Ghosts of Mehan'Gir by LJ Chappell

Author:LJ Chappell [Chappell, LJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Asquith Publishing
Published: 2018-12-31T22:00:00+00:00

3

There was nowhere else like Corvak in the Three Lands: Twenty-Two “Floating Cities”, built on dozens of islands set among immense inland seas, created by hundreds of miles of stepped Dams that held back the waters of the Great River. Their buildings were domed in white and green and brown and gold, and set among rich green parks and graceful white sandy beaches. Corvak was a land of shores and bridges and boats as well as immense and palpable wealth, if the stories were to be believed.

There was more than the Dams and the Four Lakes, of course – there was the rich and fertile Delta, downstream from the Lakes, and the floodplain of the Great River to the north. But it was the Dams and the Lakes and the Cities that inevitably came to mind.

The Company approached Corvak from the south. Far inland, the waters of the Great River flowed out from the Fourth Dam to create the innumerable Mouths of the Delta, and four of the larger branches were navigable for their entire length. The merchant city of Persippion sat on the westernmost channel, acting as a gateway to the interior: the huge trade barks that bobbed their way around the Inner Sea moored up along its endless twisting quays and exchanged cargoes with the hundreds of little riverboats that shuttled up and downstream.

Unlike the merchantmen, Magda’s Choice was small and manoeuvrable enough to sail north herself, against the slow and listless current, especially in Vander and Aruel’s skilled hands, so they passed through the centre of Persippion without stopping. The city was flat, allowing very few views across the city, but from what Lanvik could see it was mostly docks and warehouses. Behind those, he could make out occasional grand buildings and the domes of temples.

As they glided past the twisting harbours and rows of ships, Vrosko Din remarked that this route was the worst way to approach Corvak. ‘It awes you and impresses you, despite yourself,’ he explained. ‘Whatever you think of Corvak and whatever reason you have for coming here, you can’t help staring at the Dams. The Lakes and the Cities are impressive, of course, but when you enter by the Delta your first view is the perfect, white, six-hundred foot high Fourth Dam. It stretches as far as you can see, from horizon to horizon, and you can’t help being overwhelmed.’

‘Very dramatic.’

‘Just wait until you see it.’

Persippion lay seventy-five or eighty miles from an “Elevator” on the Fourth Dam – more than a single day’s travel. Rather than lodging on dry land along the way, the Company chose to tie up and sleep onboard Magda’s Choice that night. They would be at the Elevator early the following day, with plenty of time to reach Iskoianar before nightfall.

Shortly after setting out that morning, they passed a monolithic obelisk: a narrow tapering cone with a rounded top, perhaps twenty feet high and carved from some pale blue-grey stone. A gradually curving arc of identical columns was visible stretching away to the east and west.

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