<div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Last post to allow those with coinage to spend it or so forth before the journey is under way! :3 A short one - expect the next one to be longer...and likely a few days in the coming. Few PMs with information needs to be sent out...damn my laziness!</div></div></div><br/><br/>As Rak dissappears into a back alleyway with a tightly-clinging mousegirl clutching his neck, life in Espen returns to normal. The last few who'd stopped to watch the battle - either just for the entertainment value, or to see if anyone might be wounded enough to become a quick meal - return to their daily lives. The small hole in the crowd that had formed - with the battle in it's epicenter - begins to once more shut, and within a matter of moments, it was as if the fight had never happened - save for two full and gurgling bellies, and the fact Espen was now populated by four less than it had been just a few moments ago.<br/><br/>Ureck takes a few moments to scan the battlesite, looking for anything else that might be of use - yet, there was nothing. The pair of cloth pants that had once covered Adanoa's modesty is all that remained of the four individuals who now resided in the bellies of two once-hungry predators. A quick pat-down indicated there were no hidden pockets, no sew-ins, or anything else of the sort. It seemed everything he had possessed had been contained in the little pouch, of which had already been rifled through. The OTHER three, whoever their possessions had been....likely wouldn't last the digestive process. Even steel armor and weapons would be taken apart by the powerful digestive acids of Sherani and Lilium's bellies.<br/><br/>The human who'd fled had not dropped anything - judging by the outcome of the fight, he'd been the lucky (read:smart) one.<br/><br/>The hustle and bustle of the slums district is slowly left behind as the trio makes their way towards their destination - apparantly, a 'breach' in the south-western wall (Or, perhaps, a place that simply had not been finished yet), that was allowing refugees safe entry into the city. The cobblestone streets, the overwhelming and slightly unpleasant scent of many bodies crammed into one district, and the cries of peddlers slowly begin to fade into the distance, replaced by dirt pathways made by the passage of many, many feet. The buildings give way to hastily-built yurts...which, in turn, given way to diamond-flys, hastily constructed military-style tents, and even the odd instance of nothing but a bedroll tossed out into the open.<br/><br/>As the buildings of the city begin to fade, there is nothing left but dirt pathways, tents, lean-tos...and well over a hundred of the less-fortunate of the population (and refugees) spread out in the expansion-room that had been left inside Espen's walls. It was a pitiful sight - families huddled around boiling pots that likely contained far less than was needed to feed them. Individuals scuffling over the best camping spots, trying to get as far away from the walls as possible. One shady-looking half-elf making the rounds, scrounging through the bedrolls and possessions of those who were attending to business elsewhere. Even he seemed to be having absolutely no luck - it was a city where even a scavenger was having a hard time making a living. Espen was slowly dying, and - like it or not - it would only be a couple of more months before things came to a head, when true desperation set in.<br/><br/>A quick scan of the few hundred yards that was left for expansion told the entire story - things were getting serious.<br/><br/>Across the sea of tattered tents and hastily constructed structures, the walls of Espen were visible, in all their half-finished glory. About two hundred yards of wall was left unconstructed, and another four hundred yards on either side only partially-finished. Some was so shoddily constructed that it almost appeared as if a stiff breeze would blow the entire length over.<br/><br/>And there, just beyond those walls, visible across the sea of refugees....<br/><br/>Lay the Midna Plains - a vast expanse of rolling hills, broken intermittantly by small streams, ponds, and the odd copse of trees. To the south? The Olomi Mountains. To the north? Falteen forest - Sherani's home, and the party's intended destination. The plains themselves had once been safe - patrolled by small parties of rangers, cavaliers from Falteen, and even small bands from Espen - the combined patrols kept the dangerous animal population low and provided some measure of safety from bandits.<br/><br/>Now...the plains were dangerous. Full of those wanting to prey on the refugees, the strange, enormously large animals that had been making appearances....<br/><br/>And they had to get across them. It was a two day journey to the Falteen forest, even making good time. With enormous wild animals roaming the plains...it would be a dangerous journey, as well. Yet, with strength in numbers, perhaps the trip could be made safely...