“What might seem nonsensical for some people might just be how others went about their lives.” - Saying by Ecazia Nombrez, sociologist, circa 490 FP.

“This… This is…” muttered Celia somewhat incoherently as she stood dumbfounded.

It was Celia’s first time in Ptolodecca.

The three of them went through the Jarldom of Istria as they planned – despite running into and slaughtering four other ‘bandit’ groups in their way – and reached the city of Istria, the Jarldom’s capital, before long. There they took a rest for a day, where Aideen went out to pay a visit to a large tavern which was apparently run by descendants of people she had known in the past.

Celia saw a slightly different side to Aideen that day, the way she conversed politely with the old proprietor – who was a grandson to the people she knew – and wishing him well, as well as how she paid her respects to a pair of graves in the local graveyard. The graves belonged to previous owners of said tavern, the current proprietor’s grandmother and great-grandmother, who Aideen came to know over a century ago.

Aideen looked quite lonely and melancholic as she knelt before the graves, though she stood up after a while, brushed her knees, and adopted the same easy smile Celia was used to once again.

From Istria to the border with Ptolodecca was another four days worth of travel, and only that because they were still in the autumn. In the winter all the snow and ice would have made that a weeklong trip if not more, for those hardy enough to force their way through. As it was, light snow had already begun to pile up on the roads, at times reaching as far up as their ankles as they walked.

The trek from Istria to Ptolodecca was less plagued by bandits compared to their trip on the way to Istria, partly because it was a shorter route that had more inhabited regions along the way, as many villages and smaller towns had grown on the sides of the road over the years. As such, there were naturally more patrols and guards present, which discouraged the sort of banditry they had run into before.

As for the border fort – more of a place to make sure that traders entering the country were who they claimed to be and were not carrying contrabands than anything defensive in nature – set on the main road that led to Ptolodecca, right at the border between the Lichdom and the Jarldom, that had not surprised Celia too much either.

While the Istrian side of the fort were manned by local soldiers – ones who look much better equipped compared to the ones Aideen saw in battle over a century ago – from the Jarldom, the Ptolodeccan side of the fort was far less lively. There were only a few officials present who were there to check the papers, as well as a small group of necromancers on duty.

The rest of the personnel on that side of the fort were undead skeletons.

Celia had expected such a sight, since both Aideen and Calais had told her about it before. She was rather impressed by the speed with which the officials processed their entry into the lichdom – though then again, with both Aideen and Calais being returning natives of the Lichdom, that likely played a role as well – and let them through in barely a minute.

She also noticed the respectful nods the necromancers on duty directed at Aideen as she passed by, which she returned in kind.

Before they left the border fort, Aideen arranged for a small carriage to be prepared for their use by one of the necromancers. Apparently she considered the training part of their journey – for Celia and Calais, that was – over and chose to take them on a more leisurely trip now that they were in the Lichdom proper. The sight of the “carriage” that greeted them was what caused Celia to gape in surprise.

Normally, the sort of carriage that Celia knew of would be in the form of a wagon with seats for passengers, at varying levels of luxury if the owner was well to do. She had never seen a carriage that looked more like a crawling monstrosity made entirely from bones, however. The… thing crawled towards them on twelve bony legs, six to a side, like a particularly creepy insect of sorts.

It was only when the thing got closer that Celia noticed that it was being controlled by one of the younger-looking necromancers she saw in the fort earlier, who sat on a seat atop the thing’s “head”. She also noticed how the thing’s back formed a rather spacious passenger room with four bony pillars holding a roof over the seats.

“New design from Èirynn’s workshop, I take it?” asked Aideen to the necromancer controlling the undead contraption. Èirynn was gifted in a particularly creative take on necromancy, with how she was skilled in grafting pieces of bones together to create almost life-like sculptures that served as her necromantic creations. Back when Aideen left, she was already working on ideas that would improve various things if they could be implemented on a wider scale.

“Indeed, Milady. This is the latest model of the semi-autonomous bone carriage Lady Èirynn created,” replied the young necromancer. “With this model, anyone with death affinity could make use of one, no skill in necromancy needed.”

“That’s quite an improvement, all right,” said Aideen as she nodded. “Come on, then, let’s see how this one compares to the carriages they have in Alcidea,” she added as she invited Celia into the contraption’s passenger area. Calais followed behind them more relaxedly, as he was clearly used to such things.

The passenger area at the back of the contraption itself was reasonably roomy. It had six broad seats, three to a side, each broad enough to have easily accommodated two people each if necessary. The seats had a frame of bone, over which thick layers of fur were stretched taut, which made for a pleasantly comfortable seat as well as back support.

Once they were seated, the contraption started moving with a lurch.