64th of Ash, Year 4621
Hours had passed. Most had been pleasant -- some had not. As the two wandered, Jack would occasionally display whimsical, boyish behaviors; grabbing stones and skipping them over the river, climbing up knolls to see what was on the other side. For a dying man in a hurry, he was more than eager to waste his energy on whatever amusing thing he could stumble across. As time went on, though, he became more feverish. It was a mixture of the Mageblight and the delusions. Occasionally, he would see the water skipping toward him, or following along the movements of his hand. He would see the clouds reverberate, vibrating intensely as his head pounded.
He tried not to make these things known. Never once did he mention them, though at times he would appear to be distracted or transfixed on seemingly small details. Sometimes, even though it was still warm, he would rub along his arms fiercely as if he were trying to shield himself from the cold through friction. Mostly, he wasn't a bad road companion.
Jack barely tried to interact with the wolf; he figured it would need some degree of 'personal space' before he decided to get cozy with it. He offered it a few treats -- once, as a fish leapt from the river, he grappled it with the Weave and pulled it towards him with Compel, before handing the struggling creature to the canine as a show of good faith. For the final hour or two, he barely spoke at all. He merely stared along the waters, or south towards the mountains that loomed far beyond the great fields that kept the people south of the Vinasir fed.
Finally, as the sun only barely began to set, they arrived at the mouth of Liore. It was, surprisingly, a smaller town than Lucano, though it had a castle looming at its edge, emerging from above the tall walls. He forgot who used to be the Veir here when he was a child, but considering the changing nature of the Candor's players, he doubted it was the same Lord or Lady as back then.
"Here we are," he said, extending his arms as if to introduce a known pasture to his friend. In truth, he had never come here himself. He had only heard of it as a child. Both Lucano and Liore were in the territory his father had been interested in claiming, back when the borders of Railon were wider than now. Peeking through the open gate, he winced. "Oh, you've gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me..."
There was a giant wheelbarrow statue in the town square, so large that it could plainly be seen from afar. He would've laughed if he could think of anything other than the back-breaking labor some group of slaves must've gone through to assemble it. "WELL," he continued, "...I see some people around the square. Probably no plague." Continuing forward, it did not take them long before they were met with the gates. Immediately, the Halamire on both sides lowered their halberds to meet, one of them shouting at the two.
"All visitors coming from the city of Lucano are denied entry to Liore at this time."
"We didn' come from--"
"Visitors emerging from the eastern side of the Vinasir road are denied entry. Move or be killed."
