Several military outposts and strong fortifications flanked the road across the border to Shou Lung. Suspicious oriental faces regarded the party alertly, and their intentions were enquired about in formally polite but stiff common. Finally there was a large ornamental stone gate, warded by grotesque statues of magical creatures and a picture of a gilded oriental dragon on the top of it.
- "What does it say?" Peri asked, glancing at Winski.
The wizard frowned and concentrated on the Shou writing on top of the gate.
- "An... ki... ang. Yes, Ankiang. I think it is the name of this city," he said.
From inside the gate they could glimpse porches of buildings illuminated by red lanterns. As they were about to enter they were stopped by the guard and a woman wearing a tight silk suit with a high buttoned collar.
- "Greetings, travelers," the guardsman said. "May I ask what your business in Ankiang is? Merchants?"
- "No merchants," Sarevok said. "There is a debt of honor to be paid, a journey in pursuit of inner peace to be made."
The man nodded, unblinking. Winski took a look at the woman, who was discreetly scrying them.
- "Lady," he said. "I am a wizard. I know you are trying to gain information. Tell us what it is you want to know."
- "You are immortals," she answered without missing a beat, narrowing her eyes. "Everyone except the one with the... hair. You older ones, you are spirits."
- "True," Jelena said. "Surely there are a lot of spirits on the move in this land of yours. More so than in the West, or so I have heard."
- "Indeed. But usually they do not come from there. And usually they do not have your kind of power."
- "Let's just say that we have a story behind us. But we are on the move to fulfill a promise. To bury a person whose remains need to go home," Peri said. Best to skip the part about the Terror of Sword Coast, she thought. Something tells me she won't be that impressed.
The woman nodded.
- "Welcome to Shou Lung," she said, satisfied, and went on her way.
- "A battle wu jen. Very effective," the guardsman said. "Welcome."
- "Please show us to the nearest inn," Imoen said. "I'm just dying for a bath - and I really need to dye my hair again!"
They approached the building indicated by the guard, and their arrival got them a lot of attention. People kept staring and chattering in that language of theirs.
- "Father, do you understand any of it?" Sarevok asked. He didn't like the fact that he did not.
Winski chuckled.
- "Not a thing," he said.
- "It bothers me that I look like an ugly hippopotamus and probably smell like one as well," Peri grumbled as they dismounted and let the stablehand take care of their tired steeds.
- "Peri, this is a city in the middle of a trade route," Jelena said. "I am sure that they are quite used to weary travelers, and happy to receive them too. It is just that the war has diminished the traffic along the Spice Road."
She made sense. Peri hated it when she did that. She frowned, and they went inside the inn. It was a two-store building, the second store a large balcony overlooking the room where commoners and off-duty soldiers drank something foul-smelling but apparently intoxicating.
The innkeep was a fat woman with a straightforward manner.
- "Aiyah! What is this, you have been traveling in the desert with the young lady in this condition!" she scolded as a way of a greeting. "What were you thinking! Now, I will make a really nice hot bath for her, and some healthy fruit and herbal tea as well! You others. You wait."
She grabbed Peri's arm and started to help her upstairs. For some reason it amused Peri more than annoyed her.
- "Poor, poor child, treated in that manner..." the innkeep muttered.
- "Really, lady, it is quite all right. They are family, and we kind of... didn't anticipate..." she tried.
- "Now, rest on the bed. I will take care of the bath," the woman replied.
Peri collapsed on the bed. How wonderful it felt. A soft bed to sleep in, clean sheets. She noticed a small box on the pillow and opened it. It contained a cookie. Suddenly ravenous, she started to munch on it. She frowned. There was... paper? Paper inside the cookie. She pulled the folded paper slip out, unfolded it and read.
'A warrior's soul is more than a warrior's body.'
Surely it didn't make any sense, but it made her smile anyway.
