Velasco, Josie, Alerio, Atrix
Led by the two veteran agents among you, the group of you walk westward through a weave of surface streets. The warmth of the humid air wanes as the sun sets ahead. The sprawl of homes and shopfronts goes on for some time — the city’s expansive nature makes up for its overall lack of density compared to Razak or Hadibair. Eventually, you reach a long stretch of farmland that snakes along the riverfront. A few manors dot the small valley here, breaking up the monotony of pastures, vineyards, and orchards with vibrant and unique architecture that boasts elvish innovation.
The paved road becomes packed gravel. The sounds of the city fade, overtaken by the rustle of the grasses and trees from a warm seabreeze upriver. You are led between two fields along a narrow road flanked by sturdy, wooden fences. As you near the river, the farmland gives way to workshops, warehouses, and other industrial buildings along its banks. You make for one in particular — a squat, long warehouse with a series of pits and trenches spanning its flank, where heaps of wood are burned to create the charcoal used by the city’s craftsfolk. The site is mostly vacant, its laborers either gone or soon to be. The few that remain appear to be packing up a final cart shipment for the evening, and they pay you little notice as you pass the main entrance and head toward the side of the building.
Passing through an iron gate, you arrive in a wide atrium, the stone walls forming a U that shields it from most views except from the river below the slight cliff. The grounds within the atrium are unpaved and mostly dirt, though quite flat. Archery targets line a far wall, as well as a few vertical logs with thick pegs hammered into them — likely meant for martial training.
There are about a dozen people already here. A young orcish man stands outside an open door that leads into the warehouse itself. He gives the group of you a courteous nod as you arrive. (Velasco, Josie, and Atrix recognize him as Agirri.)
A whistle calls your attention toward the training area, where a smiling orcish man with a bow stows an arrow he had nocked. “Back from the dead, then?” he says to Josie as you near. (Velasco and Josie recognize him as Kaulitz, a rather chatty agent and alleged rumormonger.) Beside him, a middle-aged Serranborn woman pauses her knife-throwing to look your way as well. (Velasco and Josie know her as Samiira, a reserved and respected agent, with little known about her origins.)
Velasco & Josie
Pōhaku, Hadrurus
On the far side of the atrium, a throng of people enter through the iron gates. Among them are Josie and Velasco, as well as five others that you don’t recognize. As they pass by the targets, Kaulitz hails them with a whistle, and Samiira pauses her knife-throwing. “Back from the dead, then?” Kaulitz says to Josie.
Gladia
On the far side of the atrium, a throng of seven people enter through the iron gates. As they pass by the target practice area, Kaulitz hails them with a whistle, and Samiira pauses her knife-throwing. “Back from the dead, then?” Kaulitz says to one of them, presumably Josie — the agent you’d heard recently return with Velasco and others.