Dwarves are understanding of humans who do not have the capacity to drink as much as a dwarf, but respect those who try. 

The dwarves are unenthusiastic about being scanned by the Acolyte - one does not survive in a ranger's line of work by permitting strange magic, and it's improper and un-dwarfish. 

One of the dwarves mentions that there was a wizard with the reclamation effort at Karak Eight Peaks, but the others all agree that one sort of tolerable exception is hardly a basis for anything, let alone such an exception permitted by King Belegar, who troublingly radical in the first place. 

Oh? That last part certainly sounds interesting. The Acolyte wants to stay with this group for a while, to see what he can make of his contributions to the Tsar's efforts to earn some legitimacy for himself, among the humans at least, to start some proper experimentation with Determination, but if that falls through or enters a lull maybe he can pursue this other lead.

Speaking of, how are things developing with the Tsar? Is his army headed to any other destinations, with Karak Raziak cleared, or will the next step be demobilization?

King Belegar, they say, was one of the many dwavern kings-in-exile; much of the dwarven population consists of refugees, clans and kingdoms from holds long-lost, like Karak Raziak. Like many, even all them, he spent his time collecting supporters and forces for an expedition to reclaim his hold, Karak Eight Peaks, once one of the biggest and richest holds in the world, which only fell after a hundred-year siege. Unlike most such kings, he actually lead such an expedition a few years ago, and against all odds, retook it despite the forces of skaven and greenskins alike who worked to prevent that. It's yet to be seen if anything will come of it, or if it was just another waste of dwarven lives that can't be spent cheaply.

These rangers clearly think of him as a radical, given to undwarvish liberties in his tactics and policies - his loremaster is a human wizard, even, Mathilde Weber, The Dämmerlichtreiter, Grey Magister of the Imperial Wizard's Colleges. 

This will be the only proactive campaign of Kislev's short summer, yes. The levies must return to thier labours, part of the Tsar's men will stay to guard Fort Jakova, and the rest will return to the capital in case of an invasion - not all Kislev's foes are limited to the seasons of war, though few will voluntarily brave a Kislev winter. There will be another campaign next summer, once the army has replaced casualties and generally rested and recovered. 

Alright then. The Acolyte will focus on seeing if he can climb his way up the feudal hierarchy, now with this campaign as proof of at least a modicum of trustworthiness and value. Probably the first place to go with that is finding the boyar he first met back in Kislev City and seeing whether he's caught wind of the Acolyte's contributions and has formed an opinion about him yet.

Plus, he might as well see if he can find some more information about Karak Eight Peaks as well. Whether they still exist, where the karak is located, maybe try and puzzle out any opportunities to travel there. Given the lower level of military action once the warm season passes, he's thinking he'll probably try and visit even if things worked out well with this campaign, assuming such a visit is possible. Belegar's apparent openness gives him some hope there. If he's willing to accept one helpful human wizard, maybe a second wouldn't be beyond countenancing?

The Boyar was on campaign with the army! He was commanding one of the winged lancer regiments which saw hardly any action because heavy cavalry is not suited to sieges, and the Ungol light cavalry makes for better scouts. He is duly impressed by the Acolyte's magic. (Many people, once he returns, have developed an interest in the sheer killing power available to the Acolyte, not all of them entirely savoury. Unfortunately for him, nobody has yet arrived expressing an interest in his Knowledge and it's profound truths, except with the mindset of "wow I could be a really effective mass-murderer if I trick the existing mass-murderer out of his secrets") He is also responsible for giving the Acolyte the hefty purse of gold which is his payment for services rendered. 

It's a little hard, on return to the city, to find information on Karak Eight Peaks, but one of the booksellers has copies of a map of dwarvern trade routes through the world's edge mountains that has it marked, saying that copies have become popular among the more ambitious or canny sort of merchant - the reclamation will apparently make traveling through one of the few passes through the World's Edge Mountains much easier, which is good for the sort of high-risk caravans that travel to and fro from distant Ind and Cathay. Karak Eight Peaks, it turns out, is far to the south of here, south not just of the entire empire, but of the badlands to the south of that as well. It is a journey of many months, and a difficult one to route, if you do not wish to travel through the empire, perhaps because you are a unsanctioned wizard. The human opinion is that the Karak Eight Peaks campaign was a resounding success, but they don't actually have any facts distinct from the dwarves so much as humans standards for success are much lower - dwarves are expecting the newly retaken hold to fall within the century and thus be a total failure, whereas humans see that all the current enemies are dead and thus the campaign was a unmitigated success. The human perspective also notes that Belegar has granted full citizenship to a limited group of humans (ex-mercenaries, for the most part), another first for a dwarvern state, in recognition of the peerless bravery of those humans during the campaign. 

Almost all of the Acolyte's students thus far, in this world at least, have had practical motivations. The only possible exceptions he can think are maybe a small subset of the caravaners who he gave some basic lessons to, and even then he might have just not learned of their particular motivations. Even he himself was motivated by more than just a pure and unadulterated love of learning when he began his career as a knowledge-seeker properly, even if he also wasn't exactly seeking riches or glory either. He's confident that, as Knowledge proves useful and people so use it, it will find its way into their lives more and more, and their appreciation for it will naturally grow.

He still isn't going to teach anyone who is planning on using Knowledge to slaughter innocents, though. War is one thing, but wanton murder is another, and if he catches wind of any of the people he teaches using their Knowledge in such a despicable way, we will take time from whatever he is working on in that moment to find them and ensure they understand the error they have made, or are dead. It has been some time since he's truly clashed with another user of Knowledge, but he doubts the familiarity he's gained with that most esoteric of battlefields has disappeared completely, and certainly none of his students will be better prepared than he is.

Looking back to more positive things, Karak Eight Peaks definitely seems like an interesting target for further investigation. Maybe he can find some of these daring, risk-insensitive merchantmen who are planning caravan routes to-or-through Eight Peaks and offer his modest (or maybe not-so-modest, depending on just how hefty that purse was) monetary backing and considerable magical might to their caravan?

Filtering out the would-be students for the people who obviously just want personal capacity for violence will be possible, and he acquires a small gaggle of disciples, mostly slightly disreputable but earnest and enthusiastic, in good time. 

His funding is certainly enough to fill a decent part of a wagon or two with furs, ivory, honey and wine, enough to expect those same wagons to return full of silk, spices, jade, and porcelain, if they return at all. The problem is that the obvious route to Karak Eight Peaks is to take a riverboat down the Urskoy river to where it merges into the river Reik, then at Altdorf go up the other fork to the river Aver, and take a caravan from there to the Blackfire Pass, and from there through Barak Varr and the Blood River Valley. Unfortunately, this route passes through the empire, that famous home of witchhunters. The alternatives, according to these maps, would be to travel east, either through the World's Edge Mountains (unnavigable mountains with spots of dwarf territory surrounded by hordes of orks), or on the other side through the badly-documented darklands, where traders try and spend as little time as possible while dashing east to west or west to east, rather than taking a long and unknown route south. The third option, perhaps somewhat more viable, would be sailing east, braving both Druchii and Norscan pirates and needing to dock in ports along that coast, before heading south, either still by boat along the Bretonnian coast, or by travelling through that land, where people are said to be of great chivalry and heroism (theoretically you could travel futher west to Ulthuan and from there south and east to Eastalia to avoid Bretonia, if you wished to). From there, you can travel through the myriad southern realms and curve around east again to Barak Varr. All of these would be very long trips, longer even than the multi-month trip that is the sensible default, but all of the western trade-route options would involve taking trips which are, individually, common and sensible, so the Acolyte could simply endure a very long transit as a paying passenger aboard commercial vessels; he certainly has the money for it. 

Students! It really is a wonderful feeling to teach. Maybe accepting less than perfectly honorable students will somewhat hamper his attempt to mint legitimacy for Knowledge, but the Acolyte judges it to be worth the risk.

After doing some figuring, and finding out how long this sort of travel would take, the Acolyte ends up deciding on taking the sea route, through Erengrad. He's not especially bothered by the possibility of pirates, and sparing himself the effort of hiding from imperial witch-hunters will not only be more convenient, but will mean that he can continue to build his reputation and grow his good name. He'll also let his students know that he's likely to be traveling the coming year, perhaps two at the most, and that if any wish to join him on his travels to Karak Eight Peaks he'd be happy to cover their costs.

Most of his students - the kossars seeking to learn the art that saved thier lives, the noble fourth daughter looking for an edge, the certainly non-criminal halfling with ambitions, have obligations to keep, and thus regretfully remain, but two - a scholar with no particular talent for Fire but a burning desire to learn, and a rogue imperial alchemist with a talent for esoteric Division - agree to come, if suitably funded. The latter even promises to not bring any alchemical experiments which might cause an explosion with her, for the benifit of whoever's ship they sail on. 

A route is thus planned - they will take a ship first from Erengrad to Lothern, the beating heart of trade across the entire world, and from there to one of the cities of the southern realms, where they will sail up to Barrak Varr - a whirlwind tour of some of the greatest cities in the known world. 

It's good to hold to your word, so the Acolyte expects nothing less of those with reasons to stay, and wishes them all well in their continued studies, and looks forward to seeing what they've developed when he returns. He is of course also very happy to have these two come along with him as well! He'll send off missives to arrange all the necessary payments and solidify schedules, as well as divide up a budget for the journey's costs. Soon, the Acolyte, the Scholar, and the Alchemist are on their way to Erengrad!

The journey to Erengrad is largely uneventful; such a key road is well-guarded and acceptably maintained, and the acolyte finds himself cheered by kossars from thier watchtowers and by horsemen as they ride by - he has a bit of a reputation amongst those at the battles he fought in. 

Eventually, the steppe grows to hills as he and his students (making steady progress, despite the being on the road, even starting work on notes for what might be then first book on Fire in this world.) enter the foothills of Shargun, the mountain range which, along with the lagoon at the mouth of the Lynsk river (which connects Erengrad and Praag) and the swamp known only as The Blight, collectively serve to protect the city from the northern winds (which bring with them cold and chaos in equal measure), giving Erengrad the dubious title of greatest and least cursed port of the north, a place where Norscans and High Elves alike can come to trade, and stare suspiciously at each other as they do so. 

The city itself is, perhaps, unimpressively fortified, if compared to Praag's burnt-out husk, or to Kislev's high and unbroken walls, but it is nonetheless fortified to equal any (human) city of the soft, southern world, and it's walls run to cover a much greater area than the other cities of Kislev, filled with sprawling architecture from every culture in the old world, from Ulthuan to Sylvania. There is a queue outside the great bronze gates, as merchants have thier goods assessed and taxed. 

The Acolyte is very excited to see the first local treatise on his favored subject be written, and naturally encourages his scholarly student's pursuit and aids them as best he can. Traveling, by road or by sea, isn't the best for a steady for a steady pen-hand, but maybe an application of Power could help...He will consider it, at least. They certainly have many days of travel ahead of them yet.

In the present moment, he'll double check that all of their papers and cargo are in order, and then get ready to greet the gatekeepers.

Vasily (for that is the scholar's name) is just taking notes to himself now; he'll do a second writeup to send to a printer when he has enough for a proper book, so his (honestly surprisingly good) handwriting isn't much of a problem as long as he can read it. 

They're not carrying much, and thier papers are signed and sealed by a proper boyar, so they're waved through with no trouble and minimal fees, and soon they are in the city proper. 

Erengrad, it seems, is a city of diversity, but not in an altogether happy way. Rough northmen sell obsidian and "indentured labour" from dark corners while elves sell trinkets made with immortal artistry in exchange for food and lumber. It's a city of strange foreigners, each packed tight in thier own quarter to keep conflict to a minimum, streets and ghettos of travellers from Naggaryth to Bordelaux to Karaz-a-Karak to Cathay. A city of temples, the only thing besides the keep to rise above the skyline, from blind forge-priests of Vaul in a little smithy-shrine by the elven part of the docks to a dark and smoky dwarf temple-tower that cannot possibly be to the ancestor gods to the great temple-ship of Mannan, renowned among sailors, which is the centrepiece of the docks. Above it all towers the great keep, and frosthome, the icy spire of the ice witches, mirror to the now ruined Fire Spire.

The Acolyte can head straight to the docks to look for a ship to take them to Lothern, or he can spend time in the ever-flowing markets, or visit the temples. Or really anything else. It's a big city. 

He doesn't want to tarry too long, this is going to be a long journey and if he sets a precedent of luxuriating at every city it will become much longer. The wealth of a successful campaign as a war-wizard is great but not endless, and certainly not if he's spending it on expensive provisions. But, that doesn't mean they can't spend a bit of time. If his students have any business here, perhaps to pick up materials for experiments or books with relevant information for their ongoing consideration, they are free to, and he'll wait for their return (and provide a modicum of monetary aid if needed, though he will remain conscious of their budget for their entire trip, including the return).

He himself will likely visit the temples first, since that seemed to go fairly well back in Praag. Which to visit first, though? If there's a temple to Verena it might be good to check in with them, just in case there's any help he can offer in the relatively brief window of his stay here, or perhaps the unidentifiable dwarven tower since it seems he still lacks a good bit knowledge regarding their practices. Depending on how long the temples take he might also take some time to visit the great keep and the icy spire, though mostly just to make his presence known in case he's called for something rather than with any particular activities in mind. After that, a quick browse through the markets probably wouldn't go amiss for himself, just in case something particularly eye-catching or relevant to his projects appears.

Overall, maybe handful of days' time?

In Erengrad, the local temple of Verena is built in the style of a great classical temple, with great pillars and airy construction, but out of cheap (and honestly sort of shabby) wood instead of marble, and with low houses built alongside to actually house the priests and acolytes. The main space of the temple is being used as a meeting-place for a small group of people with concealing cloaks and lightly concealed weapons. 

The styling of the temple reminds the Acolyte of stonecarver architecture. It's ideal for warm, humid climates where reducing heat-retention in crowded spaces is critical for ensuring they remain even vaguely hospitable. Now that he thinks about it, it seems like a rather bizarre choice for the relatively frigid climate of Kislev. Maybe veneration of Verena originates from a more southern clime and the styles became ingrained and elevated above the reasons for their invention?

He can ask about that today, maybe, but first he's going to head up to the main space and see if he can find a priest or other clergy member to talk to, and maybe eavesdrop on the becloaked conversationalists, if they don't immediately hush up when he approaches.

One of the cloaked figures is the priestess on duty, according to the temple guards. They are arguing not terribly subtly about What Needs To Be Done About Crime. It has the air of an old bitter argument being reiterated for lack of anything better to do. They will turn to face the Acolyte, suspicious but not hostile.

The Acolyte will greet them kindly in the local custom (or, as local as he can manage and maintain his kind intent). "I was wondering if you had a library open to the public, and separately if there was anything I could do in the duration of my stay here in Erengrad, perhaps a few days at the longest, to help with the temple."

"No public library, people keep stealing the books and we can't afford replacements." Says the priestess, a disgusted look on her face. "They don't even read what they steal, they just hawk it right away." 

One of the rougher men among the cloaked figures says "you wanna try killing some criminal scum for us?" Before his ... let's be kind and assume 'friend' to be a suitable word grabs his arm and apologises. "Ah, you need not involve yourself in our troubles, stranger." 

Hm. "I don't know if I'd be willing to kill, I suppose it'd depend on the severity of the crime. But I do have some skills that could be related to that." He turns to face the other two as well before introducing himself. "I am the Acolyte of Fire. Depending on the news you've heard you might know of me from your colleagues in Praag or from the recent campaign for Karak Raziak. I am a wizard of sorts, at your service."

They seem somewhat more adjusted to the idea of a foreign wizard in thier midst - only a few of them make signs against evil in response to that. 

"Oh, yeah. The book hunters up north. Heard they made some big find as they were dragging it down south. You were caught up in that? Always seemed like a waste of time, when the real evil is all around us. How will we stand against chaos when the streets are full of filth and the honest have noone to trust?" 

The others cheer bitterly. 

The Acolyte chuckles. "Well, in my case at least, knowledge has certainly become power, but it's certainly true that knowledge or power left to molder and not properly exercised are a waste. So, would here be an appropriate place to discuss how I might be able to help with your crime problem?"

"Well, we have a list of people what need killing?" She will provide the 'list'. Her friends will add corrections, elaborations, negations, condemnations, and imprecations to augment this data. Apparently the city has a long list of (probable) thieves, slavers, rapists, murderers, monopolists, bigamists, usurious bankers, chaos-cultists, heretical foreigners, and so on, some of whom certainly probably deserve death for their crimes. Or other punishments, but it's hard to implement them with the options they have on hand, which seem to be "vigilante mobs" and "vigilante assassinations". They're doing their best, okay, the courthouses have stopped letting them in to protest unjust rulings. 

Wow, okay. He is arguably a heretical foreigner, but he'll keep that on the down-low for now. Still, not looking like something he'd want to participate in unless he can get some more specific information about the crimes of individual people on the list. Murderers, at least the serial kind, are worth killing, as are most slavers, but otherwise he'll want to know more.

If they can't provide that immediately he'll head out, though if they mention that they might be able to dig up the info he'll make sure to come back later, maybe after sundown as is the traditional time to commit extrajudicial killings. Regardless, barring the relevant info, he'll move on to asking them (or maybe another member of the Verenite clergy that isn't busy with such important conversation) about the origins of the temple's architectural style, before moving onto the tower of dwarven construction.