Brakk arrived in Ashenveil on a cart.
Not a war chariot. Not a divine conveyance. A produce cart — borrowed from a farmer on the road between Ironstead (the newly renamed former Bleakstead) and the capital, a journey of approximately 180 kilometers that the Orc had covered in four days because the farmer's donkey moved at the speed that donkeys moved and Brakk had not considered that alternative transportation existed.
The cart pulled through the Iron Citadel's gates at midday, drawing the immediate attention of the Crown Guards — four soldiers who assessed the arrival of a two-meter, 130-kilogram Orc riding a produce cart with the professional suspicion that guards applied to anything unusual.
"State your business," the gate captain said.
"I am Brakk, Champion of Ironstead. I come to fight."
