Information for the pilgrimage....

After about thirty minutes...

The demifoxes return, change form (out of sight so to be able to dawn again their clothing), and report what they have seen.

"If I had not known better beforehand," Synizn says earnestly, looking up at Cuthbert, "I frankly would have mistaken the place for Wallants!"

Cuthbert nods a little at that, remembering that the demifox male had spent enough time within that place to have grown very familiar with it! The tall, imposing walls sometimes clashed with the then were-bears lycanthropic induced instinctive desire for the relative openness of the wilderness forests beyond.

He then blinks when Andrea puts in that they had seen something that was rather unlike what would normally be seen around Wallantes (due to sudden leaps in technology making such equipment impractical). See, many parallel Terras had not yet gotten their weapons technology up beyond the ballista or other siege weapons of that type. In other words, few Terras actually had anything in the way of gunpowder weapons. Still, steep and strong stone walls were one of the usual counters for invading armies, as what was implied by Synizn's words. Joan 2 muttered something about those walls must being very strong and stout indeed by the comparison of Wallant's stone walls to the capital city. Then Joan adds to her sister's comments by saying that what Andrea say being hauled away to some new locale was perhaps the beginning of the death song of the walled city era.

Siege cannons. Large and ponderous, to be sure, but cannons nonetheless! The earliest form of powder weapons. Cuthbert sighed a little bit, and then shrugged. Maybe this meant that this world had gotten around to creating the "handcannon" (basically something that came down to a metal pipe a soldier could fire once in a great while). It was man portable, but hardly thought of as something that would signify crossbow or bow and arrow.

Cuthbert, having recently been gifted his father's revolvers, had been torn between leaving them behind (to keep with the disguise he and the others kept) and carrying them along (hidden under his cloak). In the end, he decided on the former instead of the later. If nothing else, it could prove to be an edge in a tight situation.

"I hear the rumblings of war," Cuthbert finally says, after Andrea and Synizn give their reports, "Perhaps an invasion of a neighboring nation, for its own good, I am sure...."

It should be easy enough to go down, all of them, to gain entry into that walled city despite that. They were all dressed as foreigner on a pilgrimage and as such would allow (barely!) them entry (even the armed and armored women). Armed but obviously rich and powerful ones (and thus not something to be trifled with). Would not do for the merchants and others of this city to alienate a lucrative flow of cash, despite feelings they might harbor in their hearts. Indeed, such sights were perhaps what lead the native women of certain nations to try to emulate those far off visitors (and thus leading up to the trouble all faced)....

Indeed, why else would the now dead princess who had tried to aid the New Amazons be able to know how to use weaponry and have access to arms and armor if such wasn't possible (for the moment at least) because she was well heeled?

Oh, but what a disaster that had been!

Maybe she should have invested also in strategy more, Cuthbert sighed, wishing for an ally that could have afforded them all.

Soon, with the demifoxes looking like children (son and daughters of the married folks), they were ready for travel.

Magic wasn't the answer for everything (and perhaps could prove to be too conspicuous on this world if too evident), but for this problem little else would do!

Wouldn't do to spook the town guards, eh? That would call too much attention to them all, and that wasn't the thing they wished (at least yet).

"Let us go," Andrea finally says, after all had gathered what they needed.

She had switched to the tongue of this land, and Jarlath nodded to himself, noting that while exotic and somewhat thick (Cuthbert had told that this world spoke the tongue of Aqualaria, but strangely) it was understandable.

With that, he soon was stepping forward to answer any questions the town guard had for him.

1. "State your business?" the man asked, starting a little at Joan and the others but keeping his peace (for the moment).

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