Chapter 6

The journey to Greenwater ended up taking ten days instead of the seven first planned as the captain did not see the urgency and preferred to stop at the various towns along the way seeking other passengers and cargo. With several hours in each city taking on cargo and passengers, Wahleia was beginning to see how the farther she got from her home the stranger things became even from the town of Pyre which she had been to multiple times.

Wahleia had another reason to get off the boat in each city as the supplies of plants and other items she had used on the wounded were becoming harder to replace. Not all of her difficulty was due to moving farther from her home and what she knew, but the sheer demand for the items. She was told that the various shops and vendors were simply sold out or she was told what she wanted was unavailable.

Each town they sailed past grew larger than the last town they had visited. Esai and Tuda who had been granted permission by the captain to remain in her company with Wahleia, discussed with Wahleia the towns and villages passed and how large they were. They told her stories of how large Tarantis was though their time there was limited. Now though, stopping at the cities along the river they were impressed by the number of people who lived there.

Now approaching the city of Greenwater, all three could see this was the largest yet with the kids saying this looked bigger than when they had come north. Other passengers standing on deck watching the approach to the piers made other comments, explaining the city was even larger than what they could see as there were many small villages, made up of farmers and others extending out beyond the hills. All together this made Greenwater a true city-state. As large as the city was, Wahleia understood the need to grow lots of food and she marveled at how a city could control such vast areas and keep their people safe.

Closing on the city, Wahleia thought about how the walls of Pyre had looked formidable only two weeks before, now those same walls seemed to be nothing compared to the walls of Greenwater. Then there were the people; her village boasted of twelve families while Pyre boasted more than three hundred. The other cities they had stopped in had close to a thousand, if the captain was to be believed. Now before her, Greenwater stretched farther along the river than all of the cities combined.

Fascinated by the size of the city, Wahleia was still looking at the city and was surprised as a smaller boat pulled alongside. A man dressed like a sailor climbed aboard. Asking who he was, one of the other passengers said he was called a pilot and was needed to get past the sandbars since they tended to move shifting with the seasons and storms. When she asked why the other ships in their convoy didn’t each need a pilot, the other passenger suggested the captain was being frugal and did not want to pay for two additional pilots as the two ships could simply follow them to the dock. With the pilot onboard, the sails, which had been allowed to lull were taken in and the boat started moving. Wahleia with the rest of the passengers watched as they continued their journey to the docks.

Passing the sandbars to enter the harbor, the smell of so many people living close together assaulted her nose; even out near the edge of the harbor the smell was strong and unpleasant. Closing on the docks the smell only got worse making Wahleia wonder why so many people would live so close together.

Moving into the harbor, Wahleia started to wonder if all the city-states were this crowded; and if so how would she find the man she was to marry. The harbor was crowded with boats not only tied up to the pier but to each other, sometimes two and three deep, but a number were also anchored out in the harbor. She considered the number of ships in harbor a good omen as she would have little difficulty finding a ship to take her south.

Wahleia’s happiness was short lived though as she listened to the captain and pilot talking; what they said caused her mood to deteriorate as both men talked about the war. Wahleia was confused as she continued to listen as she did not remember the captain talking about a war, though the captain and the pilot spoke freely and she heard other words she did not know such as piracy and trade war. Greenwater was not itself involved in the war having decided to be neutral, but due to their large harbor, many owners and captains thought to ride out the war here rather than risking being taken as prizes. Greenwater had declared itself to be neutral in the fighting and both sides in the beginning respected their neutrality not wanting Greenwater to join with the other side. Their declaration of neutrality had turned Greenwater into the sanctuary anchorage for the captains and owners who owned independent ships.

Even with the war people were still going about their business. Wahleia could see the people still needed to eat in addition to the regular trading along the two great rivers Greenwater sat between. There was other business to be done along the docks as well. The customs agent appeared along with two men who were armed with swords and daggers, as for their armor each man was dressed with boiled leather helmets as well as a chest guard covered with a large number of overlapping metal leaves that reminded Wahleia of scales on a snake. At first she assumed they were only for show until she thought about them and then figured they would be better suited to fighting in the city or a ship as a long sword or other full sized weapon would be unwieldy and troublesome with so many people nearby. For the purpose of maintaining order in the city, she thought they would be more than adequate. Wahleia on the other hand preferred her spear. For close to a year she searched for the right wood, once she found the right sapling she had to wait a further two years for the tree to grow large enough to be harvested. The ore for the head and butt required the same care to find the right vein of ore and remove enough for what she needed as well as the payment to the traveling smith who would forge the pieces as she had no skill working in a forge. Completed, Wahleia was pleased by the spear she carried and had no desire to ever wield another.

The meeting between Captain Scho on the third ship and the customs agent took longer than the meetings with the other agents up river. The letter the captain carried did not impress the customs agent. After some arguing about what Wahleia could not hear, the captain and the customs agent with his guards, inspected each ship and the cargo aboard. After some additional haggling, a number was agreed to the captain paid the fee along with what Wahleia was sure was a bribe.

While Wahleia was watching the captain and agent, the crew was busy getting the ship ready to unload their cargo they had taken on up river along with the slaves being taken off first. The crew had offered to take Esai and Tuda with the others since they still wore slave collars. Wahleia informed the slave master the two of them were hers and as such she would keep possession of them. Arriving at Greenwater the two of them had been worried Wahleia might change her mind but with her declaration they would be staying with her both of them relaxed believing they were safe for now from the auction block.

Once the slaves were removed from the ships, the remaining cargo moved faster as booms were swung over from the pier and the cargo was offloaded directly onto wagons brought out onto the pier. The kids found the use of cranes to unload the ship fascinating while Wahleia had seen cranes used in Pyre, was more interested in how quickly the workers in Greenwater could unload a ship and where the cargo went once it was in a wagon. Asking the captain how it was done he told her how before the harbor walls were built, the tides along with river would often cause problems so methods were put in place to unload as quickly as possible. Once the sea wall was built the use of the booms was thought to be not necessary but the ship captains had other ideas and when they complained the trade guild hurriedly restarted using the booms. Asked how long ago this was the captain said it had been when his own father was just a boy.

Seeing her interest in how the ships were unloaded, Captain Scho offered, “If you find this fascinating you should see the other half of the miracle.”

“What other half?”

“Where do you think those wagons have gone with everything from the holds? In most cities I would have to find individual buyers for everything, taking days, if not weeks, to sell everything. Meanwhile my ship would sit either at the pier or at anchor wasting time while my crew grew bored. Here in Greenwater things different. Instead of me going out to sell or hiring someone to sell the goods in my name, all goods brought in by ship are brought to the central market where buyers large and small can deal for the goods and all it costs me as captain, is a small commission paid to the trade guilds.”

“But if you’re not there to oversee everything and sell your goods, how do you know they are not cheating you?”

“I would have to show you that answer because I don’t think you’ll believe me if I just tell you.”

“You have my interest but I thought you needed to sell the pirate galley so everyone can be paid?”

“I do but where I’m going is in the same building only to a different section where I hope to find someone interested in buying the galley.”

Thinking for a moment, Wahleia thought it would be good to see what she could of the city with someone who had lived there. To the captain, she asked, “Would it be possible to go with you as you do your business? I’ve never been in a city this large and I’m interested in how business gets done in a city this size.”

“To be honest, I was asked by a friend from Wolf’s Head Shipping back in Namatar, to give you any assistance if I could. Since you’ve said you have never been this far down river, I thought having you accompanying me in my business would be a good start while it is never a bad idea to have a beautiful woman beside me.”

Captain Scho was indeed proud of not only the city he called home, but the individual parts of the city as well. First the smell which permeated everything in the harbor but soon he found to be nothing more than a tickle to her nose away from the waterfront, as the captain explained about the city’s plumbing system. By the time the two of them along with her white wolf called Moon, made it to the market Wahleia was amazed to see many of the goods the captain had brought in were already leaving on the wagons of others.

The business going on was even louder than most markets Wahleia had visited on her way down river. She could see goods for sale from other ships, if their packaging was to be believed. Captain Scho was explaining what was happening while they walked through the building towards one of the staircases leading up.

On the roof facing the harbor there were men watching the comings and goings of the ships in the harbor. For the most part they were ignored while Captain Scho explained how the customs agents would have runners bring manifests to them so they could tally as the goods were removed from each ship. Wahleia had other questions and the captain did his best to answer all of them. By the end of the tour, Wahleia had not only a better understanding of how business was done but also how much she was worth from papers her grandfather had given her. The one thing she did not know was how Captain Scho did not know if he was being cheated by the guild.

They were still standing on the roof when the captain finally answered the question Wahleia had on her mind as to how he knew he was not being robbed or cheated. The captain explained how all the sellers wore amulets that compelled the wearer to be honest. Asking why anyone would wear such a device, Captain Scho explained it was considered a privilege to be in that position, that all who worked for the trade guild were paid well and because of that the thought of losing their job and possibly even their life for theft, bribery or fraud never entered their minds. The captain’s answers were good enough for Wahleia, she understood the potential power of using magic even though she did not know how someone could trap magic in an amulet made from a piece of metal and stone.

Continuing their tour of the market Wahleia began to understand how money was made; Captain Scho explained how the guild took a small commission for everything they sold as as did the city itself. When the two ships that accompanied them were sold, he explained, the guild and city would each take their share.

When they left the market, Captain Scho continued being Wahleia’s tour guide. The two of them traveled into the city proper with the captain asking questions about what she knew. He started to go over what he thought was so different about living and surviving in the city compared to life in one of the small villages along the rivers. By the time they returned to the harbor, Wahleia realized much of the day had passed. Captain Scho had taught her a number of things and looking back she was happy he had served as her guide. The only down side of the day were the slave pens which they had passed once all their business was concluded for the day. She was glad about the decision she’d made to keep Esai and Tuda with her and not sell them.

The following morning started off poorly. Wahleia’s discovered that even with all the ocean going ships in port, none were sailing west or south. The reports of attacks on ships claiming to be neutral were growing more frequent and right then none of the captain/owners wanted to risk their ship against a warship. They all feared for their income if they were to have a hostile encounter with a ship and what it would cost to repair as they knew the damage could be significant if not fatal and they too could end up in the slave pens.

The lack of ships going south was not universal; for the riverboat captains such as Captain Scho, they were ready to sail back up river once his cargo was sold. For his part, Captain Scho continued to help where he could, finding Wahleia a house that was available for rent in what was known as the merchant quarter of the city. At first she protested, seeing the stone mansion, fearing the cost to rent, only to be told all she would have to pay for would be the staff of three along with her own food. The reason the house was even available she was told was the owner had sailed south before the war and like the captains sitting in the harbor, he didn’t want to attempt to sail past the various blockades.