The road skirting the northwest coast is unpleasant at this time of year. The incessant wind blowing in from the Northern Passage carries a bitter chill and up on the heath, sandwiched between the ocean on one side and low foothills on the other, there is little respite from it. There are few travellers to […]

Pin-pon I blink three or four times. After the bright fluorescence of the convenience store, my eyes take a few seconds to adjust to the rainy midnight streets. I squint upwards to regard the raindrops where they tumble into view past the lightbox sign of a 5th-floor bar across the street. No heavier, but no […]

The merchant’s guild and the city council call it the Tiered Market, but to the locals it’s known simply as Hillside. The terraced path, winding back and forth across the southern face of Watch Hill, is home to all manner of stall selling everything from salt by the pound to fine silk gowns to root […]

The gates of the Academy seem massive overhead as you pass through, but your young-looking escort swings the giant slab of stone closed behind you with no noticeable effort. The courtyard beyond is wide and green, criss-crossed with neat paths of white gravel leading to and from the numerous halls and towers arrayed before you. […]