Exposed, Break Out!

Cloud sea stretched to the horizon like churning milk, half-veiling the Endless Mountain Range in a hazy mist.

Mountain after mountain, ridge after ridge, their outlines flickered in and out of the clouds and fog. Only the enormous valley at the center cleaved through the chaos.

The colossal city nestled at the valley floor resembled a giant beast lying dormant, visible demonic aura coiling around it.

Some of it was like pale violet smoke, some like dark green threads drifting through the streets and buildings. Yet it mingled strangely with the bustle of mortal life, showing no savagery; instead, it lent the city a few shades of eerie vitality.

The city's layout was square and orderly, its blue-black flagstone streets broad and straight enough for ten riders to travel abreast.

Buildings stood shoulder to shoulder along both sides of the main street, most built in a rough stone style. Yet beast patterns and cloud motifs were carved into their eaves and lintels, blending primitive wildness with exquisite craftsmanship.

The Giant Wolf Clan shops were the most conspicuous. Wolf fangs and beast pelts hung before their doors, while the owners—mostly sturdy men with sharp glints in their eyes—called out in deep voices.

"Furs! Finest furs..."

"Forest Spirit Bone Blades, weapons that can shatter anything..."

The Giant Rock Clan blacksmith shop next door blazed with fire. Craftsmen clad head to toe in thick stone armor swung enormous hammers, and the clangs of metal striking metal made the ground tremble faintly. The weapons they forged gleamed with an eerie, frigid light.

The Lion Clan tavern was tall and imposing. Two stone lion statues stood at its entrance, mirroring the Lion Clan attendants leaning by the door, golden crowns upon their heads and manes blazing like flames.

The din of drinking games came from