Endearth Castle was more a fort than a Castle. Rising above the black cliffs of the western bluff, it was a bulwark against the high, violent, tides of the Catalas Sea that entered the Redwood Sound. It was the control center of the northernmost province in the Kingdom of Werland. Ships large and small used Endearth Port to ship cargo; spices and silk, came into the port from the West that was East, fruits and cotton fabrics from the south, sugar from the south and the Midin or 'Sweet' Islands, and gold was plentiful for Barons, and Merchants and commoners alike. It was a warm spring day as the salted air took on the moisture of the sea, cooling the hot port down just enough for the workers to be in good cheer. The wealthy lanes were lined …show more content…
They sailed into the Last Sea, and on into the Silent Ocean believing themselves lost. For a year and a day they sailed; they sailed past the Seadragons lair and there they lost ships. They sailed through storms, through doldrums, through rain, and fog, and black starry nights. They sailed so long that their hair and teeth began to fall out, and people grew so mad that they tossed themselves over the sides. They saw no land, they had no food, when a man succumbed to madness and took his life, the people ate him that night." "Why did they sail West? Surely-" a sharp look from her cousin stayed her words. Again. "And finally they begged the gods to help. They begged for land, for food, for water. They promised the gods that they would never again own slaves, and they would never again eat man. The gods delivered them a storm to push them faster, the seas heaved and the waves grew like cliffs alongside their ships. And in the morning, they landed ashore." "Why is everything done in a year and a day? Why not two, or five, or seven years?" "Would you like to tell the tale? Surely you must know it better than