Journey to the West

[The Incarnates]

The Singers were good at tunneling. Their diggings in Shirekeep had formed the core of the Underkeep; their Beacons were warrens of astonishing complexity of structure; underground roads crisscrossed Shimmerspring in a network that bore little resemblance to aboveground topography and was largely unaffected by aboveground weather and hazards.

But they had decided, long ago, that there was little point in restricting their tunneling to Shimmerspring. A few underground roads led to other places within Lichbrook - mostly to other large cities, such as Fortis, Citadel and Maltenstein to the north; Lyhigh in the south; and, through the rugged terrain of southern Highpass, to Spleazure in the west.

And so it was that the inhabitants of Spleazure began to see an increasing passage of people, if indeed you could call them people. First, individuals: scouts to proceed west into the uncarved mountains, procurers to obtain supplies and arrange lodgings. Then, ever-increasing caravans: parents and children, beings of fantastic shapes but ordinary job description, most nervous, some frightened, some excited. After them, armed guardians, protecting a procession of evidently important personages, many of particularly exotic shapes.

A few of the early ones got mugged or ambushed, possibly out of profit, possibly heeding the continuing pronouncements out of Shirekeep encouraging violence against them. But most, remaining loyal to the Crown Council - whether out of respect or of fear - grudgingly left them alone except to do business with them, and as the numbers passing through increased, the number of incidents trailed off. It was harder to mug people in groups; and, besides, the muggers found that many of their targets could shoot spines from their wrists or had toxic bites and made undesirable targets.

And then, as the scouts came back, the rest continued their journey, marching up into the thinly-inhabited mountains to the west. Few humans, in the dead of winter, would have thought it prudent to dare that terrain, and the untrained could have expected to lose an extremity or three to frostbite.

But then, the travelers weren't quite human. For them, it just might have been possible.