Zalvryn stood up from his seat. It had been quite a meeting for him. He wondered how he would find the time to pack all his things. He would have to sort out his spellbooks, find clothes more suitable for  travel, even one of those things would take more time than the scant hours he had been given. However, not long after Zalvryn had broken off from his future companions to start packing his stuff, he was intercepted by lord Grande, his father. "So...father...I'm guessing you pulled a few strings to get me this assignment?" Zalvryn spoke in a respectful and ponderous manner, though there was a light hint of bitterness in his voice. Albert, upholding the same calm, respectful demeanor as his son, formulated his response for a moment. "Zalvryn... It's not a personal grudge that led to this, but I think that the current situation with you and your brother warrants you being isolated for the time. I'm not doing this because I want you gone. I'm doing it to protect you."<br/><br/>Protection? from what? "Are you implying... someone would resort to violence to secure gantegryn's position as heir?" Albert sighed deeply, and nodded. "Zalvryn... you may not have realized it, but a plot to end your life has already been rumored to exist. The ones behind it are as of yet unkown, as well as the identity of the would-be murderers. Hoftmont simply isn't safe for you right now." Zalvryn wondered what reasoning led his father to believe the northern warp would be any safer. " It may not be readily apparant, but the northern warp is indeed safer right now. The place is so scarcely populated that an unauthorized person attempting to travel through the area would be arrested long before they reached you. And even if they did reach you, you'll most likely be in the same building as an entire garrison of soldiers."<br/><br/>There was still another objection on Zalvryn's mind. "but can the soldiers be trusted. This might just be leading me right into their trap." Albert gave Zalvryn a stern look." If you ever listened at all during the family meetings, you would know that many of the soldiers there are under our direct command. Do you think I would send you somewhere if I couldn't so much as vouch for the guards?" This stilled Zalvryn's last concern.<br/><br/>But there was still a practical problem or two. "How will I pack in time? the transport leaves in less than two hours?" His voice was concerned, though not raised quite yet. " Preparations for your departure were already underway the moment you set off to attend the briefing." Zalvryn retorted once more. "Do Mother and gantegrym know of this?" Zalvryn could almost see his father holding back the scowl that would be so against proper manners. "Zalvryn, your mother and brother are both suspects in this matter. They'll know of it eventually, but as of right now, they are still in the dark. And I suggest you keep it that way. Now go to that transport, what you will need has already been delivered there."<br/><br/>With that said, Zalvryn turned around to make his way down to the eastern city gate. he was beckoned one final time by his father "Son... be careful out there." Zalvryn was stricken speechless by this exceedingly rare display of honest affection from his father. Most of the time, the man would wrap himself into an imenetrable barrier of protocol and ettiquette through which not a single emotion shone. Quickly, Zalvryn made his way out of the tower. The usual looks his splendorous clothing invited upon him gave him an enirely different feeling now. What had once made him feel powerful nom felt threathening. Zalvryn kept his cool while going through the university and the noble districts, but he was starting to crack by the time he entered the trade district. Every envious stare he received felt like a threat, every man looking away could be a blade in the dark.<br/><br/>The final hurdle was the labor district. Zalvryn was moving at a running ace now, the looks he drew were now more borne of confusion than of envy, after all, it wasn't everyday that an arcanists ran through the labor district in some sort of panic. finally, the gate came in sight, the guards stationed there were informed of Zalvryn's arrival it seemed, for they moved towards him in a distinctly nonthreathening manner. "sir grande... who are you running from?" One of them asked worriedly. It snapped zalvryn out of it. "I... nothing,I... just thought someone was following me." The two guards looked at one another, and then back to Zalvryn. "That might have been so, there is quite some animosity towards arcanists in general here, and someone might just have started stalking you just to terrorize you. In any case, your baggage arrived early, we took the liberty of loading it into the transport." zalvryn had now calmed down due to the guard's friendly demeanor. "Thank you guard, stand down."<br/><br/>As the guards stepped back to their positions, Zalvryn walked through the eastern gate. It was quite an imposing structure, with a long overarched hallway, overlooked by two guard towers on opposite sides of the fortification. The darkened hallway soon made way for an ornate drawbridge. Zalvryn recognized it to have been built with thaumium, a magical metal made by thaumathurgic mettalurgy. A drawbridge of this size would likely have cost an inordinate amount of money, even from the perspective of a nobleman such as him.<br/><br/>Nevertheless, he looked onwards, he could now see the transport that would take him north. It was a military vehicle of some sort. It had an armored exterior, threaded wheels, and a large hatch on the back to let in passengers and crew members alike. It seemed quite uit of place in the grassy hills around hoftmont, but it was probably built to withstand harsh conditions such as what one could expect near the northern warp. The vehicle's driver stood just on the edge of the open hatch withc a checklist of some kind in his hands. He looked up to see Zalvryn approaching. "Ah.. sir Grande... I was already expecting you. we will depart to the north shortly. If you will please take place in the landcrawler here."  Zalvryn walked up to the large vehicle. It was even more imposing up close. The exterior was plated with thick sheets of metal and menacing spikes. A plow-like hunk of metal was crudely affixed to the Landcrawler's front bumper. and the thing had an overall aura of brutish strength about it.<br/><br/>Reluctantly, Zalvryn stepped in through the hatch. To his surprise, the inside was quite a bit more spacious than the outside. The driver had followed him. "Impressive, isn't it? the vehicle boys did it it with some sort of space-stretching magic. I don't know how it works exactly, but I'll be darned if it isn't convenient. Now... did you see my other passengers around?"