The road remains a straight path north for much of the way, making a twist to the east around a tree and continuing for another hour. Anna stops, sniffing the air. "What is that? Smells like salt."

"That would be the ocean. We're close." Amadeo picks up the pace, and the party soon crests over a hill. Beyond the fields lays a high wall surrounding a city of iron and steel. On either side of the city lays a long, crescent shaped shoreline nearly a mile in length.

"So that's Kaina...I don't like it." Hope scans the horizon. "But at least we'll get some work, hopefully. And we can relax on the beach afterward."

"Too industrial for ya, Hope?" Tyrion asks, popping a berry in his mouth.

"Sort of. I grew up in a pretty rural area. That much metal, it's...unnatural." Hope concludes, and Amadeo nods in agreement. Anna looks out to the sea with a shine in her eyes. "It looks so blue like the sky. I wonder what it's like."

"Salty." Tyrion says through a mouthful of food. "Come on, let's go. I'm sure you're eager to be out of the sun."

Anna sticks her tongue out. "Need to find a way to fix that." She grumbles.

"I'm working on something for that, but I'm not sure how to do it yet. Just need some time to experiment." Amadeo looks out to the view and continues onward.

The hill descends at a steady pace, the fields giving way to trees again, which Anna is decidedly thankful for. As they walk down the slope of the hill, the road turns left and right before settling on a straight path that levels out.

Soon, the trees and grass give way to an open plain ending in a shoreline of white sand and ocean water. Despite the glare of sun upon her skin, Anna can't help but beam. "It's so big! Lookit!" Without another thought, the dark elf runs off to the beach.

"Wait, hold on a minute!" Hope calls out to her. Tyrion waves Hope off dismissively. "Nah, let her have some fun. She did get knocked out by a ghost last night. What's the worst that could happen?"

"AIIIIEE~!!!" Comes the cry of Anna as she limps back to the party. "Something stung my foot!"

Amadeo sighs. "Probably a jellyfish that washed up. This is why you need to be more careful. Come here." Anna steps toward him, and the wizard proceeds to rub ointment on her swollen foot. "At least it wasn't something worse."

"How can there be something worse than a jellyfish? I was just passing it by and it zapped me!" Anna questions indignantly.

"Even a dead one can sting if you're not careful. I hope you've learned your lesson." Hope rubs her eyes, valiantly failing to hold in her laughter.

Even Amadeo and Tyrion have a chuckle at the expense of the dark elf, who pouts childishly. "Laugh it up, you guys. One day, you'll do something stupid too."

The foursome make their way to the city walls about a hundred feet from the beach. The Iron City looms tall and bustling before them, walls and buildings of steel and iron seeeming to close in around the party as they continue on, eager to take on jobs and forget about jellyfish.

********************************

Kaina, the Iron City of the East. Built both from and atop the remains of a meteor that fell centuries ago, this sprawling city has passed from one generation of the founding family, the Roths, to the next. In Year 710 of the Third Age, it came under the banner of the kingdom of Zorhana, and has since been a productive trade city specializing in fish, steel, and imported goods from other nations across the ocean. And so it has been for three hundred years.

It is into this towering monument to trade and seafaring people that the party walks. "Wow." Hope looks up at one building, soaring nearly a hundred feet into the sky. "Everything here is as big as a chapel back home."

"I'd be impressed, but it's in my blood to prefer rolling hills and gentle grasslands. This feels like a crime against nature and a technological marvel all at once." Tyrion looks around curiously and grins. "Least the locals are cute." A gnome and halfling pair of ladies walking by spot the roguish man, smiling and waving. He waves back in return and gives them a wink that sends them scurrying away in a fit of giggles.

"That's just downright unsettling." Hope grimaces. "How old are you anyway, hitting on random strangers like that?"

"I'm forty-seven, what of it?" Tyrion answers. The rest of the party looks at him in shock.

"Forty what? You can't be. You look like a chubby cheeked babe, ya gotta be maybe twenty-four at best?" Hope responds, feeling her own cheeks as if worried she might have somehow aged rapidly in the last few seconds.

"My people live for two and a half centuries, thank you very much." The halfling responds smugly. "Elves like Anna here have another five-hundred years on me though."

"He's right. We get so long to see so much, but most of us do so little. Just studying dusty old traditions in dusty old libraries." Anna points to one wood elf sitting on a bench, feeding bits of bread to gathering seagulls. "At least some of us can get out in the world and see what it has to offer."

"So wait, if you're forty-seven...how old is Anna?" Hope asks, Amadeo clearing his throat to cover the laugh Hope's gradual dismay is causing in him.

"I'm sixty-two. Not that it means much for me. Elves aren't considered 'adults' until we reach a century. For us, it's the life in the years, not the years in the life." Anna reasons.

"Which means you're the baby of the bunch of us, cause I turned twenty last month." Amadeo points out, and Anna thinks for a moment before nodding. "I suppose you're right."

Hope's exasperation cools somewhat at Amadeo stating his age, and she sighs. "Twenty and twenty-seven. It's so weird to think these two are actually older than us."

Tyrion laughs. "That's why we don't normally mention it. Makes you young races feel insignificant-" "-Which you're not!" Anna reassures the devilkin.

"Ok, moving on. If I have to keep comparing things about our respective races, I feel I'm gonna be outclassed very soon." Hope grumbles, her tail swishing back and forth aggressively before she turns in a huff and continues walking.

"Do ya think we made her mad?" Tyrion asks, a bit crestfallen at the thought.

"Nah. Hope's a kinder soul than most. I give her five minutes before she's buying drinks to apologize." Amadeo reasons, shrugging and heading on.