Arrival

originally posted September 1, 2006

I did not tell the slaves on the coffle that we would be in the resort city of Venna by evening, but the clues were there. On the approach, each pasang is marked along the Vosk Road. Also, we are not first in the caravan. Our wagon is twentieth from the front of the line. The excitment of slave girls closer to the front would make it difficult to conceal we were approaching some city. The slaves are there, at the Inn on Baker Street that I have been fond of visiting during my stays in Venna. I asked Mathor to secure a room for them. I am fond of the patisseries, the scent that begins at dawn and permeates the air throughout the day. Fresh breads and pastries. Rising dough. Loaves cooling in the windows. It is a narrow street, not unlike Merchant's Row in the city of Port Olni. The buildings are crowded together, rising into the Vennan skyline in a winding row. I prefer that section of the city for the scents of fresh bread, cinnamons and sugars, which are pleasant. The arena section of the city, where the famed saddle lizards are raced, offer one a somewhat less pleasant aroma. Still, there is much excitement to be had there. The races, while on the whole more civilized than the tarn races of my city, are quite competitive and consistently dangerous. Stables of the region covet each and every win against one another as it means much for not only the pride of the owner, but the bank balance.