Two days ago, Therelin had appeared, stranded and disoriented on a mountaintop. Yesterday, he had seen smoke on the horizon. Today, he found its source.
The seaside road that he wandered led south-east, according to the rise of the sun, and tried to navigate the winding ridges of the cliff-ridden coast in as clear a manner as possible. In the afternoon of his second day he saw towers rising over the rocky ridges and scattered trees. As he neared the settlement, he found a hundred stone towers built up the slope of a mountain and down to the sea. This was a major port, he decided. He reached an outer wall that evening, where torches lit a gateway and contributed their smoke to the beacon of civilization that rose to join the clouds.
The guards held up a hand to stop him when he was ten feet away. “Where are you from?” one of them called. There were three: one sitting at a small table inside the wall, another leaning a pike against him, and the third, with a notched arrow in his slack bow. The archer did the talking. “What’s your business on Var Nordos?”
So Therelin was on the isle of Var Nordos. He looked south, toward the rising slope of the mountain. The wall grew shorter and shorter as the rocks jutted higher. It would not have been hard to enter the city secretly, he decided, but he humoured the guards. He’d rather not be entering as a trespasser. “Originally from Keth,” he said back. “Spent the last few months in Saanazar, then set sail for the Maker’s Conclave in Port Deylus. Dangerous times, as I’m sure you’d agree.”
“What’s Keth’s allegiance in all this?” asked the spearman, suspiciously.
“Allegiance?” Therelin questioned.
The archer clarified. “They say Kedar is trying to ally with the bandit army. What of Keth?” The sounds of shouting echoed down the streets and distorted through the gate tunnel. It was the hour of the alehouse in a city this size.
“I haven’t heard,” Therelin replies. “Been gone almost half a year now. Can’t imagine them siding with bandits though.”
“How long will you be in Noress-That-Was?” the archer asked.
Noress-That-Was, Therelin repeated internally. He couldn’t place it on a map, though he knew Noress was the name of the empire that once ruled half of Radregar and the surrounding Isles. “Planning to catch a ship back soon enough,” he replied. It was a slight lie. After Nolicrin’s surprising actions, Therelin wasn’t certain if he would return to Saanazar anytime soon.
“That’s reasonable,” the spearman muttered.
“Come on through,” the archer declared, and swiftly returned his notched arrow to its quiver. As Therelin walked past him, he looked away from his friends apologetically and added, “Can’t be too cautious, friend.”
Therelin gave him a nod and continued through the gate. Saanazar was a city of grey—not just because of the priestly robes. The stones had been grey or stained grey-green from months of rain. The mountains around Noress-That-Was were darker. Nearly black rocks bricked the walls of most houses. Pale shingles made of dark brown plaster or stepped black stones gleamed on most rooftops, damp from the day’s erratic showers. Therelin wandered blindly through the residential district until finding a market. While the castles higher on the sloped city were clearly the ruling houses, the city was dotted with magnificent structures fallen into disrepair. Twice, Therelin glimpsed the waterfront. While he spotted some docks—nearly a mile out from the shore—he was astounded to see that the buildings of the city descended directly into the tidal waters. Drowned estates and boarded up neighborhoods flickered occasionally with firelight. People were still living down there.
The first tavern that Therelin set foot in was similar in quality to the Skyfire Hearth of Saanazar—it wasn’t a royal house, lavished and adorned in gilt, but it wasn’t a hovel either. Solid wooden tables supported the drinking or dice games of its patrons, while frequent brass braziers hung from the ceiling and lit the room with a warm, flickering light. He stumbled down the steps of Berram’s Bar a moment later. This place cost nearly thrice what he had paid at the Hearth!
Therelin spent the next half-hour bartering with innkeepers and turning away frustrated. The sun had set and he didn’t dare venture into the sunken slums of the city, which he learned were known as Cobblestone Bog. Eventually, he agreed to pay what he deemed an exorbitant nightly fee at an inn called the Sail and String. He only planned to stay that night, and he didn’t pay for dinner. Instead, he ate some of the fruits he had foraged the day before, a selection of apples, berries, and a few barely-ready hazelnuts.
It had been such a long day, in a very long week, and Therelin fell asleep almost as soon as he laid down in his small room. His last few lucid thoughts were to investigate magicians and schools of study in Noress before he followed what he had told the guards. Then, dreams of Keth’s rolling forests rose around him and he let a deep slumber hide this strange world away.