Chapter 4

When we arrive at Norek by the river, the first thing I saw is the outer wall. Ameiliee tells me that the 50 square miles enclosed by the outer wall is likely the largest walled area anywhere. Much of the area is the orchards of nut trees and only a small part is the actual city. The river gate is a set of three huge portcullis after each other, letting only one barge at time through.

The river barge is met at the gate by a factor of the magnate whose shipment of furs it is, to pay for the customs fee. The skipper of the barge tells him of the goblin attack. The factor sighs that apparently they needed to start posting guards again on the barges if the goblins are again active. They had apparently stopped the practice about a year ago when there had been no incidents for more than two years.

He thanks us, gives Ameiliee a gold piece, the three easterners a silver each and gives me five more bronze as doctor fee.

After the customs inspection the barge continues downriver through the orchards towards the city. As we get closer to the city I start to see the white marble towers that are so typical of Norek over the inner wall.

To get into the city proper, we pass a second river gate, here the customs papers are examined and the guards tell us the general laws of the city. After that the barge continues downriver towards the harbor and we stay with it, as the plan is to get ship passage to Magnimar.

As we float slowly through the city, I spend the time looking at everything. Norek is very different from anything I have seen before. The buildings are mostly large, white marble with grandiose architecture, seemingly trying to outdo each other. Most of the people I see seem to be dressed in togas, with only few laborers in loincloths.

After a while I also realize that I have a peaceful, kind of serene feeling. As I start to think about it, Ameiliee smiles at me and says "It is the stone of peace, an artifact of great power that makes you want to be peaceful. It will not really stop someone from doing violence, theft or similar actions, but it dampens the feelings of anger, jealousy and hate, making such much less likely. Also we are now traveling through uptown and thus pretty close to it. As we get down to the harbor the effect will be much lower, but still there." She then tells me about the time the stone was stolen. (See Ameiliee's Stories:When the stone of peace was stolen.)

As we float downstream, the houses get smaller and simpler, but still the same general theme and architecture is present, just on a smaller scale. Also more people are in loin clothes than before, but still there is an overabundance of togas. At home we mostly use a toga for festivals and such, but here it seems to be a daily wear item for many people. Arriving at the harbor I see that even the large warehouses there try to follow the same architectural style.

We leave the barge when we arrive at the harbor. Again Ameiliee starts to chat with seemingly everyone and seems to run into a huge number of acquaintances, so our travel speed varies between very slow and nonexistent.

About three hours later, as it is getting to be very later afternoon, we have moved maybe a total of 200 yards, getting to a small seaside tavern. There Ameiliee greets the owners like long lost best friends and starts again chatting with everyone. By now I am used to it, but still it does get a bit of boring, listening to events in their lives told by people you do not know.

At some point Ameiliee remembers that we need food, so we have the fish stew they serve in the tavern. She then continues her chatting. At some point I find my head hitting the table, as I fall asleep from the combination of boredom and late hour.

Ameiliee notices that and says "Oh, poor dear, it is getting late for you is it not, lets get you to bed. I can come back and continue after that." She the proceeds up a set of small stairs at the back of the tavern saying "I rent a small room here, as Norek is a place I find myself coming to pretty often, much of it due to the high number of good old friends in the area"

At top of the stairs there is a small corridor with three doors, she walks to the door at the end. There she casts a small spell, touches me and then touches the door explaining "The door is mage locked, I added you to the list of people who can open it. Just make sure you close to door behind you and it will automagically lock again."

The room is about 10 feet by 10 feet and is dominated by a six foot diameter round, obviously magical, symbol carved into the stone floor. Other than that the room is fairly empty, only furnishings being a bed on the far left side and corner, a small desk and chair in the far right corner, a single small closet in the close left corner and a pedal harp in the close right corner. There is absolutely nothing else in the room, besides the large window on the opposite wall. I can see the harbor and the sea from the window.