Unexpected Detours [Private, Tarot please]

[Jacques de Lamont]

Timestamp: Midmorning on the 16th Brightening of Immanis, Era XV PF

It was a slow morning, and Jacques took the atmosphere's pace as his cue to slow it down some. The hustle and bustle of the capital was lessened for some reason, even during the rush hour. There was a cool breeze coming off of the ocean to the west, winding its way through the roads of the massive city and out the other side, where Jacques was nearing his destination: the gates. His first wilderness patrol was scheduled for the day, and rendezvous was at the tenth candlemark. Half a cycle into his time in the militia, and he was heading out into the wilderness for some field patrols. Some of the guys said there was nothing like it, and Jacques was pretty sure they were right: nothing going on for miles in all directions, any bandits and rogues able to see you from afar... Little was likely to happen on the patrol beyond maybe running into a couple individual citizens on the road.

He was halfway through the Praetia Autonomy, with the columns and vistas of the scholar's quarter flanking him on both sides. Scribes, accountants, lawyers, historians, and others of that ilk were busy walking to and fro in their expensive robes and garments. Mages were scattered here and ther in the group, along with artists and musicians. People came here to learn, but Jacques had decided to learn something in Aelyria Prime that you couldn't learn in classrooms exclusively. You had to walk the street, feel the rhythm of the avenues and roads, listen to the citizenry as they jabbered on about their lives. Nothing of much import happened to them, as far as he could tell. With a quick look in a show window, Jacques adjusted his uniform to look more precise. Highway patrol... couldn't be better than the streets.

Jacques could see the gates in the distance, and his excitement and anticipation began to mount up. In a few minutes, he would be on another trip to the Primus Countryside. The last time he'd passed through it going somewhere, he'd ended up with a passenger that he didn't quite eunderstand, but seemed to understand him perfectly, knew the buttons to push, which levers to pull, and knew how to get his bloodlust roiling. The Chimaera had joined on five eras ago. Or was it four? Whatever the number, it had been a long time, and he had begun to consider the companion permanent. But now, he had a job to do, so he put the thoughts out of his mind and strode forward, looking forward to meeting his detail and the men who would be mentoring him on this trek.