Sorcerer… Cyborg???

All around Kothar, as far as he could see, stretched pale yellow grass, gently waving in the wind, without the slightest shadow in sight, the hot sun beating down from the sky above.

Kothar had perhaps portalled into the one place it would be difficult to get a grasp on what had happened on Eclat, the featureless grasslands of the Southern Tribes.

[Surely, by now, they've returned to Ursten?] Kothar mused, as he spun gently around in the air, looking at the sun and trying to approximate exactly which way he would need to travel to reach his home.

[I can't see any reason why Tam would have remained in the Empire, especially after such a catastrophe had impacted his home.] Silane replied, as she overlaid Kothar's vision with a bright arrow, pointing at Ursten.

[Hey! You don't need to baby me constantly, I have a sense of direction without your help you know.] Kothar was a little indignant, as he had been pointing roughly in the same direction as Silane's arrow.

[You were off by twenty five degrees. That would have added a few thousand extra kilometers to your journey.] Silane responded, her voice was so pleased that Kothar could almost picture her smirking.

Kothar shook his head, and said nothing. He sent a surge of Lightning Mana to increase the output of the Steelwing Armor, and went blasting off toward the north.

The endless plains sped past him as he gazed below, even with the extreme speed of the Steelwing, it took a few hours of staring at the endless grasslands before the landscape changed, the pale yellow grasses changing to a more lush green, more and more trees dotting the landscape as they neared Ursten.

Then the first of the border towns appeared, the towns that until recently had been half autonomous, somewhat under the rule of Ursten, somewhat operating independently, some even ruled by bandit lords until Tam's crackdown where he had dispatched the nobles to war at all of Ursten's borders.

Now, instead of a constant stream of grasses, there were patchwork fields of the farmlands that took up most of the south of Ursten, with the occasional orchard, or vineyard.

Barely anyone looked up, and those who did saw nothing more than a steely gray blur that they dismissed as a smudge in their eye, as Kothar flew across the landscape, hurtling through the air.

Another hour passed, and now the roads below were wider, and well paved, the odd wagon or two was now replaced by a steady stream of wagons, carriages and horsemen, and the smaller towson sped by.

Kothar felt a growing sense of excitement as he sped closer and closer to Balin, he hadn't seen his home in months, and from the look of it, most of Ursten seemed to be running along as usual, and it gave him confidence in the outcome of the war.

There, in the distance, the walls of Balin gradually swam into sight, the low ring that surrounded the countless buildings, and beyond the buildings, the deep crevasse from which rose the mighty keep of Balin, the shining black granite almost glowing in the late evening sunshine.

Kothar reduced the power output to the armor, and angled his arms downward, so he was standing vertically in the air, and gradually he descended through the air, cleanly landing on his feet.

[Let's hope the gatekeepers think I'm some travelling warrior, and let me into the city.] Kothar said to Silane, as he emerged from the tree he had used to cover his landing, and  headed toward the paved stone road, to join the stream of travelers heading toward Balin.

That was the first odd thing that Kothar noticed, though the roads around Balin had always been busy, there had never been such a constant stream of travelers travelling to the city.

[Looks to me like you'll blend right in.] Silane observed as they drew closer to the road. While there were many farmers carting their produce, and fine carriages, the usual travelers didn't make up the majority of those who populated the roads.

No, instead, every other traveler was wearing some sort of armor, or the leather robes of a battlemage, or at the very least, openly carrying some sort of weapon.

Kothar had expected an odd look or two, at the very least, but as he joined the stream of people travelling along the road, he was barely even given a glance by the other travelers.

Their eyes passed over him like his suit of armor, which definitely departed from the usual Ursten style of armor, was the most normal thing they had seen.

[Their expression, they seem, almost hardened.] Kothar whispered, though only Silane could hear him.

The faces of all those around him were serious, usually, the people of Ursten would at the very least engage in light conversation with one another, the rudest would give a restrained smile, while the friendliest would laugh and joke happily.

But not these people, their faces were stern, and many of them walked with a hand on the hilts and hafts of the weapons they carried.

But it was not as if the people were battle thirsty or excessively violent either, Kothar watched as a young man, a short axe hanging from his hip, accidentally stumbled into a large, thickset man, who wore a leather breastplate and had a wicked sword hanging from his hip.

From both of their expressions, Kothar expected the larger man to draw his sword, or at the very least push the younger man away, or yell at him.

But nothing of the sort happened, the young man just mumbled a quiet "Sorry." to which the mena looking older man just nodded, and helped the man up.

Usually, those around the two might have stepped in, to try and arbitrate the altercation, but the people just walked on, basically ignoring the small collision, as if nothing at all had happened.

Kothar was filled with confusion, what had happened to the people of Ursten?