The Drachenfall
After having been chased through a valley that had till today been unbeknown to us, we finally found ourselves in familiar surroundings. Gone were the chasing quadavs, something me and Renomus were very relieved to learn. If we stopped only for a minute at a certain point we would’ve become lizard feed. Not a pleasing thought to be honest.
We walked through the outpost and stopped by the guard watching over the entrance to the Gustaberg region. He quickly noticed that we weren’t from Bastok, so he saluted and welcomed us to the region. «The area you just came through is called Grauberg,» he explained to us, continuing to say; «you should be thankful to Altana for granting you safe passage. The Grauberg area is very difficult to pass with only two people.»
I explained to the guard that we had set up our camp and were trying to rest up after an exhausting journey. You could notice the guard’s astonishment by the distance we had traveled on the run after having been found. Both me and Renomus were eager to get going so we could get ourselves a bed for the night in Bastok. We apologized to the guard for having to leave so abruptly. «Just one moment, lady,» he said before he walked over to one of the other guards and picked up a report. «Could you bring these to Adelbrecht in Bastok,» he asked us. We accepted his request and I put the report in my bag.
Renomus was starting to get rather impatient at this point and started to play with my tail. He knows how much I hate that, but he knew it was a good way of getting my attention. «What is the fastest and safest route to Bastok,» I asked the guard, trying to find a way to save time. «Follow the road here down south, then take the trail up to the top,» he suggested to me.
I had no earthly idea what trail he was talking about, but I trusted his words. «The entrance to the Southern Gustaberg has been blocked by quadav forces, so I wouldn’t wander too far down there,» he continued to explain to me. Renomus tugged my tail. «Hey! Let’s go already!» I turned around and hissed at Renomus, which made him take a few steps back just to be sure I didn’t smack him in the head.
«Guess we’ll be on our way then,» I told the guard, before I turned around and started walking south. «I can’t believe you tugged my tail like that. That hurt you know,» I told Renomus. He just grinned and continued walking. There weren’t too many monsters to speak of on our way down the road. We came across the oh so familiar Drachenfall which was a refreshing sight after the hurdle we’ve just been through. The bottom of the Drachenfall is a really beautiful area that I have been only two or three times. I guess I should go back there some day.. when I get back home again anyway.
We came to the cliff that separates the eastern and western parts of the north Gustaberg region. I pointed toward the cliff and told Renomus; «we should go hug the wall to make sure we find the trail to the top.» Renomus followed me closely, making keeping a keen watch on the monsters around us to make sure we didn’t wander off to any hungry monsters.
We finally found the trail and made our way to the top, which was an adventure in itself after the long chase. The muscles in my legs were starting to hurt, even though I’ve been running for hours and hours through the jungles surrounding Kazham without even breaking a sweat.
«Huh? Since when was the entrance to Bastok located here,» Renomus asked me while pointing to a gate in the mountain. «That’s strange. I never heard there was a different entrance during the Crystal War,» I answered, but we both agreed we should go check it out. And surely, it was a gate leading into Bastok. Inside we found Invincible Shield, a galkan guard. «Excuse me, Sir, but where can we find Adelbrecht,» Renomus asked the galka. Renomus is much better at talking with galkas than I am. «Oh, he’s at the marketplace where the Auction House used to be before the war started,» the galka replied.
We walked over to the auction house and found Adelbrecht behind the counter. «What do you civilians want with me,» he asked us. «Can’t you maggots see I’m working?» We handed him the report we had obtained from the guard just a few hours before. Adelbrecht skimmed through the report and bursted into laughter. «Good! You guys think you’re quite something, don’t you,» he asked us quite harshly. We nodded. Adelbrecht turned around and looked through some papers he had laying around. He turned back towards us and handed us an assignment. «Now get your behinds to the watch tower with these supplies,» he screamed at us. We were quite shocked with the way he was talking to us, but we decided to comply with the order even though we had no earthly idea where the watch towers were. Just as I opened my mouth to ask him where the towers were located, he gave us a piercing look and pointed toward the gate we had just entered from. I shut my mouth again and decided I’d be better off just doing as the man said.
(to be continued…)