The talk of bathing reminded Kre about his visit to Red’s and the embarrassing memory of the events from that evening. It also reminded him about all the losses he suffered since that fateful night at Cooter’s house.
‘I wonder what the old man would think of all of this,’ Kre asked himself bemusedly, and certainly not for the first time since it all went haywire. ‘Is this what it was like for you growing up? Is this why you joined the Dragon Knights?’
He let his mind wander as they headed ever closer to the split in the cliffside that apparently marked the location of Yahaestra, the brigand outpost. Once they got closer, Kre could make out the smoke coming out of small holes carved in the rock faces. Once he started to really look, he could make out dozens upon dozens of openings of various sizes all over the sheer mountain cliffs.
“Yahaestra is built into the mountains,” Dain explained as he pulled up alongside Kre and Beleg, “Most of the good hideaways are in this area. Networks of tunnels connect all of the various chambers together and rope bridges link both sides of the canyon to each other.”
Beleg chuckled and added, “Some folks even claim that many of the tunnels are still yet unexplored and contain just as much danger as they do potential treasure from those that came before, thinking to hide their loot in the furthest reaches they dared.”
“I thought the whole thing would have been an impermanent encampment, so as to better hide from the authorities if they came around.” Kre thought back to Red’s place and reconsidered his position, “Though I suppose there’s something to be said about hiding in the natural environment and using it to your advantage.”
“And just what,” Dain asked using his teacher voice, “would be the advantage of using mountain tunnels such as how Yahaestra is laid out?”
Kre thought it over for a few moments, wanting to ensure that he had it all making sense in his head before he spoke. “I thought perhaps they were trying to hide using the mountain for cover, but that doesn’t make sense for a place like this where they hope to engage in trade and service to all comers, no matter how illegal the act or unwanted the person. That makes defensibility the primary reason for this kind of layout. You could easily hole up in the tunnels that you know far better than your attackers and a very small number could fend off a much larger force that way. Add in the bridges that are easily cut and all the holes they can fire arrows out of but still remain concealed, and even an army would have a hard time taking over this place.”
Dain nodded, his smile showing a hint of pride in Kre’s answer as if he were the sole reason Kre had gotten it right. “Well done,” he said. “You even inadvertently stumbled across Yahaestra’s unofficial creed… ‘Never turn down an opportunity for a profit, no matter the source, or the vileness of the deed.’”
“Sounds pleasant,” Kre muttered, truly dreading this experience. “Can’t wait,” he added, trying to sound cheerful and not at all scared.
I would like to visit this place… you know, without the vileness – like, an abandoned version of this place that had been kept up over the years so there are no spiders or other creepy crawly invaders to deter curious visitors.