Lahearth was immense.<br/><br/>There was no other word Lark could think of to describe it. Everywhere he turned he was reminded that he could lose his own small hometown within what passed for, he discovered, "a block or two" to the locals.<br/><br/>It had taken him most of a day to wind his way up the massive hill the city was built upon. Simply taking whatever pathways offered themselves in the direction of the great keep which rose on the horizon quickly proved itself a wonderful way to get lost, and he'd gone through some areas which he might have chosen to avoid if he'd known they were there.<br/><br/>Lark was alternately made to feel a hindrance (back at the gate, waiting to be processed through in the pre-dawn hours with merchants and travelers, some rude varlet behind him complaining about "folk" taking up too much space), a nervously respected and honored knight (as befit the sash he wore, when the captain at the gatehouse noted it)...and a bumpkin, who merchants seemed intent on fighting over each other to take advantage of whenever he traversed one of the day or night markets. Despite the astonishing array of goods shoved in his face, he'd limited himself to buying a single apple for his breakfast. He rather imagined it was the armor. It'd cost him most of his lieutenant's share of the profits from Salkirk to have the mithral barding modified, but while most of his fellows could fight well enough dismounted, for obvious reasons he had a personal dislike for charging pike-squares. Even here at the heart of the prosperous kingdom, there were few who wore the stuff.<br/><br/>Worst of all were those who simply preyed on him as any stranger. He'd had one 'guide' lead him down an alley before quickly climbing up a rooftop and scurrying off with his fee. After that, Lark gave up in disgust and simply found an inn willing to stable him for the night, inquiring of the innkeep the best way up to the great Keep.<br/><br/>And then, when he got turned around after that in the early morning's dim glow, he'd simply followed a small squad of soldiers returning to their own lodgings. Finally making his way to the Keep's great portcullis and across, Lark lined up with the few other obvious mercenary types, turning in his lance and polearm to one of the guard-sergeants before clip-clopping into the cold stone halls. He hums softly under his breath, the stone battlements reminding him with startling relief of the watch-towers and bastions he'd so often found himself about in the past two years.<br/><br/>The gentle humming, paced to the approach of shod hooves, precedes the young centaur knight into the waiting room, and he pauses a moment at the door, taking in the wild-eyed and white-haired man, as well as the dusky woman calmly eating an orange against one wall. Quite the contrast, he thought to himself. And then there was the...Well, the word that came to mind first was<em>charlatan</em>...addressing the whisper gnome, who was dressed like a scout or light infantry. Lark found himself coming to an uncertain halt in the doorway at the sheer<em>diversity</em>of respondents here to see the Lady.<br/><br/>He, himself, is rather unimpressive as centaurs go...Certainly he has not reached his full height, there are humans taller than he is, even in this room. Nor has he filled out in bulk, looking rather gangly and coltish. All the same, he's clad in heavy mithril barding, and some of the healed scars on his lower legs match neatly to notches in the jingling mail and the narrow, gleaming greaves strapped about his cannons. The gray sash he wears may be that of a mercenary order of knights, but it's a surety that (unlike some knights of higher orders where wealth or class may determine enrollment), he's seen battle.<br/><br/>He clears his throat a moment later, the tune he'd been working out in the back of his mind put aside for now. "I hight Lark, of Belwyne, Knight o' the Gray Order." He executes a brief but gracious bow, even extending one of his forelegs and lowering himself to the knee of the other before straightening. "I take it ye all herein do seek audience wi' the High Priestess?"<br/>