The Sefrayle Dynasty has ushered a golden age. Their industrial and military might grow stronger by the day, and within half a century, they have established an empire that spanned the entire continent, achieving a destiny that has been prophesied a...
Caelmere is the cosmopolitan capital of the Sefrayle Empire, considered a cultural and economic haven for Imperials and Colonials alike. Guards were in abundance in the city during peace time, where restless soldiers in need of coin took to patrolling the city streets when there was no need for them to be out on the field.
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The city is protected by 40-meter tall walls and over 30 fortified towers, built over half a millennia ago and maintained rigorously by countless royal engineers. It has five gates: two on the north, one in the west, one in the east, and one in the south. As the northern part of the city is where the Imperial Palace is located, the northern gates are the city's most popular entrances, where the merchants have even set up large marketplaces just outside the walls.
As they entered the city through the southern gates, the two siblings and the thief were stopped by a vendor hawking some cheap looking necklaces and knickknacks. He was persistent, so Zephos bought one for Elissa, to the latter's amusement. It was a wooden trinket carved to look like the city's coat of arms; a lance and a lion emblazoned on diagonal stripes, crudely made and entirely worthless to the discerning eye of the thief (or to anyone who had a modicum of taste). She put it in her pocket, something she makes sure she has in every dress she owns.
They continued to walk around the bustling streets of the city, stopping at any sights Elissa thought to be interesting. One was a small park in the south eastern Lamb District, on top of a hill. It had a good view of the Overseer's Tower and, if you squint hard enough, the Eastern Gate Market Square. While Elissa was committing the scenery to her memory, the thief, who knew the city front and back, mostly kept himself to himself, thinking about Zephos' offer.
Zephos' offer seemed to have surprised the thief enough for him to become quiet and pensive while they were walking around the city.This man is having me on, isn't he? Me, a Knight? Might as well pick up some other thugs from the slums while we're at it; turn them into champions of the people while they beat the same people black and blue, he thought to himself, glancing at Elissa and Zephos.
Elissa and the thief's eyes met once, and he looked away, blushing a bit, and then finally spoke. "You two are from the colonies, right? On those islands from the south?"
"Yes," Elissa said. "We're from the Eprana Islands. It's quite a distance from the Imperial mainland. A galleon would usually take us two months to get here, but we took one of the Empire's new steamships and they're amazingly fast! It only took us less than a week to get to one of the port towns. We stayed there for a bit, and I have to say, their devil squid cuisine was divine!"
"Well, good for you," The thief said, who had gone silent again, mulling something over. This irritated Elissa, since she wanted to talk about her time at the port town some more. She examined the thief: he wore a ragged looking hood that barely obscured his face, and he wore it over a fisherman's vest. Hidden under his hood was messy blonde hair and bright green eyes, and a pale, lightly bruised face. Elissa thought him to be handsome enough, if a bit disheveled.
