Tetsukichi and Salt, together with their followers traveled overland, toward the monastery on the northern ridge that marked the frontier of the Naran horde. The monks confirmed that Bo-Jing had visited there and that they had helped him plan his route to Hunza in hopes of finding Narantsetseg. The party rested, studied the same maps that had been presented to Bo-Jing, and then continued their journey.
They crossed the borderlands without incident, and after several days of hard riding, crossed the mountain pass into Hunza. Traveling in Hunza was less arduous as water was plentiful and there was good grass for their horses, plus opportunities to hunt and forage and thus supplement their meals of dried beef and hard bread. Forest gave way to open land and they found shelter for the night in a deserted farmstead. The next day they came to a road and, traveling along it, encountered a group of soldiers traveling in the same direction, most of them on foot. The party greeted the soldiers peaceably, with Tetsukichi and Salt’s native-born Hunzan henchmen speaking for the party. The soldiers were returning from the front, exhausted and famished; they gratefully accepted the offers of food and the use of the party’s spare horses. Thanks to the party’s generosity, the two groups soon agreed that they would travel together to Magden, the closest town. The soldiers explained the Master’s attempts to disseminate the Knowledge to the wider world had proved fruitless; the Ignorant were too many. The war was over and they had lost. And yet here they were, alive, and home again. And despite the Master’s warnings, their homes were not being overrun by the ignorant. In the initial retreat, the casualties had been severe, but they had survived, and the ignorant ones had not pursued them.
The group arrived in Magden with great commotion. The party separated from the main body of soldiers, and found a room at an inn, also paying for a couple destitute soldiers. The following days, the party began seeking information about Narantsetseg or Bo-Jing. Tetsukichi met a very friendly merchant who had traveled throughout the Northern and Southern empires and who spoke very good Zhou-Yi. Tetsukichi was uneasy accepting the merchant’s hospitality but was glad to hear the news of recent visits by foreigners. According to the merchant, the visitors were headed for the “Dark Wall” a dangerous place in the west of the country. While talking to the merchant, Tetsukichi witnessed a fierce debate between three different groups of robed men and women. The merchant, with some embarrassment explained that there had been some “controversy about The Master.” There had been a visitor several months ago, one who had “a face like the morning sun” and there were rumors that he had been chosen to be the Master’s successor. And yet, the question was still unclear and “people are getting confused and there are those who say that the Guardians of Knowledge have not maintained order properly and you know, that can be bad for business and there is also the question about what is going on with this on-going event that we sometimes call the war against the ignorant.”
Salt, meanwhile, noticed that the returning soldiers were being accused of spreading propaganda and disinformation from the enemies of Knowledge. A group of red-robed Guardians came to the inn and arrested the soldiers staying there.
Salt and Tetsukichi decided not to spend the night. The party left Magden, in twos and threes, first heading in different directions before regrouping on the west road to Gilgat.
The party continued their journey, passing through farmland, and sometimes sighting residents, but they did not have any more interactions until they reached Gilgat. They entered the town quietly in the early morning hours; Mustapha used his magic to disguise them all as natives of Hunza, a group of red-robed Guardians. While getting oriented in the town, they met a squad of white-robed soldiers who requested their attention. “Oh reasoned ones, will you give us some words of encouragement?”
The soldiers, it seemed had been charged with tracking down and arresting a group of ignorant foreigners who had visited the town a few days before and were believed to be spreading ignorance as they traveled toward the Great Wall. The foreigners were described as including a finely-dressed woman, whom the party concluded must be Narantsetseg. Based on this information, the party, still enjoying the benefit of their magical disguises, volunteered to accompany the soldiers and assist them in their mission.
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