Chapter 348: Godok

We were not headed directly to the city of Godok, as Konstantin had been told. Instead, the Lucky Equilibrium was headed for the coastal town of Kryvan. Here, they would pick up barrels of salted fish to sell in Godok. There was nothing to do about the three-day detour. The captain was unconcerned with our irritation, as he would be getting excellent prices and always got huge margins selling in Godok.

Our “private” cabin was barely large enough for the hammock, and Baldo had to sleep underneath Raelia and me. It also smelled like fish and ammonia, just like the rest of the ship. Konstantin might have been a bit hasty in booking passage, but he was unapologetic. It was a seven-day voyage to Kryvan, and I noticed the temperature dropped significantly as we sailed away from Stone Mountain Island.

The climate zones on this planet made no sense to me, but I knew the ley lines influenced them. Some roads in the Telhian Empire even followed the ley lines because the snow melted much faster above them.

It was hard to be intimate with Raelia in these conditions, and she even started to get nauseous from the constant smell of fish. She hadn’t been seasick on the long voyage to Stone Mountain Island from the Caliphate, so she would just have to endure. The only member of our group who didn’t mind the smell was Baldo, as he had developed a love of salted fish.

The schooner’s deck was small, and the captain did not appreciate us sparring, either, so I spent some time in the dreamscape amulet alone. Most of my time was spent studying alchemy books and practicing with Maveith there. He had infused more of his personality into his likeness. It acted more like him, but I knew it still lacked his soul. It didn’t have the same thoughtful ponderance on a question or Maveith’s eagerness to please everyone. Still, it was all I had of my friend.

When we docked in Kryvan, Raelia was happy to stay in a small inn. Her seasickness seemed to follow her ashore, though. Kryvan was a human town with a vast fleet of modest fishing trawlers. The people had the same dark skin of the sailors but spoke a different language. Our sailors were from the Antorum Theocracy, while Kryvan belonged to the Mutian League, a collective of free cities. I had only glanced at maps of the other continent, but planned our time on these distant shores to be short anyway. I was not going to invest time in learning another language.

We waited days as barrel after barrel of pickled fish was transferred to the Lucky Equilibrium, a merchant ship specializing in food. The ship had picked up crates of tropical fruit from the goliaths, grain from another island nation, and was now on the final leg of its journey to Godok. While I watched over Raelia in our room, Konstantin came and reported his observations from his exploration of the city.

“As long as we don’t get too flashy with coin, we should be overlooked by the locals. Hard to find anyone who speaks Telhian, and those that do have nothing good to say about the Empire.” I could tell this irked him some. “Couldn’t find any ships that would get us to Godok any faster, either.”

“How is Gilda?” I asked after the changeling.

“Still angry with me for not getting her any manticore poison. She will not cause us any trouble, though. Did you scout where that window leads?” He pointed at the only window in our room.

“To an alley. A baker is across from us, and farther down the alley is a tinkerer.” I replied. I hadn’t forgotten my Hound lessons. I didn’t circle the city, but I knew everything within two blocks of the inn. Konstantin nodded. I could tell he wanted to use the dreamscape amulet, but I was holding it in petty retribution for our accommodations on this voyage. Konstantin paused momentarily, too prideful to ask for it, and then left.

While Raelia was sick in our room, I watched the fishing boats far offshore with my spyglass. They cast large nets and used winches to pull them aboard. I suspected someone from Earth had imported this fishing technology on a smaller scale. I also suspected that magic played a role in their bountiful catches, as the larger vessels traveled only a few miles offshore and always pulled up large catches.

It took two full days to load dozens of barrels into the hold, which then greatly reduced our speed on the open sea to Godok. That leg of the journey took four more days, even though it should have only taken three. Godok was unlike any city I had seen on Desia. Towering buildings, a hundred feet tall or more, dotted the cityscape as we approached. The captain stood beside us as we approached, speaking in his accented Telhian, “Impressive, isn’t it? That is the greatest city on Desia before you. More people live there than in any other city on the continent.”

A green-looking Raelia nestled into my arm and asked, “How many people?”

“No one knows for sure, but more than two million for sure.” I could believe it as the city’s coastline ran as far as you could see in both directions. We were headed for a bay that had the masts of dozens of ships of varying design and a multitude of flags.

“What are the buildings?” Raelia asked, indicating the tall structures that towered over the others sporadically throughout the city.

“Each one belongs to a sect. That one there”—he pointed to the nearest dock we were headed for—“is the Sect of Golden Waters. Their members possess powerful water magic and can be hired by captains to serve on their ships.” He gestured across the city at a black round tower that stood easily over a hundred and fifty feet tall. “That is the Sect of Kallia. They can help you seek the wisdom of those who reside with Yama.”

“Is there an Adventurer’s Hall in Godok?” I asked the captain.

“The largest Adventurer’s Hall in the world, my friend!” He pointed to the far side of the city. “That white spire there. It manages the Arcane Mine Dungeon. From what I hear, the waiting list to enter is almost a year!” He clapped me unwelcomely on my back. Raelia smirked at my annoyance with the friendly captain, then she vomited over the rail.

“Do they have a dungeon archive?” I asked.

The captain scrunched his face in thought. “Probably. There’s nothing you can’t find on Godok!” I didn’t doubt his claim as we sailed into the harbor; ships of every make and size were moored or docked, even one that looked like a steamship due to its lack of sails and single stack.

The captain offered one more piece of wisdom: “You will need to muzzle your pet, or the constables will fine you.” With that, we left the captain to dock his ship. He would unload his cargo of food and then moor the Lucky Equilibrium, giving his crew time ashore. As we sailed past the other vessels, various races were represented—elves, dwarves, halflings, and even a crew predominantly made up of goliaths. One race I noticed was absent was the orcs. In this part of the world, they were known more for piracy than for being traders.

“I will find us a ship to Gramney,” Konstantin said from behind me.

“Hopefully not another fish merchant.” I scoffed.

He grunted softly. “He was the only captain who spoke Telhian in Eternis. He got us here safely.” I couldn’t argue with that.

“I think I will explore the city, particularly the Adventure’s Guild,” I told him.

Raelia still didn’t look well, and we had tried a cure disease potion in case she had come down with something. “I will find us a good room far enough away from the docks so we won’t smell the fish.” She was wrapping Baldo’s beak to muzzle him. She had done it before, but he was puzzled about why it was needed now that so many interesting smells and sights were nearby.

We ended up walking into the city together, all four of us surrounding Baldo. He received more than his fair share of curious stares. The city smelled like a mix of the sewer, sea, and landfill. I guessed the sewers emptied near the harbor. The farther we traveled from the harbor, the less the stench was. We stayed on the main thoroughfare, roughly in the direction of the Adventurer’s Hall spire.

It took us four attempts before we found an innkeeper who spoke Elvish and would allow Baldo to stay. The Shaggy Bear was built from ancient lumber but carried a smell of ale and incense in the common room. Since it had Raelia’s approval, we all got rooms. Konstantin and Gilda left immediately to explore. I made sure Raelia was settled before heading to the Adventurer’s Hall. She just wanted to lie down without the swaying ship beneath her and the fishy smell in her nose.

The people primarily had dark brown skin, but all shades were represented as I walked. My light tan was definitely in the minority, however. As I passed through a bazaar, I heard a dizzying array of languages spoken by the street vendors. Since I was dressed in common clothes and had no coin pouch, I was not heckled as a potential customer. I could definitely spend days exploring this amalgamation of merchants, but I guessed Konstantin would have passage to the first ship to Gramney booked by the time I returned.

It was easy to follow the road to the white spire the captain had indicated, as it loomed above the other buildings. On approach, the tower was impressive; it was easily over a hundred feet across and twice that in height. Outside, a large courtyard hosted several warriors practicing their skills under the guidance of an instructor—some sort of classes, I assumed.

I watched briefly but was unimpressed by the talent on display. I proceeded to enter the Guild Hall, wearing my adventurer’s medallion openly. No one stopped me or inspected it. Its silver color caught a few interested glances my way, and I tucked it under my shirt when I noticed no one else wore theirs openly. I had assumed it was required to enter, but I just looked silly.

The large common room had a high ceiling, and a harpist and lutist played softly in the corner. I had never seen so many adventurers in one place—maybe three hundred men and women scattered across the hall. Most wore some semblance of armor, and a number were moving about, preparing to leave or settle at a table.

A young halfling woman gently nudged me to move. She barely reached my waist. I started to apologize, and it took a moment to realize we both spoke Elvish. “You are standing in the way, big boy.” She indicated a general path through the room. From how hard she had tried to push me, I would have checked my pockets—if I had anything valuable in them.

It was hard to be sarcastic in Elvish. I apologized for being inconsiderate and standing near the entryway. “I’m sorry. I thought the wait for the dungeon was months. What is everyone doing?”

She huffed at me. “It’s about ten months for the Arcane Mines, the last time I checked. Half that for the Shattered Basilicia.” She appraised me and guessed I was here looking for work. “Most of us here are serving as guards or running errands.” She motioned to the job board. “There’s been a rash of orc raids down the coast. Towns are paying good gold if you’re up for it.” By her look, she had her doubts about my ability. “City merchants are always looking for a sword arm with decent awareness to spot a thief, especially on the night watch.” She winked at me. “There’s been a rise in robberies lately.”

“Thank you. I am Eryk Marco. Is there a dungeon archive in the Guild Hall? I would like to do some research since the dungeons are unavailable,” I said, giving her a slight bow of thanks. Since she was wearing leather leggings on her small legs, I assumed she was also an adventurer.

“New here, then? Are you looking to pay for some classes?” Her eyes twinkled slightly in bemusement. “Most of you large, muscle-bound freaks only think about swinging your sword.” She patted my thigh a bit too familiarly, and I flushed as was clearly her intention.

“Just looking to do some reading. Knowledge is worth more than a sword sometimes,” I replied.

She reevaluated me and nodded approvingly. “I’m Lesna, a silver-ranked earth and illusionist sorcerer. But you probably can’t afford my rates,” she beamed mischievously up at me. “Follow me; I can show you to the Archivist.”

Instead of going downstairs to a basement, as I had suspected, Lesna brought me to a narrow stairway going up in the back of the hall. There were two other prominent stairs in the common room as well. She climbed energetically in front of me, passing floors without hesitation. A heavy, blue, tace wood door stood before us when the stairs ended on a stone landing. I was breathing easily, but the halfling was slightly winded.

“Got some decent stamina. If you find some armor and a weapon, maybe we can find some work together,” she said teasingly.

She looked like she was about to leave. I knocked on the door. “Tace wood,” I said in Elvish. “They can’t hear us on the other side.”

“Eh, is that what it’s called? I just call it blue wood.” She sighed, and with some effort, she pushed open the door, but I suspected she had magicked the lock open. I think she planned to leave me here, knocking fruitlessly on the door as a joke.

The hinge squealed, and the door scraped the stone loudly. The entire floor beyond was a massive library. The white stone walls were adorned with shelves reaching ten feet in height. There were high windows above the shelves for natural light, and dozens of glowstone sconces also dotted the walls. The ceiling was one endless mural of monsters in combat. A few men and women in off-white robes walked among the shelves, looking annoyed by our loud entrance.

There were so many books—they couldn’t all be about dungeons. How long would it take me to look through all of them? One of the robed men, a dark-skinned elf, approached us. His eyes were completely white, devoid of irises—his irises were merely white, giving the illusion that his eyes were white. Even being an elf, he had some age lines on his face. His shoulder-length silvery hair appeared unkempt as he approached—and he did not look happy to see us.

Lesna spoke much louder than needed and interrupted the scholar. “Archivist Dorrel Elalee, this is Eryk Marco. He wants to read some of your books.” With that, Lesna quickly ducked back down the stairs, making her escape. The sound of her footsteps faded away. I noticed the room had a more pronounced entrance across from me, so Lesna must have taken us up the back stairs on purpose.

Dorrel’s jaw was clenched, and I wondered if the halfling had angered him on purpose.

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