The Secret King

Arrival

Robbi enjoyed the sea voyage enormously. The weather was fair and warm with calm seas and a steady breeze. She had never visited the Lands of Man and, despite the dire circumstances, anticipated anxiously their arrival at Seth-e-Raman. The great cities of Arishamal had, to her, distinct moods and personalities. Wiccinas, with its spires and scholarship, was an ethereal city, mysterious and exotic, high in the clouds, infused with the seductive aroma of mountain orchids.

Gleneden, on the other hand, had an earthy, open feel, despite being enclosed within its mighty mountain. It had the smell of soil and stone, straightforward and comforting. Thoth, despite its dark past, or to some degree, because of it, conveyed a brooding intelligence, a byzantine maze of politics and arcane tradition, a modern city enclosed in an ancient shell, suffused by the musky aroma of the boiling lake which surrounded it.

Robbi had only imagined Seth-e-Raman. It was in her mind, a city surging with life, the heart of trade pumping furiously in rhythm with the sea. She imagined its smell to be a mix of sea-spray, sweat, and spice, full of vitality and vigor.

They rounded the Southern Horn in the early dawn, and shortly after noon, the gateway to the harbor of Seth-e-Raman was visible. The swift ship made for Aurias Inlet, the mile wide access into the harbor. A line of royal ships, spaced about five hundred yards apart, spanned the inlet, inspecting any ship leaving the harbor, searching for the Rubitar on King Sigus' command. There was no inspection for arriving ships and the sloop bearing Robbi and Vattus made berth unrestricted, in the sun of late afternoon.

Vattus was not dressed as a wizard and neither was Robbi. Instead, the magus wore a loose cotton robe and floppy canvas hat, giving the appearance of a merchant or trader, while Robbi wore a flowing white skirt and a loose multi-colored blouse. They debarked at the center of the busy harbor-side.

The piers were a flurry of activity. Hundreds of men and beasts busily performed their tasks and hundreds more walked in, out, and along the labyrinth of streets and alleys which lined the harbor. To the right of Robbi's sloop, the fishermen and beasts unloaded their boats and were busy cleaning their catch for preparation to transport it to the nearby fish-market, while the shrimp-boats were readying for departure to fish the night-time seas.

To the left of the sloop, merchant ships unloaded their cargoes: crates, barrels, and sacks from the four corners of the continent carried on strong shoulders to waiting carts ready to be sold or traded.

Along the broader streets, markets selling all types of goods and sundries, rumbled with noise and activity. Teas, coffees, and silks from Michilmakinak were sold next to amulets and potions from Thoth. Finely carved furniture from Evyan was hawked adjacent to hand knotted tribal rugs from Lokias. Weapons, new and old, of every shape and design could be found in the long lines of tables and booths.

The sounds of bickering buyers and haggling sellers blended in with the varied strains of street entertainers playing their squeezeboxes and fiddles and singing in a dozen languages hoping to separate an appreciative listener from a few coins. There were thieves and charlatans in the crowd as well, pickpockets plying their craft alongside snake oil salesmen hawking worthless cures and dangerous tonics.

The two wizards wended their way through the crowds toward the large central Avenue which led to the King's palace at the center of town. The architecture changed dramatically over a fairly short distance.

Near the harbor, most buildings were wooden and multi-level, usually with a shop or pub on the lower level and small rental rooms for the sailors and travelers of meager means on the upper. They were unattractive shoddy structures catering to a quantity of clientele, rather than quality. The further one got from the water-front, the more substantial the buildings became. Stone and coral replaced wood as a building material, streets were cleaner and less crowded, and the lodges offered better rooms and tastier meals to draw the merchants and traders rather than the lowly seafarers sleeping in the wharf-side shanties.