Clack-clack... clack-clack...
The thick steel wheels of the Iron Empire's military steam truck jolted violently as they crushed the sharp, gravelly dirt path. The hum of the engine and the acrid stench of sulfur sliced through the dreary silence of the borderlands.
Roland Sudrath leaned his shoulder against the vibrating steel wall of the truck bed.
His dark blue diplomatic robes were beginning to catch a thin coating of road dust, yet his posture remained impeccably upright. His gray eyes peered outside through the narrow gaps of the iron grates.
The lingering ache in his left shoulder throbbed with every rhythmic lurch of the vehicle, but Roland simply brushed it aside.
The view outside offered pure, unadulterated evidence of war's destruction.
