The Language Of The Trees/ An Evalyce Novel [#NaNoWriMo16]

Chapter 14: Port Jericho

North Ward, Port Jericho, 10000 ft above the Aeryth Ocean, Year of the Lion Claw, 1727 CE

    Two days later, I saw Port Jericho for the first time. I had only heard dark whispers of the skycity before this mission, and  my stomach was in knots. During the transformation into Jaelil, I had read what information was available on Port Jericho, and I feared for our safety in this dangerous town.

    Jericho was a city of mercenaries and assassins, of gaming houses, bars, and distilleries, of decadent pleasures of the flesh. Beneath it all lay a mage-metal mine rich in valuable and rare ore the envy of any mine run by the Technomancers. The Jerachi traded with the Argosians at times, but more often than not trade went to Kanlon Artificers.

    It had been twenty-seven years since a Ne Rameridean immigrant named Salinas Luchanya had risen to power within the skycity. Luchanya’s family had moved to Jericho when he was three, and he'd grown up on the rough streets, running with the other whelps born there.

    A formidable man, Luchanya had managed the impossible, fostering cooperation between the guilds, and a cohesiveness between the disparate factions. Though the early days of Luchanya's rule had been fraught with violence, dissenters were quickly dealt with. Things could have been far more dangerous for us. At least we were walking into a nest of civilised criminals.

    Luchanya's rise to power heralded massive upheaval and unprecedented fortune for the skycity. The entirety of the city had been completely rearranged. Today Jericho was divided into four quadrants, surrounding a central hub. Each quadrant, or ward, had a specialty.

    South Ward was the infamous Firefly Alley, the pleasure quarter. East Ward was the mining district, beneath which lay the majority of the mine complex. Here artificery shops, forges, and ore processing facilities could be found. North Ward contained a plethora of distilleries, bars, gaming halls and lodgings. West Ward was home to the majority of the mercenary and Hunter guilds, and it was here we would be most likely to find what we sought.

    We were assigned a ship berth beneath North Ward. Literally, as it were. The shipyards and paddocks of Jericho were massive cave complexes in the rocky roots beneath the floating island.

    Here and there, pillars of crystalline lucavite jutted from the floor and ceiling. Finely wrought cages of deep green pyrallym framed each, the sturdy mage-metal offering protection to the pillars.

    Like any skycity, Jericho relied upon lucavite to keep it aloft over its magnaberm, repulsed by deposits of magnavite on the surface far below. To mine either mineral was a crime throughout the known lands. The Jerachi had taken great care to preserve their lucavite’s integrity, even as they built around it.

    The hanger cavern was well-lit, and stuffed full of ships of all sizes. At the back, guards flanked sets of stairs leading to the city above.  Shouldering my light duffel, I took in my surroundings, and noticed a man standing along the upper walkway, watching the crowd below.  One hand rested on the pyrallym railing, the other atop a cane. Two more guards stood slightly back from him.

      We filtered through the queue, and finally reached the foot of the stairs, where the guards checked our traveling papers and passed us through. As we reached the top, the man at the railing greeted us. Up close, he looked as we did, though there was a touch of olive beneath the sepia of his skin.

    Though his clothes were made of a rich material, they were devoid of any ornamentation.  A heavy deep grey longcoat hung open to reveal a lighter grey tunic and black leggings. Ari tensed as he approached.