many soldiers."
Yet again, you're amazed by how much Vin knows. The streets of Prera seem rather empty to you. You notice guards and soldiers but not many civilians. On the battlements, on the streets, even inside some houses, all armed and ready for any eventuality.
The inn you pick to spend the night is a stout, clean three-storey building. The inn keeper is a thin, pleasant fellow who welcomes you warmly. After placing your luggage in your room, you freshen up and follow Vin to the taproom.
You sit down at the table beside a drunken old man with a wrinkled, scarred face. He has spilt a lot of beer on the table but he doesn't seem to care. You wonder why Vin picked such a seat when you could have sat on one of the many empty seats.
Vin strikes up pleasant conversation with the man in a language you don't understand. You just sit and relax, sipping the beer from time to time. The taste of the beer makes you want to puke all over the table but you control the urge and sip it slowly, just for appearance's sake.
After a quarter of an hour, Vin presses your hand discreetly, but urgently. and then starts walking back to your rooms. You leave your half-full tankard on the table and follow him, thankful for the chance to escape drinking more of the monstrosity. You half run to the staircase and climb it two steps at atime. You dash to the empty basin in your room and vomit.
You are still vomiting when Vin enters."Beer didn't suit you, eh?"he grins.
You finish puking and return him a rueful grin."I felt like puking at the first sip"
"Anyway, the man told me that there are some men in the city who are asking questions about someone who seems to match your description. Also they are having men watch the gates and apparently, the authorities aren't-" You hear someone knocking the door and look at Vin, who is every bit as startled as you.
What do you do now?
Vin's face assumes a disgusted expression."Typical mining town. I hate these places."
"Why are these people so poor?", you ask.
"They sell ores. That isn't a very profitable business."
You stop in town to buy a few essential supplies from a shady looking merchant and then move on to the mountains.
"We need to get to the mountains before sunset. We'll probably have a full moon tonight so we can hide in some cave till nightfall and then make our way to the smuggler's cavern.", Vin says.
You ride across a barren stretch of land, passing through a range of black hills." These are where all the mines are located." Vin tells you."The caverns we seek are spearated from this range by another stretch of dirt."
You manage to settle down in a cool cave by sunset. You rest yourself on your backs and fall asleep.
You feel someone shaking you and calling out your name. You open your eyes slowly to see Vin waking you up. It's night already and there's a full moon just as Vin expected. You gather your supplies and climb down the hills though a gentle slope. After a few more hours of riding, you climb up another huge mountain and enter into a large cavern hidden from view by a barrier of rocks placed in such a way that it seems like a natural formation. Vin searches in his packs for a bit and then lights fire using his dry tinder and a small torch. The cavern is as cool as the last one you had entered. You see an opening on one side, going downwards. You go down deeper into the caves, the air seems to be getting thicker and you start feeling claustrophobic. You don't talk much out of fear of causing the wall to collapse. The roof and floor of the caves are riddled with stalactites and stalagmites and you often stumble upon the protruding rocks. Moreover, the caverns are low roofed and you just manage to squeeze in the horses riderless.
You see an opening in the cave wall up ahead after two more days of travel. Your heart leaps at the thought of being back on open ground again. You exit the caves and climb down the cliff onto another barren stretch of land. You notice sparse vegetation at places and almost no animals.
"Prera is just a few hours away from here, we can stop there for supplies and move on tomorrow.", Vin says.
You nod without a thought. Over the course of yor journey, you've begun to trust Vin more than you did when you first met him and you don't doubt his decisions anymore.
Prera, you observe, is a small fortified town. The street's are clean and broad, the houses are all uniform, everything is neat and a sense of rigid discipline oozes from every part of the city."Wow", you remark.
"Prera is a military outpost. The whole city was planned and built by the military.", Vin tells you. His face assumes an expression of disgust."This place is hell for criminals. No slums, too many soldiers."
Yet again, you're amazed by how much Vin knows. The streets of Prera seem rather empty to you. You notice guards and soldiers but not many civilians. On the battlements, on the streets, even inside some houses, all armed and ready for any eventuality.
The inn you pick to spend the night is a stout, clean three-storey building. The inn keeper is a thin, pleasant fellow who welcomes you warmly. After placing your luggage in your room, you freshen up and follow Vin to the taproom.
You sit down at the table beside a drunken old man with a wrinkled, scarred face. He has spilt a lot of beer on the table but he doesn't seem to care. You wonder why Vin picked such a seat when you could have sat on one of the many empty seats.
Vin strikes up pleasant conversation with the man in a language you don't understand. You just sit and relax, sipping the beer from time to time. The taste of the beer makes you want to puke all over the table but you control the urge and sip it slowly, just for appearance's sake.
After a quarter of an hour, Vin presses your hand discreetly, but urgently. and then starts walking back to your rooms. You leave your half-full tankard on the table and follow him, thankful for the chance to escape drinking more of the monstrosity. You half run to the staircase and climb it two steps at atime. You dash to the empty basin in your room and vomit.
You are still vomiting when Vin enters."Beer didn't suit you, eh?"he grins.
You finish puking and return him a rueful grin."I felt like puking at the first sip"
"Anyway, the man told me that there are some men in the city who are asking questions about someone who seems to match your description. Also they are having men watch the gates and apparently, the authorities aren't-" You hear someone knocking the door and look at Vin, who is every bit as startled as you.
What do you do now?