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The area directly adjacent to the palace is a sort of business/ government district, full of knights, merchants, and other well dressed men and women hurrying to and fro between tall, sturdy stone buildings. The further you get from the palace, the more modest the scene becomes. The stone buildings are replaced by small wooden ones that are pressed closely together. The well dressed men and women of court are replaced by workers in worn garb.
You and Sasha pass most of the walk in silence, and after nearly an hour, you feel the unmistakable breeze that accompanies a large body of water, and not long after, you find one of the Capital’s rivers, which you assume to be the Nethon. You walk alongside it for a while, watching the merchant ships sailing in from the Nethos and Pan, until at last the Great Confluence comes into view.
For a moment, you feel almost that you’re back in Chalmuth, until you barely make out the faint sight of land across the massive body of water. You had heard about it. The merging of two rivers, one from the volcanic peaks of Nethos and the other from the cold wastes of the Winterlands, directly in the center of the continent. It’s practically a lake, surrounded by docks, warehouses, and markets, and full of ships and houseboats. It’s every bit as busy as the Imperial Square, if not more so, but lacks any refinement. People are yelling, drinking, and fighting with one another all about.
Maybe the Imperial Capital isn’t so bad after all. You push through the growing crowds and finally make your way to the row of buildings that Olaf indicated in his directions. A two story wooden shack about a block from the waterfront. A sign is out front, 'Arry’s Maps.'
(Cont.)
