Location: Tardide → Oldstrand → Tardide
Time: Days 536-538 | Telia: Days 26-28
Realm: Telia (Mission World)
The wagon left Tardide at dawn, Master Rainer's magic sense already active, reaching out across the miles between village and city. Jayde sat beside Elder Ryunzo, watching the countryside roll past—farms and forests, the occasional hamlet, and everywhere the signs of feudal poverty ground into the landscape like scars.
"You're quiet," the Elder observed.
"Thinking." Jayde gestured at a field where women and children worked with primitive tools while armed men watched from horseback. "About what we're going to find."
"Suffering," Master Rainer said from behind them, his voice flat. "Desperation. Children who've forgotten what hope looks like." He stared at his hands, weathered and scarred from years of magical practice. "I've seen Oldstrand's slums. I know what waits there."
