The Lost Crown

The Library at Sundjahar House

The city of Sundjahar could be seen from the front of the ship half a day before they arrived.  It looked like a little pile of splinters when Walliam tried to focus on it, far in the distance.  As he watched he began to see how the tall splinters were really towers.  One of them loomed higher and higher as they drew closer.  To either side of the river the city of Sundjahar spread out in a wild tangle.  It was the second oldest city in the Kingdom and had been growing for over a thousand years.  When King Ranson conquered the western territories, 1100 years ago, the city of Sundjahar had already been a sprawling city of nearly half a million people.  In the 11 centuries since it was incorporated into the Kingdom it had continued to grow.

Planchiko explained it to Walliam as they watched the deep red and brown stone buildings grow closer and larger.  Sundjahar had a weakness that Cerallon didn’t.  The harbor at Cerallon was entirely enclosed, as enormous as it was, and could not be invaded or taken in war.  The harbor at Sundjahar was vastly larger, but wide open to the sea.  Ships from around the world drew into the ports at Sundjahar.  The Traders Guild was an ancient one, and its members scrupulously enforced the laws of the city.  These standards had earned the city a mountain of wealth.  Anyone caught cheating their customer, or vice versa, was barred from ever doing business in the city again.  None were spared if a judgment was found against them.  This kept business mostly honest, but the courts were continuously busy investigating complaints.

“How many people live in the city now?” Walliam asked.

Planchiko scratched his chin.  “Just more than two millions, now.  House Snarewold is a wealthy house, as you can imagine.  The Magians have a chapter house in Sundjahar.  It’s not far from Snarewold Palace.  You can see it for yourself.  House Snarewold is the sponsor of the temples to Zerax, as you can imagine, so that is why there is the lightning god on the temple hill.  You will see it.  Surely you’ve heard of it?”

Walliam shook his head.  He stared at the approaching city.  It covered several hills as it ran out from the river and the harbor mouth.  Palaces and mansions and towers rose in every direction.  One tower, the one that rose higher than anything Walliam had ever seen, continued to grow in size as they drew closer.  Walliam was stunned at how tall  the tower rose into the sky.

“The Throne of the Stars,” Planchiko said.  He watched Walliam staring up at it and smiled.  “It dominates the city, that’s for sure.  There’s a story about it, but one that only the Magian’s remember.  An ancient Sorcerer built it a thousand years ago.  There was a natural spire of rock there, that rose half as high as the tower does.  That spire of rock is the bottom half of the tower.  Andromicus built the tower from inside the hidden world, so that it was anchored there.  For 444 days and nights he worked on it, all inside the hidden world.  It looked as though the tower appeared out of thin air.  There are no doors that open into it.  You have to be a Magian and open a doorway into it if you wish to enter.  You can imagine the crowd that gathered by the time it was completed.”

They were only a few miles from the edge of the city and Walliam stared up at the giant tower.  It was made out of a brownish-red stone.  Some of the stones in the tower looked like they were polished and they glittered in the sunlight.  Others were dull.  High up, near the top of the tower, there were window openings in rows.  They looked like black squares just below the top.  The tower was so tall it was hard for Walliam to make out details where he saw the windows.

“No man has built anything so tall ever since,” Planchiko said.  “When Andromicus emerged from the tower it was as a Mastikon.  He had already made the change.  We don’t know what that involved, but you will read for yourself and see what we do know.  Don’t forget, either, that it was Andromicus who started the war of the Mastikons.  After he was destroyed the survivors wanted to tear down the tower.  You can see they failed.”