Chapter 36: The estuary

Our two narrow wakawaka follow a more direct route downriver than the broader sail-boat crewed by the Tribu. The direction of the wind forces them to tack regularly, charting a zigzag course. Even with only three of us paddling in each wakawaka, we can comfortably keep pace with the larger craft.

The river merges with the river we travelled along from Atene, which gradually becomes wider as other streams and rivers join it. The low hills around us give way to a flat expanse of marshy land. Vegetation along the riverbank changes from trees and grasses to rushes and marsh plants. Evidence of recent flooding is everywhere, and it’s easy to imagine how the whole area around us had been a huge lake not many weeks ago.

Adelita guides us to a suitable place to rest for the night. The large river beasts we encountered on our journey from Atene are few in number and they leave us alone. Nevertheless, we post a guard throughout the night as a precaution.

We resume our journey early the next morning. The wide marshes around us give way to a broad river estuary that veers to the west. The estuary widens as we travel although hills on both the north and south banks define its course. By the time I notice the familiar scent of the sea, I suspect we have been travelling in salt water for some time. The sea is visible in the distance although that isn’t our destination. We follow the Tribu boat into a bay on the north bank of the estuary before we reach open water.

Before us is a town rising into the slope of hill beyond. I marvel at the harbour and the two large sailing ships moored against a stone jetty. The ships dwarf even the biggest of Thurn’s sea going vessels. Each ship has two masts carrying two or three sails apiece. While Thurnian vessels of old sometimes boasted multiple sails, these days Thurnian ships always have just a single sail. However, the harbour isn’t the only marvel that we can see.

The buildings spread back up the slopes of the hill. The settlement is set far enough back from the sea so as to be invisible from the seaward side without first entering the bay. The architecture and weathered appearance of the buildings hint at the settlement’s age.

“Those buildings look as though they are hundreds, if not thousands, of years old,” muses Cassandra.

Despite all our research in Thurn, and at the Atene and Merope Potiora, we are unsure of the time-line of our collective history. The Atene and Merope Potiora both record that our ancient ancestors activated the seven Potiora about a thousand years ago, putting their client races into hibernation for an unspecified length of time. There are inconsistencies in determining the date our forebears emerged from hibernation. Perhaps they didn’t all emerge at the same time. Cassandra’s and my own research into Thurnian history, suggests that Thur was founded around six or seven hundred years ago, but that seems inconsistent with what we’ve learned since.

Placing the history of the settlement we see before us into our collective history is going to add more uncertainty about our past. The weathered buildings look to be far too old to have been built by any of the races emerging from a Potiora. Were they built by our ancient ancestors?

Our destination is a small jetty that is obviously designed for river craft. A man in a uniform is standing on the jetty as we approach. He has the universal appearance of being the harbour-master. Adelita returns his wave and shouts something in a language I don’t know. A couple of children come onto the jetty to help us to secure our three boats. We disembark at the jetty and I guide Cassandra and the pregnant elves onto dry land.