Chapter 2: Free City of Isdelburg

The city was built in a mixture of architectural styles, documenting both the intermingling of two cultures and advances in technology. Timber-framed stone-walled tenement houses, typical in Maargard, neighboured long and low warehouses made of logs and planks. Four-story buildings made of shiny red bricks, the latest architectural fad from the Kingdom, bordered by whitewashed stone and thatch. At first glance, this was just a jumbled mess, but the city layout was designed with a purpose in mind, which included moving large quantities of merchandise to and from the city gates. To this end, the main street - a six-cart wide beast, made of cobblestone and with a smelly gutter on either side - ran in a straight line from the eastern gate to the western one, and further across bridges into the countryside. It was well-lit and lined with tall, two, three or even four-story buildings practically from end to end. There seemed to be as many warehouses as there were actual houses - or at least that is what could be assumed. Brandt knew all too well that most of those were offices of wealthy merchants, as attested by discreet signboards on the walls.

Narrower streets branched off from the main one. Still shrouded in darkness, there was no telling what they hid, at least from the tanai's point of view. Brandt knew there was simply more of the same. Every house in the city seemed to be built with commercial use in mind. Bathhouses, public houses, warehouses, slaughterhouses… even ordinary houses of the ordinary folk. And the further from the main street the business happened, the less legitimate and elegant it was.

Brandt knew all this simply because, over the decades, he has visited Isdelburg numerous times. He could even recollect, after scouring the darkest, deepest corners of his mind, some foggy memories of Isdelburg the tiny fishing village, furnished with a couple of cable ferries carrying people over either Niesse or Orda. But that was then, and many times since. Now, Isdelburg performed a minor role of a mere roadside stop on whatever business trip the Nord was conducting at the time.

Which was precisely the case today.

Even this early in the day Isdelburg was already bustled with activity. Sleepy workers hurried along, this way and that, the shopkeepers were preparing for the day ahead, and of course, the street was already full of pack animals, draft animals with attached carts, porters carrying parcels, and an occasional mounted hoomin, the traffic growing in intensity with every passing triskol, fed from the crowds crossing the bridge Brandt and Anh just arrived from. They moved steadily onward as if caught on a tidal wave.

-“The barge departs at about the ninth candle.” - announced the Nord - "We need to hurry."

-“Aha.” - responded the tanai. He seemed to pay more attention to the surroundings and the people than where he was going - "Just lead on. I’ll follow.”

Brandt quickly glanced back, and, having made sure that the bookkeeper was indeed following, he returned to minding the road.

-” The wharf is on the other end, about two kimers from here, and, most importantly and unfortunately, outside of the city gates. Have you ever been here?"

-” No. But I have read something about it.”

-” The Isdelburg central square is somewhat closer to Neisse, but the main riverport for Maargardian shipments is, obviously, on the Orda." - he waved his hand in a vague gesture - "This street leads straight to the other gate, but it splinters at the marketplace towards the third port, this one too on the Orda.”

-” Third? That's excessive." - commented Anh busily looking around at the shopfronts - "But I assume the initial riverport's capacity was quickly surpassed, and so there was the need for another one.”

The Nord smiled and steered his horse around a large cart. Its wheel was broken and several parcels spilled off the side. A group of hoomin frantically tried to simultaneously reload the cart and repair it.

-” Well, not exactly. The brilliance of the Esrtpaladin of Maargard is to blame for that. When they built the first bridge across the Orda, he wanted a solid brick, stone, and mortar structure that would withstand spring ices that go through here, and be sturdy enough to build warehouses on top of it, overriding the engineers who wanted a taller structure which would serve only to cross. When later Maargard expanded south this bridge became an impassable obstacle to larger boats. Rebuilding it was deemed prohibitively expensive compared to the amount of traffic and, as you can imagine, Isdelburg city council was against it, because the transloading fees filled city coffers with hard coin.”

-” Fascinating.”- remarked Anh bitingly.

-” Tolerance towards inefficiency Mr. Trawins?” - responded Brandt - ” I’d rather say it’s appalling.”

The bookkeeper didn't respond, and so the Nord chalked that discussion as his win. He smiled wryly.

For the next few quanters they were busy maneuvering around, or sometimes through, the crowds on the street. Even though the street was extraordinarily wide, unexpected obstacles cropped up here and there: a nobleman's carriage demanded that a free passage two widths of a cart be made immediately; two wagons crashed into each other blocking half of the road with panicking horses and lost cargo; an Actosian, wearing faded red robes and brandishing a long staff adorned with many metal fourings, stood on the corner, preaching some or other doom to the gathering crowd. As far as Brandt could tell, his sermon wasn't entirely in line with the official Vihroxy. So several militiamen soon arrived and carried the man away, to the accompaniment of shouted obscenities and derisive laughter. One of them hacked the ex-fruit box he was preaching off of, to pieces, hastily picked up by some members of the crowd soon after. The marketplace seemed even busier than that, forcing the Nord and his little caravan to slowly sulk along the building walls. And then there was the Harnbruck, the Bridge of Erstpaladin Harne. Loaded with shops, warehouses, and living quarters, built up haphazardly and seemingly without any forethought whatsoever, the crossing seemed more akin to a tunnel than a bridge. The street here narrowed to mere two-and-a-bit carts which often caused hold-ups. The Nord had to use all his skills to navigate through and avoid being pickpocketed at the same time. By the time Brandt rode out of the gate on the other side of the town, Bivos was already high up in the sky.

He sighed heavily with relief. Which soon turned into unease.

The area just outside the city gates was earmarked for temporary storage and exchanging of draft animals, with only a few stables and necessary craftsmen in the direct vicinity. It was also usually relatively empty.

The sight that greeted the Nord fell on the exactly opposite side of the scale. A veritable sea of tents, set up in orderly military fashion, spread from wall to wall, leaving only a narrow passage. Dotted around were chequered red-and-white banners, bearing Maargardian swords and roses.

-” You see this?” - Brandt lowered his voice to a near-whisper - “This, Mr. Trawins, is trouble.”

He allowed the horse to slow down to a walk, trying to estimate the overall size of the detachment. He arrived at around three hundred men.

- “I now have all the reasons to think Maargard is organizing a Vhirzung. I've heard rumors about it, and truthfully the time is ripe for another one. We’ll have to tread lightly from now on.” - he paused for a short while, chewing on his lip - “In all honesty, I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to back out. Stepping on the toes of Ordo Pvrgatore and a band of angry templars might be slightly above the scope of our contract. Any thoughts before we embark on the ship?”

The only answer that came was a conspicuous silence. Brandt frowned and turned his head towards his companion. The mules were still there, following the horse. The tanai wasn't.

-” What in the agency of Vhirs?” - cursed the hoomin. He craned his neck, trying to see if his companion was anywhere nearby. There were soldiers, there were workers, and there were even a few merchants. Several carts traveled towards or away from the gate. But the tanai vanished without a trace.

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