Journey of the Messenger Cycle 1 Part 7c
Ijah remained impressed with the civility and prosperity she saw within the Republic of Caffern. The canal system they had been moving along provided an easy means of transporting people and various products. As she understood the situation, there was more traffic along the canals than any of the roads, and the majority of towns and cities were connected by this engineering marvel.
Often there were no walls around the various communities, at least not within the heartland of the republic. The farms she saw were large, the smaller ones still requiring many dozens of people to work the fields and process the crops. There were also vast herds of cattle and sheep. Harklen had mentioned that his family dealt in pork, a modest operation according to him, with many hundred swine. Without the aqueduct and canal systems none of this would be possible.
She had learned that each of the border regions supported a large fortress, usually near a sizable town or city. Between the fortresses, along the borderlands, there were a series of walled keeps and well maintained roads that connected the defensive network. Some of the locals claimed that any enemy incursion into the republic would be met by a hundred professional soldiers within the passing of a single day. Some of the grander claims she heard said that a thousand such professionals could be gathered anywhere within the republic in a single eight-day. None of that took into account that each district also maintained a militia, nor the fact that most citizens were armed or could be within moments.
She suspected that within the heartland of Caffern there had to be additional military infrastructure, but no one had mentioned anything about that. A centralized fortress, especially for training and administration, would make sense. Additionally it would be easier to move a large force from a central area to support any of the borderland fortifications, rather than having to cross the entirety of the republic.
Ijah had learned many other interesting things about the place and the citizens during the past five days. People were generally friendly and loved to talk. Even along the busy canal there had been numerous random conversations with various people. At times they had been part of a long chain of barges, the longest had numbered nearly twenty by Harklen’s reckoning, who said the longest such chains usually took place in the autumn when it was not unusual for there to be twice that number. When these chains formed, people would hop from one barge to another, sharing news and trading.
They had a half days delay at one of the major locks, where there were markets set up along the canal. Ijah and Berri had taken the time to walk around. They had seen people from the furthest flung nations and cultures, most were citizens. Not once had anyone looked at Ijah as though she did not belong. She was not even considered exotic as there were plenty of people around whose ancestry could be traced to the Tannican Empire, though she had not seen any other Kereshi. People were typically friendly, most always respectful and when the need arose they were willing to help others.
Ijah finished the notes she was working on, made sure the ink had dried then placed the report in her messenger’s satchel. Capital City, on Lake Saveraun, was only a couple days away. From there, Harklen had informed them, they would not be far from the southern border of the republic and would then be travelling into the foothills of the Maldorn Mountains. They were perhaps a bit more than an eight-day from their destination, she would gather more reliable information in the capital. She was glad to be nearing the home of the necromancer, their pace through the Madden Hills had been such that it may have taken them until late summer to reach the foothills, if that trend had continued. Harklen’s desire to be with Osran longer and his generally good nature had saved them a lot of travel time.
Harklen and Osran were moving the barge towards a stone quay, using long poles to do so. The two of them had been very consumed with each other over the past few days, Osran was always smiling. Ijah was not sure if either of them had slept much during the trip, their nights were spent rutting within the small cabin of the barge. Ijah and Berri had been camped out on the deck, as far from the little cabin as possible. Berri had spent a fair amount of her time with the horse and trying to figure out how to play Odeena’s lute. Ijah had been able to finish the clothing for Berri, she was rather pleased with how the britches turned out. There had been times, between Berri’s ill tuned strumming and Osran’s moaning, that Ijah wished to be elsewhere. However, she was mostly happy that her companions were content and safe.
Harklen tossed a rope to a man on the peer, the barge was quickly tied off. Everyone pitched in and helped unload eight crates containing scrap copper. Harklen dug out some paperwork, “I’m just going to the trade house to get these signed and see if there is anything I can take on. I shouldn’t be too long.”
After waiting a while Berri became restless, “Think we can take a look around town?”
“I think we should wait.”
Berri did not seem impressed with her answer, she sighed then asked, “Aren’t we close to the border here?”
Ijah nodded, “There’s an old trade road skirting the foothills of the mountains, I think there’s a border town to the southwest, a couple yateer from here. We’ll be heading southeast though, more or less. Lake Saveraun is considerably more southward in that direction and closer to our destination, I believe.”
“Don’t you think we should ask some of the locals? They might know where this Igma woman is. She’s supposed to be famous.”
“The information the council gave me says we’re looking for a valley south of the border, south of the lake, west of the dwarven pass. I intend to make inquiries at the capital.”
Berri laughed, “Capital City sounds like a dumb name to me.”
Osran was confused, “I thought we heading for Maldon place?”
“We are, we just need to make a short stop along the way.”
“Who is Igma?”
“Could we talk about this later Osran? Look, here comes you friend.”
Harklen had a grave expression on his face, “I’ve received a letter. My mother is ill, likely dying from what I can tell. My sister has asked me to go home as quickly as I can.” He looked the three of them over with a regretful expression, “I know I said I’d take you to the capital, but I need to go home.”
“You have been more than generous with us Harklen. I’m sure we can make our way from here.”
Osran looked sad and did not seem to know what to say.
Berri on the other hand was very quick to adjust to the news, “Sorry about your mother. Help me get Horse off your boat and we’ll get out of your hair.”
Ijah drew Osran’s attention, “Leave them to that, gather you stuff.”
Osran’s emotions were raw across her face, disappointment, anger and worry were all warring for dominance. Ijah put a hand on her shoulder, “Let the man deal with his business. You can always come back if you want.”
“I travel the many-lands with you.”
“Well, get your things.”
Osran gave a dissatisfied grunt and set about gathering her belongings. It did not take Ijah long to pack her own things, she then started moving their extra supplies off the barge. Once the horse was on land, Berri and she started loading the gear, “We really should exercise her a bit first.”
“We’re not going far today. We’ll find a place where we can get directions and then decide the details after that.”
“I figured we’d just follow the canal.”
“Might not be the best route for us at this point. We’ll know better soon enough.” Ijah looked over to Harklen and Osran, they were engaged in a long goodbye, “Let’s give them some space.”
Berri took the lead for the horse, “That’s one good thing about all this, we won’t have to listen to the two of them grunting and moaning all night.”
Ijah made no response, though she had been thinking the same thing. Berri turned the horse around and starting leading the animal to the ramp at the far end of the quay. Ijah went up the nearby stairs, at the top she paused and looked around.
It was not much of a place, a couple of streets running parallel to the canal and some homesteads off to the west. She turned around, Osran jumped from the barge to the dock and stopped to say goodbye again. Harklen looked around, spotted Ijah and gave a wave. Ijah shouted down to him, “What’s this place called?”
“Cricket!”
She waved, “Thanks for taking us this far.”
Osran untied the barge, watching as Harklen poled away from the edge. She picked up her gear and joined Ijah, she looked sad. Berri was ambling along the street in their direction, “I think Horse is happy to be off the boat. What now?”
“Well, we find a tavern or a roadhouse and see where we are and figure out how to get to where we’re going.”
Osran asked, “You tell me where we go? Who is Igma?”
Ijah spotted a large building near the edge of the village, “Let’s see what that place is.”
—
Leave a Reply