RianeTeamora Gudenneau had almost reached the inn when there was a commotion at the city gate.  Then she saw them.  Rhaananites.  They were one of the nomadic tribes to gain a foothold since the Hold had...well, the polite term was "withdrawn," but everyone called it what it was, which was a collapse.<br/><br/>The Rhaananites were light-olive complected, with dark hair.  They rode horses...the Rhaanan were definitely an equestrian people, making accomplished cavalrymen for the auxiliaries the Hold had hired, until the gold ceased flowing and the Rhaanan went independent--again.  The nomads had lived through the rise and fall of more than one empire, it seemed, and would likely continue to do so.<br/><br/>RianeTeamora watched the Rhaananites ride up.  There were about fifteen of them.  Proud, almost regal in their bearing, but with an unmistakable air of the barbaric, too.  A couple years ago, it would have been cheap and expedient to bar them at the gates, for they had a penchant for causing troubles wherever they went.  Tavern furniture broken and, on occasion, stray maidens deflowered...<br/><br/>But the horsemen hated the orcs and goblinoids...hated them with a passion.  And the town needed all the allies it could get against the humanoids of the wilderness.  So the Rhaananites were tolerated, though not truly liked, by the town elders.  People scurried out of the way as they rode toward the same inn that RianeTeamora was headed for.