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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ladybird" data-source="post: 2903473" data-attributes="member: 10689">The easiest and safest launching point for an expedition into the lands south of the border of Canberry was from the city of Brightspan, capital of the duchy of the same name. And the easiest and safest way to get there was via teleport circle. One by one, the group stepped through the circle in the palace in Canberry – or flew, in Varya’s case – and stepped out almost instantaneously into a matching one in a tower just outside the city of Brightspan. A very young, very bewildered-looking page was the only other person in the room. He looked desperately around, as if hoping that someone else would appear to save him from the duty of dealing with the travelers who had so suddenly appeared in his presence – but no, he was the only one there. “Er. Um. Greetings? Um. Hello?” the page stammered. “I – we – er – welcome you to Brightspan? O noble travelers?” His eyes darted nervously from person to person, trying to figure out which was the proper one to address.Kit was looking around at the others, too, waiting for one of them to reply – until she remembered that she was the one who was supposed to be in charge. “Greetings,” she said, sidling through the crowd to face the befuddled page, and gave him a friendly, winning smile. “I’m Dame Katherine of Lyneham. We have been sent from the capital on an expedition by the Archduke to combat the slavers in the south. We request safe passage through the city. And, er, we apologize for appearing so quickly.”“Aha!” came a triumphant voice behind the group. “Fighting slavers! That is why Whimsy has sent me here!” The group turned slowly – Gyles and Kit with their hands creeping towards their swords – to see a tall thin man standing behind them, evidently having come through the teleport circle, although he hadn’t been with them in Canberry. He was dressed in flamboyantly ruffled clothes, wearing a huge plumed hat and the rainbow holy symbol of Whimsy, goddess of chaos. He also carried a long-barreled musket. (Gunpowder in the world of Aphonion only worked through the favor of the goddess Whimsy, but due to her nature, it often had unexpected and unpredictable effects. Also, unpredictable practitioners.) “I am Sir Toby, Musketeer of Whimsy!” the man declared, with a flourish of his gun that set the plume on his hat waving. “I go where the goddess sends me! And she has decided that today is a good day to fight slavers! Yesterday was a good day to eat cheese.”It would hardly seem possible for the poor page to become more bewildered, but the appearance of the Musketeer of Whimsy seemed to have done it. “Er.” the page faltered, as he turned back to Kit. “Would you be – er – wanting to see Her Ladyship, then, miss? Er, ma’am. Er, m’lady?”Kit smiled even more sweetly at the page. “Oh, we would be most appreciative of her ladyship’s hospitality.” Kit was getting her momentum back. Keep talking she thought. If I’m talking, he’s not asking questions, and not trying to figure out what we really want with Lady Brightspan “Please do apologize to her for our abrupt arrival.”The page looked around again, a slight look of desperation in his eyes…and saw that he was the only person in the room besides the new arrivals. There was nobody else for him to send ahead. “I’ll – er – tell her, then. Once we get back to the castle?”Through the streets of Brightspan City, the page led the group of travelers, drawing quite a few curious stares. Every so often, they passed a group of uniformed soldiers – not unusual, in a city the size of Brightspan, and a duchy whose ruling family was so highly placed in the military. But there was still something…off. “My lady?” Gyles spoke in a low voice into Kit’s ear, so that she was the only one who could hear, but it still took her a moment to realize that the ‘my lady’ was directed to her.“Yes?” Kit answered, her voice just as hushed.“There’s something that isn’t right about the troops.” Gyles glanced around, his eyes wary and troubled. “The uniforms don’t fit properly. Their bearing isn’t right. I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something wrong with them.”“Could they be new recruits?”“Possibly. Or mercenaries, perhaps. But in that case, what happened to the regulars?”Kit frowned. “I wish I knew.”</blockquote>

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