In Beneath a Brass Sky , near the edge of the Brasslands, Ulfric and the wayfarers seek shelter in a holdover - a caravansary. There, they meet a guide that promises to see them over the Splitspines. To me, reaching the caravansary is an important moment in the story, because it represents Ulfric triumphing over the harshness of the Brasslands. Up to this point, arguably, the antagonist is the environment itself. But that's another post. Today, I want to talk about caravansaries. A caravansary is a roadside inn where travelers (caravaners) could rest and recover from a journey. They supported the flow of both commerce and information across the trade routes the sprawled across Asia, MENA, and SE Europe - especially the Silk Road, according to Wikipedia . When you arrive, expect to find markets, and farriers or smiths, and alehouses and cookshops, and perhaps gambling dens and other means of separating a traveler from their coins. In short, Caravansaries were the fortified roads
We didn't change much in this iteration of the cover for Beneath a Brass Sky. Michal (https://www.artstation.com/kvacm) really breathed life into the storm that's battering the high crag that the Wayfarers are driving towards. I like the addition of the birds, too. It's a minor detail, but vultures and other winged things have recurring roles in the story. I look into that maw in the storm - where the dust is swirling, and the wind is howling, and the waning light of a dying sun is breaking through the grit - and feel the dread that Ulfric must feel as he gazes into the unknown.