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Message: <blockquote data-quote="seasong" data-source="post: 479543" data-attributes="member: 5137">PROLOGUEMerideth's TrailAt this point, the characters do not know each other. I will be giving each one an introductory space, before starting on the campaign.It takes a full day to hike upriver out of the southmost valley, into Theralis proper. And once you get out, you're surrounded by sophisticated houses and people that dismiss you for your way of talking. Three more days of that to reach Theralis.Merideth slept on the road the whole way, ate what she had in her sack, and then just went hungry for the last day. Still, she got her wish: no one saw her along the way, no one knew she came from Southbottom... and when she entered the military rolls in Theralis instead of Southbottom, no one ever would.And there was an additional bonus as well: the city was beautiful. She studied it from the river banks, before ascending the steep mountainside to the gates. Brilliant white bridges and narrow towers of darker stone formed the bulk of the skyline, with huddled stone construction amassed below that. And more people than Merideth had ever seen, arrayed in all of their cosmopolitan splendor... she'd listened to stories about different peoples, of course, but so few of them ever visited Southbottom that...She fiercely reminded herself that her place of residence was now, and ever would be, Northwood. She'd studied it carefully, and while it wasn't backwater, the people there seemed isolationist enough to not know a few neighbors.With that reminder tucked away, she reached the gate. It was really more of a formality, really - the road passed through the gate, but there was no wall other than the minimum to hold the doors. Still, the lanky gentleman standing there, armed with sharp spear and unblemished mail armor, treated it with all seriousness for each visitor. "Good morning, lass, and good day. Business in the city?""Entering Service, sir, today is my fifteenth."The gentleman smiled at her, stamped his spear, "Well then, lass, I expect you'll be paying no tax today. In you go!"Inside the city, bliss turned to confusion swiftly. The buildings, so pristinely white or dark from afar, were a jumbled mass up close, with no landmarks recognizable to a woods-trained eye. Merideth walked slowly, incurring the wrath of a number of good people, before finally spotting a soldier."Excuse me, sir, but I'm here to enter Service today. Can you tell me where to go?"The soldier, barely older than she, regarded Merideth with bored disdain for too long, before interrupting her repeated query with a gusty sigh, "Here, I'll walk you there. Why'd you come to the city for this?""I'm from Northwood. That's close enough that I might as well!"He looked at her again, but didn't comment. If she was from Northwood, she was a poor example of the breed.They walked in silence, before he jerked to a stop and pointed, "There, that building." Then he left.Merideth, ears still burning, headed to the unmarked little tower.</blockquote>

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