Chapter 2 - Set, The City of Gods

The unspoken smiles. "That is a common ailment among those newly arrived by ship. I am sorry to say the temple you seek is on the opposite side of the city, in the Seven Towers district. Maybe a little exercise is the medicine you need? My name is Enimpi, by the way. I suppose we should be heading off then." She gives a nod once it seems everyone is ready and turns around with a swirl of her black robes and walks off.

The city is well divided but chaos within it. One can find black-frocked cultists of the New God arguing with peddlers of small gods on a street corner, while a hoary old druid wanders past, followed by a veritable menagerie of animals large and small. Devil worshipers brazenly advertise their devotion, while mad cultists of alien powers shriek and gibber from the rooftops, hoping to call forth their masters from the darkness between the stars. Everywhere you pass are shrines, offerings, masses, processions, and religious artworks. Enimpi is a wonderful guide and fills you in on each point of interest, pointing out historic buildings, telling dark and tragic tales behind a building here or statue there. But most importantly she navigates unmolested you through swarms of proselytizers, paraphernalia hawkers, hucksters, and street urchins.

As you depart the Seawatch district she points out All-Faiths Keep, which is the headquarters of the cities court of law and dungeons; Hall of the All-Father, a grey-and-red temple to Grimnir led by the jotun Snorri Gurdenson; and The Black Ship, a possibly abandoned galleon which has been docked for over a century after its captain, Sora Redhead, paid ten thousand gold crowns to secure that spot until she returned, which she and her crew never did.

Making your way north through the eastern portion of the city you pass through into Red Roofs, the middle-class and most "normal" district in the city, so named for the uniform red tiles that cover the rooftops of the buildings here. Red Roofs is a collection of residential houses and commercial storefronts. Pamela's Coffee House and the Bank are the most notable features in this otherwise unremarkable section.

Enimpi leads you through another large gateway in the stone wall into the Garden district. Your guide explains this used to be where the richest of Set lived, but eventually abandoned it as the "riffraff" began to populate the city. It has since been converted into the largest park in the Nine Cities, solely tended by priests of the Old Faith. Points of interest here are the Tree of the High One, a 75-foot tall black willow tree, and Ten Groves Point, a dozen standing stones in a circle surrounding a bronze spear driven point-first into the earth. Enimpi tells you of the legend that it was supposedly wielded by Gomrough Strongarm and the spear is called Bitterness. It is said to be awaiting the one worthy enough to wield it to pull it free, but none have yet succeeded.

And beyond the final gateway is your destination, Seven Towers.