<div align="center">(https://i.imgur.com/JFEUc2J.jpg)</div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Music:</div><div class="spoiler_body">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhwdSEvvFhQ&amp;list=RDWhwdSEvvFhQ</div></div><br/><br/>Kisara and Talion returned with Kersinta to the city after dropping off the former captives, while Zavros and Mouse went about their own business, with an agreement to meet for the offering ceremony.<br/><br/>For Zavros' part, assembling the boat in a quiet little inlet by a grove of trees was easy enough--at least by his standard, not by those of the gobsmacked smugglers, who didn't seem to have thought he'd take their request seriously. He even impressed Lilan and Balam enough to earn a promise from them that if he ever needed any help in the future, to send the word out--and if he needed any help, to contact a man in the dockyards of Hacre by the name of "Eshkar".<br/><br/>Mouse was received with awe by the hillfolk tribe at bringing almost all of their captives back. There were offers to build shelters for the Tribe of the Stag, and to provide them with charms to mark them as ones not to be taken by the ghosts. The Stagfolk themselves looked to Mouse for guidance, Sascara stating that they would wait here and catch their breath or follow Mouse some more, as she desired. But for now, there was a place that was livable and welcoming, much more than they had ever had in their long travails before now. The stories of Henes and his partner only added to the mystique that the hillfolk looked at Mouse with. As she left the settlement, she could see children gathering to peer at her, some whispering words like<em>great-blessed-ancestor</em>or<em>just like Miss Nehralia</em>/ But they dived out of sight as soon as she looked at them.<br/><br/><br/>.....<br/><br/><br/>To Kisara, Hacre would be even newer than it was for Talion. Kersinta had been delivered to the temple safely and anonymously--as agreed, she did not name her saviours, but the air of relief that spread out wasn't limited to the temple. Anyone with an ear for local gossip could hear that the rumours of the sea god's wrath were dissipating. And that another favourite topic for idle chatter among the dockworkers was the mysterious man who had robbed the temple and stolen all of its priceless treasures, as well as Lady Pearl's modesty.<br/><br/><em>"Never mind the offering, reckon he'll drown the city just for someone making a fool of his daughter?"<br/><br/>"I were there. And if he does, it were worth it just to see those teats on her."<br/><br/>"Don't go getting ideas. I've heard them godfolk send their pet monsters out to eat the boats of anyone who don't talk to them with respect."</em><br/><br/>One thing that was curiously absent was any stories of an Anathema appearing in one of the farms.<br/><br/>While waiting for the others to rejoin them and for the day of the offering, Kisara and Talion had ample time to learn about Hacre. Some of it Zavros might also have shared when he rejoined them.<br/><br/>Until sixty years ago, Hacre had been ruled by the "old kings", a loose alliance of merchant princes and princesses who ran the city as a freeport. Almost sixty years ago, the leaders of the mercenaries--two outcaste Dragon-Blooded named Kairos and Shreya--they employed had slain their employers and installed themselves as the new rulers of the city, styling themselves as liberators. Since then, Hacre had entered a loose alliance with House Peleps of the Realm, offering discounted shipping through the Azure Sea and to the inland seas beyond.<br/><br/>Kisara would be able to tell that this was a way for Peleps to exert informal influence in this area without risking the anger of House V'Neef, the nominal controllers of the Inner Sea around the Blessed Isle. It also explained why Hacre hadn't simply been annexed by the Realm.<br/><br/>Hacre was a trade city through and through, with little industry of its own, and a large chunk of the city dedicated to the market, and ways for sailors to entertain themselves. The prosperity was clearly visible in the tremendous quantity and value of goods changing hands on any typical day, whereas the dark side could be seen in the bodies slumped in allies near the Street of Bliss, and the moans from the Meat Market where animals and people alike were traded and sold. Another thing that made it hard to rest easy was the Dragon-Blooded. The Good Kings and their guests from the Realm mostly seemed to stay in the luxurious quarter known as Fivefold, and the vast domed palace called the Seat that sat on the hill overlooking the city. But there was an Immaculate temple in the city, along those dedicated to Maur-Azur and the harvest goddess Bel-Sirin. Though the faith of the Dragon-Blooded seemed to have found little traction in the city, the monks could be seen wandering the market, keeping tabs on the place. And occasionally, one might glimpse the Dragon-Blooded monk known as the Abbot, a giant of a man with skin the colour and apparent hardness of granite.<br/><br/>But one other thing that was clear was a sense of tension hanging in the air. Part of it was the soldiers of the mercenary company known as the Wyld Hounds, who seemed to be the combined army and police force of this city. They made up for a lack of discipline and organisation with brutality, and did not perform their duties with much concern for who got stepped on. Word of mouth had it they were concerned about escaped slaves, and seemed very anxious to find who was responsible. Some people whispered that it was a gang calling themselves the "White Feathers", after a folk hero who had led a slave rebellion twenty years ago But though never spoken openly, the general antipathy towards the Good Kings was easy to detect.<br/><br/>Talion's efforts towards getting the lay of the underworld met with success, too. It was little surprise that the riches of the market were hotly contested. It seemed that the gang known as the Fox Eyes had been mostly in control of smuggling and the activities that even Hacre deemed illicit, but some sort of conflict had been brewing-veiled whispers suggested there might be a new group in town, though nobody seemed certain--or willing to tell--exactly who they might be.<br/><br/>Finally, the day of the ceremony came, and the day that the four Solar Exalted were reunited.