"Uh, I don't think so," Kyne shoots back with a groan. "Let's get going before they can saddle us with anyone."

The little, shy woman that has been guiding them to the Iron Gate nods and says 

"I am here to humble serve you as a guide " she looks a little bit embarrased to all them " If you want to part now please be sure you have all the supplies you need for your journey and follow me " 

She motions towards the Gate.

Kyne checks his pack and makes sure that the others do the same, before following the guide to the Iron Gate.

Molly gives the guide a subtle smile and says, "Thank you very much for your assistance. My friends call me Molly - your name is Takish, yes?"

While they walk towards the iron Gate their guide blushes and her face and ears turn almost red. 

"I am T'chama" she replies to Molly not making direct eye contact and using the formal word for Master. " I am but a humble servant of the Chosen's will " 

She stops a few feet away from the Gate and its guards

"Please if you allow me your papers I will present them to the guards" 

Despite the ritualistic manner in which, both their guide and the guards, behave, the process of verifying is quick, at least quicker than Hurosk thought but Kyne finds the whole process of opening each letter, read it, look at the owner and bow to him or her, a little bit exasperating. 

The gate is opened and they enter the real country of Riedra. Takish guide them for broad and clean streets and they see that the monolithic constructions are more common here. They cross with at least two obelisk with pulsating green energy similar, but bigger, to the one they saw before. 

They got some curious glances but Moltaris notices that they cross with very few people. She cannot say if it is due to the chosen path by their guide or that there were orders to avoid that part of the town while they walk through it but it seems clear to her that it has been orchestrated for them to have minimum contact with the locals. They found the quiet walk a little bit unnerving. It is not a total abscense of sound but for a huge city it is really quiet. 
Finally they reach another gate, surrounded by walls that reach almost the hundred feet in height and the process of verification repeats itself, much for testing Kyne's patience and burning soul. 

This time a bald woman clad in long green robes, her lips coloured to match her robes, is the one who verifies the papers and with a nod, returns the papers to them. She then mutters some words and waves her hands and a small, human sized door, appears in the middle of one of the gargantuan black doors that guard the city entrance. Once they've crossed it, the door closes and disappears again. 

Moltaris cannot help but notice Takish is a littñe bit startled when they found themselves outside but she tries to keep her composture and guide them towards the east, following a well paved road, capable of have at least four chariots side by side. No one is on sight. 

"Quiet out here, hm, Takish?" Kyne muses, taking in the woman's discomfort and the wide empty road.

"It is quite different from the city " the woman replies " But worry not we are quite safe." she adds, perhaps too fast as if she was trying to reassure herself. 

"Are you telling me that, or yourself?" Kyne teases, his eyes roaming the edge of the road. "Where are we right now?"

"I... I only try for you to feel safe... you... you don't have to worry... " she mutters and quickly jumps to Kyne's next question while Shallan hits him with her elbow for teasing the poor woman. " We need to head north for about twenty miles and then turn towards the northeast for about three or four days. Then we will reach our destinty. " 

"Lead on then," Kyne tells Takish with a rakish grin. However, the smile doesn't linger for long, slowly fading as the elf's eyes scan the edges of the road ahead.

     With that bit of unpleasantness behind them, Hurosk exhales once outside the city. "Yeah, nice and quiet out here." His eyes scan the horizon ahead of them. 

     "Hey, Takish. Do you have a map I can take a look at? The one that was questioning me said you'd have one. I'd like to get a bit of a lay of the land."

The poor woman seems about to explode, she is as red as someone can be. 

"I am so sorry but the only map I do have it is in my mind...  I cannot show you. I sincerely apologize. " 

"After you, then," Kyne tells her with a faux yawn.

With a visible sight of relief the woman nods and start walking the well paved road towards their destination. 

The landscape was mainly fields of grain running across gentle hills, the road crossing them in a wide, gentle curve. They see few people attending the fields and none village or construction save the casual cottage for the farmers to take refuge or shelter. 

What they see every five kilometers or so are the big monoliths of green stone at the sides of the road, an strange and probably expensive marker for the road. By the end of the day they had left behind the fields and the hills are now more wild, covered with tall green grass and flowers. They notice a big breed of butterflies that are numerous on those fields. As big as Chanterelle and with beautiful patterns on their blue colored wings. Hurosks sees one, and only one, whose wings are pale green instead of blue. 

When the sun begins to set they are at the top of one of the hills, with a line of trees that marks the course of a small river to their left almost pararell to their way, and a grove a couple of kilometers ahead and to the right side of the road. At the top of the hill there was another green monolith. 

"We should make camp here and continue in the morning " says their guide. 

After setting camp and decide on their watches, they all went to sleep. Without being particularly demanding, the day has been long and excting and they find themselves tired. 

Soon they fall asleep, their consciousness sliding into the realm of dreams. 

The night finally falls over the camp they party makes near the monolith. Despite the apparent safety of the land they take turns to make watches, if nothing else, the rutine make them feel more comfortable. 

They have pleasant dreams and the night is quiet.

Dworic:

 Moltaris:

 Hurosk:

The night goes without incident and the next morning they are ready to continue their journey. The little woman that is their guide falls to the last position of the march as the day progresses, apparently tired and not used to walk such great distances. Hurosk looks around, the landscape is still covered with low hills and tall grass. The road goes around the top of the hills, mostly on the wide valleys among them, but is pretty straight in the same direction. They are now at the bottom of one of such valleys and something makes the hunter to look around again. There is no sound but the wind across the tall grass and the chat of his companions behind him. He can see one of the monoliths about half mile in front of them. Everything is quiet... perhaps too quiet. 

    Though his dream provided a feeling of comfort, Hurosk wakes also with a feeling of sadness. This strange dream causing him to remember the one person he wishes he could help home the most - Sunazra, his sister. Lost in his thoughts most of the day, the ranger stays mostly quiet as he leads the group along the road. 

   Looking up and seeing the monolith brings hurosk back to the present. Something causes halt his pace. "I got a strange feeling," he comments when the other come along his side. "Nothing but the wind is moving out there. It's like everything is hiding from something."

The instincts of the hunter serve him well. Some figures jump from the tall grass in their direction. They are big insectoids creatures with many arms and long bodies. Wielding large polearms and nets they tried to ambush them, and now that they had been discovered, they still try to caught them off-guard. 

Their guide yells in terror and tries to recoil as the mantis-like creatures approach them with nefarious intentions. 

The warning from Hurosk prevent the camouflaged creatures to surprise the party. Lyreis sprung into action even before they had show themselves and before they can even move he is on top of one of them, fighting with it. Chanterelle screams and throw herself into the fight too, reaching towards the insectoid creature and hitting it hard with her hammer. 

The creatures, making ticking sounds, throw at them weird weapons, triangular in shape, with curved, sharpened edges, but they were ready and dodge or deviate them. They close in though, attacking with their polearms Lyreis, Chanterelle, Dworic and Kyne. There is another who remains a little bit behind, but its figure is kind of hard to spot, like it was clouded by the blur produced by a heat ground in the distance. 

Moltaris gets ready to fight those creatures. She knows what they are. Thri-Kreen. Dangerous hunters of the mountains with psychic powers. They are from from home though, she never herad of a hunting party so far from the mountains. 

Quote from FrandalSilvereyes >>

Moltaris gets ready to fight those creatures. She knows what they are. Thri-Kreen. Dangerous hunters of the mountains with psychic powers. They are from from home though, she never heard of a hunting party so far from the mountains. 

"Thri-kreen are skilled hunters! Beware... watch your flanks and don't let them surround you!" Moltaris calls out instructions and draws her black alloy blade. With a flourish and a quick prayer, its twin - composed of purplish-black divine energy - appears behind one of the insectoid attackers and stabs it painfully between carapace sections. Then she feints a charge at the same hunter before pivoting and stabbing her rapier into the thorax of another attacker!