Only a couple short hours and the city of Enberton comes into view on the northern bank of the great lake. But directly south of it, the small island with the forboding black tower of Rox'Voroth stands. Though it has been devoid of anything resembling life for 300 years, since the death of its master and creator, the mere sight of it sends chills down the spine. The captain, as all captains do, steers the boat as close to the northern shore of Lake Enber as the ship can safely manage.
Soon, the boat is sailing into Enberton's harbor.
Enberton is unlike anything the group could have expected. The walls of the city were thick and tall, whitewashed to look pristine as if they had never been besieged or breached. The wall rose nearly a hundred feet above the ground and was protected by powerful spells embedded in the stone itself that both strengthened the wall and repelled attackers.
The tops of the buildings behind the wall soared into the sky bearing a variety of colors and banners that waved in the breeze. The buildings inside the wall bore a strange architecture. Unlike the human city of Neefe, these buildings were designed with an artistic flair.
Enberton was a vast city that sat on the river Q’Tos that flowed to Lake Enber from outer Thel’Luthia. The city was equally as large on either side of the river with an amazing, breathtaking bridge system that spanned the river, connecting the two halves of the city. The bridge was made possible because of a massive rock formation that jutted straight up out of the center of the river’s mouth. In every way, the bridge was really two separate bridges, from West Enberton to the rock, and from the rock to East Enberton. The entire length of the bridge held shops and buildings of every kind, just as any other area of the city. But the most breathtaking thing about the bridge was its height. The bridge was over 150 feet above the surface of the water, allowing more than enough room for the tall masts of the large ships to sail under it. The residents of Enberton called it the “Sky Bridge.”
Not to be out done by the Sky Bridge, the buildings along the river edge all reached up into the sky, equally as high as the bridge itself. Sailing up the river gave one the feeling of sailing into a cave. At night, it was possibly the most beautiful sight in all of Enber. The candle glow from inside each of the hundreds of windows lining the river sparkled dazzlingly over the dark, rippling water. There was a song that described the effect as sailing amid the stars themselves.
Built along both banks of the river were decks where people could sit and enjoy the view. Nearly every married woman in Enberton had been proposed to on one of those decks.
Everyone marvels at Enberton the first time they see it. There was simply no architecture in all Enber that equaled it, nor even resembled it. None knew the effort was both of human and elven origin. Thousands upon thousands of years ago, Enberton was the first city in the valley of Enber, and was originally founded by Elves, but named Enber-Thel. Wars shifted the city into human hands where the humans built it into the economic center of Enber.
Thousands of years later, other sprawling human cities began to rival Enberton in size, wealth and power. The city leaders, commerce guilds and royal family, all exceptionally wealthy from the ages of dominance of the trade in the Enber valley, struck out on a bold move to ensure that Enberton would remain the key city in Enber. They sent ambassadors to purchase the help of the elves who lived along the Q’Tos River.
Together, human and elf designers recrafted the city. Fusing human resourcefulness and practicality with elven aesthetics and artistry, the new Enberton was born. The shear awe of the city brought all the guilds to Enberton, and it quickly became the hub of civilization once again. For years, elves and humans lived side by side and continued to expand the incredible city, until about two thousand years ago a great war between the races divided humans and elves. The humans resolutely held Enberton while the elves, who loved the beauty of the city but not the business, left peacefully. Their desire to see the beautiful city standing out-weighed the loss that the destruction of war could bring.
The elves of Enberton, having lived among humans in their city for so long didn’t feel like returning to Thel’Luthia, to their people. They no longer saw themselves as the elves they once were. The city life they had come to know gave them the opportunity to rely less on their physical body and pursue more intellectual goals. Taking a share of the wealth of the great city, they set out along the banks of Lake Enber looking for a new home. Where they went and what became of them, none know.
The ship sailed up to the docks inside the mouth of the river, just past the Sky Bridge. Sailors quickly began herding the passengers off of the boat to make way for the unloading of several crates that had to be delivered to the great city.
Gemble looks around the dock with awe in his tiny little facial features. He grins widely at the beauty even in the architecture of the docks themselves. Even the Port Authority building looked like the home of a wealthy merchant.
“Well then, where shall we go?” Jaeden says, breaking a long moment of silence.
“Looks like a giant eff weddin’ cake.” Krueger grunts and starts stomping down the dock toward the city.
