Breezehaven

Population Migration / Travel

Ukris brings the party to Breezehaven to help them freshen up supplies. They decide to head to Sivania to find Kai and Tebi who were last seen in Breezehaven on the road to Sivania. They bought a carriage and some horses and started the journey to Sivania. Disguised and on the road they encounter a ranger who claims to be a bounty hunter looking for the murderers of King Zeitdrache. They learn that Kai and Tebi have been captured in Sivania. They luckily get by without being caught and end up in Sivania where they make a plan to sneak in and rescue Kai and Tebi.

Natalya clutched closely to Ukris back as he soared her and her companions over the desert heading to the desert town of Breezehaven to hopefully catch up with Kai and Tebi. The sun was just starting to rise over the flat expanse of light, illuminating the sky in a beautiful pink sunrise. Natalya liked seeing so much of the sky, something that was rarer in her snowy artic mountains where the sky was normally covered in dark gray clouds. Kotsik, her new pseudodragon companion was curled up on her shoulders, nuzzled against her happily. After a couple hours they finally landed in what looked like the middle of nowhere in the desert. Ukris let them off of his back and they all looked around in confusion. "Um... where is it?" Nerlureel asked Ukris who started chuckling and shaking his head at himself. "I totally forgot!" he exclaimed. Natalya sighed in annoyance. "You forget you were taking us to Breezehaven?!" she asked the dragon in confusion. He shook his head. "No! It's right here! You just can't see it!" he said. "Come on! Follow me!" He started walking and Natalya shrugged and trudged on after him followed by the rest of the party.   After a few moments Natalya watched the air in front of them start to look hazy and fuzzy as they walked through a magical barrier and into a cute little town centered around an oasis. The town was similar to Sivania with lots of bright colors and clay buildings. To the left she saw one a farm with the familiar haze of magic around it like the farms in Flottenheim. The town was fairly small and the guards and people seemed excited to see Ukris walk into town and he was soon surrounded by a heard of people. "Good luck! Thank you again for your help!" he told their group before getting caught up in a conversation with some of the locals.   Natalya turned to the group. "We need disguises," she decided before turning and looking for a tailor's shop. They found one and they all found some new outfits and Natalya bought some makeup and a couple wigs. Natalya changed in the shop and hid her red hair inside a long white wig, similar to the color of Fenneck's hair that she fashioned into an elaborate braid. She found an outfit of red and black silks, very different from her blue and white Glitterfjell garbs which she shoved into her backpack. She fit a wig on Tarin, Almyr, and Fargrum's heads as well and added some makeup and fake fey ears to Tarin and Fargrum to help them look like elves. She looked at Nerlureel who shrugged worriedly, knowing how difficult it would be to hide his black scales and dragon features. She added some different colors and shadings where she could, also adding some fun designs to his skin that she'd seen many people in Sivania sporting when she attended Alexei's wedding. He put on some silks and she carefully covered his giant demon wing cloak with a bright blue cape of shiny silky fabric. She looked around their group and nodded, content with her job of hiding them.   "We need to find Kai and Tebi," Nerlureel decided. Natalya nodded. "Yeah, let's see if Ukris is still around." They walked back out into the town and saw the large crowd surrounding the dragon. He didn't recognize them at first as they approached but Natalya managed to get his attention. "Oh hello! You all look wonderful!" he complimented them. "I just heard that your other companions left for Sivania, there's a road that leads from here to there, but you might want a carriage or something," he advised them. "Sounds like a good idea," Nerlureel said, rubbing his back and clearly not wanting to walk across the desert again.   They walked around until the saw some carriages and horses for sale and they approached the shop. "Hi," Natalya greeted the gnome who was running the shop. "Oh! Hello there!" he greeted them, excited to have customers. "We need a carriage and some horses to make a trip to Sivania," she explained. The gnome looked their rather large group over before nodding. "I have a carriage," he said. "But uh... I don't know if your two friends here will be able to fit inside," he said, gesturing to Nerlureel and Almyr. Nerlureel stepped forward. "That's fine," he assured the gnome. "As long as you have something we could ride?" he asked hopefully. The gnome nodded. "Oh, of course!" he assured them. So..." He looked the group over. "You'll probably need six horses as well as the carriage which will be about... $2,000 gold," he told them. Natalya nodded and pulled the money out of her bag and plopped it on the counter. The gnome looked her over suspiciously before counting out the gold and nodding in approval. "Very well," he said. "I'll need a name," he said, looking at Natalya expectantly. "Novikoff, Nadya Novikoff," she told him. He nodded and wrote down the fake name, seeming to believe her. "Right this way," he told them, leading them over to the stables.   They piled into their carriage with Fargrum taking the reins. Nerlureel and Almyr were on horseback on either side of the carriage and Natalya and Tarin sat inside as she taught him some useful tips on how to lie and keep a good undercover persona. "Try to stay as close to the truth as you can," she advised him. "Like the name I gave the gnome," she explained. "Nadya is close enough to Natalya that I can afford a slip up. Novikoff is the last name of someone very close to me who would have no reason to be known in these parts. It makes it easier to lie that way." He nodded nervously, seeming jumpy about the situation. "Do you think we'll be okay?" the boy asked her, glancing out the window to make sure his father couldn't hear them so she'd be honest with him. Natalya sighed and shrugged. "If I can find Prince Alexei in Sivania, he's a close friend with Fenneck, then I might be able to figure out what's going on," she explained. "Duke Rajyet might be harder to convince but he knows me and works closely with Glitterfjell and won't risk upsetting their trade arrangements... hopefully." Tarin gave her a worried look. "So... you're a duchess though... right? Surely they won't just arrest you," he asked her hopefully. She frowned. "I'm not a duchess yet," she told him. "I'm engaged to Duke Fenneck Frostears who more or less shares the title with Baegla as leaders of Glitterfjell. I'm not exactly... in a position of power. Fenneck was a prince for the last twenty years or so but I... I'm just me," she said with a shrug.   Suddenly the carriage came to a halt and they heard someone yell, "Halt!" "Say as little as possible," Natalya told Tarin as she started pretending to be crocheting with some yarn she'd grabbed at the tailor's shop. She pressed the back of her head against the carriage to hear what was going on. She felt an oddly familiar feeling of charm magic trying to be put on her and she took a deep breath trying to stay in control as she felt her stomach get sick from the nausea.   "I'm looking for a group of criminals who were rumored to be in Breezehaven!" she heard a male voice shout out from the road. "Can you describe them to us?" Fargrum asked. "A black dragonborn," the voice said suspiciously, no doubt looking at Nerlureel, "a blue half-orc; a white, blonde half-elf; a white, dark-haired human; and red-headed wood-elf." Tarin looked at Natalya frightfully but she gave him a stern look. "Let me do the talking," she mouthed to him. "May I check the back of your carriage here?" the voice asked Fargrum. "Of course," Fargrum told him. The door to the carriage opened and Natalya swallowed to keep the bile from rising in her throat as a dark wood-elf with a wide brimmed hat made of woven straw poked his head in and studied Tarin and Natalya suspiciously. "Names," he asked them, looking at her. "I'm Nadia Novikoff, this is Nikolai Petrov," she lied.   He eyed her suspiciously and she felt the magic trying to prompt her to tell him the truth, luckily she was able to push past it. "I heard you're looking for the criminals?" she asked him. "When we were in Breezehaven we heard there was also a wood-elf and a human with them?" she asked the wood-elf carefully. He nodded. "We caught those two yesterday," he explained, producing a pile of drawing from his side and showing her wanted pictures with their faces on them. At the bottom of the picture the reward for one million gold was listed. "Walked right into our arms," he told her. She feigned relief. "Oh thank Corellon!" she exclaimed in Elvish. "I hope you're able to find the others soon!" she told the wood-elf. "I hate seeing lousy criminals, and such dangerous ones at that, roaming the streets." He nodded. "Don't worry, they're going to be thrown into the colosseum in Sivania where they'll fight to the death, hopefully with the others once we find them." "Have you been inside Breezehaven?" Natalya asked him. "We heard their was some... odd purchases in one of the shops and Ukris, the brass dragon rode in with an suspicious group of travelers on his back. I do hope they haven't persuaded a dragon to join their coup!" she told the wood-elf who raised his brow at this new information. "I suppose I'll have to check out the town then," he said, giving her a final look over. He glanced over at Tarin who was being oddly nervous. "Did you see the dragon?" he asked Tarin who nodded. "Yes," he said. The wood-elf nodded. "Good, have a good day," he told them both in Elvish. "Good day!" she told him in slow, clear elvish. Tarin thankfully caught on and repeated her greeting perfectly.   The wood-elf closed the door and Natalya held her breath until the carriage started moving again before leaning over and throwing up onto the floor of the carriage. Tarin jumped back in surprise and fear. "Are... are you okay?!" he asked her worriedly. Natalya nodded and took a deep breath. "I just... hate being charmed..." she explained, not wanting to get into her horrible past with this young kid. "Sorry," she told him, looking around for something to clean up the mess with. He waved his hand over it though and she watched it vanish with magic, as well as any that remained on her face. "Thank you," she told him gratefully as she laid her head back on the carriage. "No problem," he told her.   "So Kai and Tebi got arrested?" he asked her worriedly. She nodded slowly, processing the new information they had. "A fight to death in the colosseum..." she mused. "Sivania is definitely not being run by the Gaddafi's anymore. We need a plan," she said, growing worried about Alexei and Padma. "Should we try to save them?!" he asked her. Natalya pursed her lips. Fargrum chipped in from the front. "Can you believe they're offering one million gold for us?!" he asked them in disbelief. "I wish we could get the money," Tarin said. "It was a million per person too!" "Maybe we could dress you up like that weirdo and you could pretend to arrest one of us and get the money!" Fargrum suggested sarcastically. "What if we did?!" Tarin exclaimed. "Then we could get into the prison and break Kai and Tebi out!" He looked at Natalya to see if she like the idea. "I mean... maybe? It's probably risky though," she said. "How would you even break out?" Tarin shrugged. "Magic?" he suggested. Natalya pursed her lips. "The cells probably restrict magic use," she warned him. "That's how they are in Flottenheim at least." "No no!" Fargrum told them. "This is a good idea! We get them and the money out! Then we escape!" "To where?!" she asked him. "To... somewhere. Clearly Sivania is not the place to try and vouch for our freedom," he mused. She shrugged in agreement. "Have either of you guys been to Gladeon?" Tarin asked them. Natalya shook her head. "They're kinda... odd there. More recluse. It's a society of swamp elves. They seem nice from what I've seen in court but... I don't think they're up to date on current events."    "Could be to our advantage!" Tarin said excitedly. "Perhaps, but we'd still have to break out of a prison and escape out of the city," Natalya pointed out. "Seems like a fun challenge," Fargrum mused. "Aren't you good at sneaking around though?" Tarin pointed out. "My dad said you're like an assassin who disappears into the shadows!" he asked her excitedly. "I mean..." Fargrum chuckled. "If she really is who she says she is this should be a walk in the park! She's escaped the Krasnoye Fortress, bro!" he told Tarin. "The what?" Tarin asked, confused. "It's the giant ass palace is Lenisily," Fargrum explained. "No one escapes that hell hole and lives to tell about it. The place is crawling with KAV soldiers." "How do you think I escaped?" Natalya asked him sarcastically. "Wait... like... you're a KAV soldier?!" Tarin asked her with wonderment and fear in his eyes. "Was a KAV soldier," she explained quickly. "That's why I was a bit... secretive when I knew your father in Arrallath," she explained. He nodded understandingly. "We can totally do this then!" he exclaimed. "You still have some makeup left, right?" he asked Natalya who nodded hesitantly. "I just want to point out that this is actually a crime we'd be committing," she warned them. "We already resisted arrest, your grace," Fargrum told her. "I think we're well past the point of innocents. Especially you," he told her. "It's still gonna be a few hours, you guys should rest and get ready," Fargrum told them. "I'll fill Nerlureel and Almyr in. Looks like we'll be up late tonight."    Natalya focused and was able to create an illusion spell to turn the ushanka she had in her pack into a straw hat like the one the wood-elf was wearing. She then worked her skills at doing Tarin's makeup so that he looked like the wood-elf and she messed with his clothes until they were close enough and he could pass for the bounty hunter. "So I will pretend to have arrested these guys and get us inside the prison with hidden weapons on us while you sneak into the city and break us out from the outside and give us our weapons?" he confirmed the plan with Natalya. She nodded. "Again, we don't know this guys name," she reminded him. "So say as little as possible about yourself and what you've done. You can say they went willingly and that Natalya wasn't with them. If they get suspicious say she probably had some clever way to escape back to Flottenheim. They will expect me to know and use a lot of different magic or possibly have some fancy items on me that could teleport me there." Tarin gave her a confused look. "Do you?!" he asked her excitedly. "No," she told him. "I'm... still getting used to magic. It's kinda hard for me," she explained. "Fenneck has tried to teach me some stuff but I'm not super good at it yet." He nodded disappointedly.    "Well, I guess we should try to get some rest," he said, looking out at the long stretch of road and desert before them. Natalya nodded in agreement. "So you don't sleep?" he asked her. She shook her head. "No, when elves meditate we re-live moments from our lives or our past lives," she explained. "Past lives?" he asked her curiously. She nodded. "Elves are reincarnated," she explained. "At least that's how Fenneck told me it works. When I was younger I would remember moments from my past lives, from centuries and centuries ago," she told him. He looked at her in wonder. "That's so cool!" he exclaimed. "Yeah... I guess it is," she agreed, smiling at his reaction. "We should rest before tonight," she told him. He nodded and laid down on the bench in front of her. Natalya laid her head back and closed her eyes.