Warren tried to ignore the fire in his sides and calves as his steps fell like bombshells in the earliest light of day. Even in the darkness dry heat clamped down on him, the city remembering the sun's embrace as if they were lovers. Sweat beaded on his forehead and ran free but he blinked it out of his vision, a stray thought wondering if he could run the circuit blind. He let it float free for a moment before he reeled it back in. Focus now. More important things at hand.
Ul'dah was burning down around him.
He had once found no small satisfaction in protecting the patrons of the Quicksand when he could find the time. The mantra ran through his head unbidden, as much of an oath to himself as it was to others.
The people of this place are downtrodden and restless. It's important for them to know they've got someone looking out for them.
Recent events had him questioning whether or not that message was getting through. Rumors circulated but there were enough first-hand accounts that facts could not be denied. Protection money. Innocent women being roughed up on account of it. Corruption, bribery. Robbery. Warren felt naive to think that a new day was dawning where the Good and the Just could prove to the people that they had champions who meant them well. At times it felt like a fool's errand, trying to prove something untrue when the issue wasn't that no one believed you, it was that no one wanted to.
His mind reached out, wondering how large the web truly was. Was there any way to know? People, good people, had been branded as impure and on the take. Was there something he was missing? Things he had assumed of people were proven false, but were those falsehoods true? Warren's brow furrowed as he released the idea. Paranoia was not productive in an investigative environment.
In the here-and-now, Warren's feet led him to the fountain, just as they always had. The sun was peeking over the walls now, checking in on the Jewel still running hot from hours before. He sat heavily on the stone ring and thought not for the last time of dunking his head into the pooled water before choosing instead to sink his face into his hands, bracing his elbows on his knees and breathing heavily.
What else was he not seeing? Who else was being exploited? Warren sighed, knowing that he couldn't possible know. That was enough, however. Rumors and speculation didn't matter. Ul'dah was burning. He was going to do his part to put it out or burn with it.
Ul'dah was burning down around him.
He had once found no small satisfaction in protecting the patrons of the Quicksand when he could find the time. The mantra ran through his head unbidden, as much of an oath to himself as it was to others.
The people of this place are downtrodden and restless. It's important for them to know they've got someone looking out for them.
Recent events had him questioning whether or not that message was getting through. Rumors circulated but there were enough first-hand accounts that facts could not be denied. Protection money. Innocent women being roughed up on account of it. Corruption, bribery. Robbery. Warren felt naive to think that a new day was dawning where the Good and the Just could prove to the people that they had champions who meant them well. At times it felt like a fool's errand, trying to prove something untrue when the issue wasn't that no one believed you, it was that no one wanted to.
His mind reached out, wondering how large the web truly was. Was there any way to know? People, good people, had been branded as impure and on the take. Was there something he was missing? Things he had assumed of people were proven false, but were those falsehoods true? Warren's brow furrowed as he released the idea. Paranoia was not productive in an investigative environment.
In the here-and-now, Warren's feet led him to the fountain, just as they always had. The sun was peeking over the walls now, checking in on the Jewel still running hot from hours before. He sat heavily on the stone ring and thought not for the last time of dunking his head into the pooled water before choosing instead to sink his face into his hands, bracing his elbows on his knees and breathing heavily.
What else was he not seeing? Who else was being exploited? Warren sighed, knowing that he couldn't possible know. That was enough, however. Rumors and speculation didn't matter. Ul'dah was burning. He was going to do his part to put it out or burn with it.
![[Image: yEROfKO.png]](http://i.imgur.com/yEROfKO.png)
