After their little run with the troll the rest of the day went without problems of any kind and as the sun started to slowly dip to the west, they saw it at last. In the distance they could see the first glimpses of Alebridge. It struck Saga that the its wall must be truly massive for them to see the city at such a distance. The landscape before them was dominated by the massive river that cut the landscape in half. It was a thick serpent of steadily flowing water at this point and it was easily the biggest river that Saga had ever seen. There were barges travelling raveling both up and down stream while carrying all manner of things. The banks of the river was slightly iced over, but never enough for it to be a problem for one barge to pass by another. Large crane like birds harried some of the barges, trying to nick a goodie or two to eat wit their sharp beaks. At one point a guard at one of the barges had enough and shot one down out of the sky with a very well placed arrow.

Surrounding the river on both sides were rolling fields and more of the farmhouses that had been a mainstay on their journey south. Usually consisting of a long house and two or three smaller buildings in semi circle. The hundreds of tiny irrigation ditches shooting out from the rive must have been how they supply the water for the warmer months, but all of then now were mostly frozen over. Small birds ran across the ice and picked trough it, drinking from the water beneath.

Another thing they noticed where how many waterwheels there was along the river. There was a network of them, all of them connected to a series of buildings that seemed to be large scale grain mills. Oxen creatures dragged large wagons stacked full of heavy bags behind them towards small river docks where barges picked them up.

While The City of Alebridge was still some ways away Saga could see it loom ever closer as they made their way along the river. The caravan stopped at one of the smaller mills as they smelled freshly baked bread, with Ordan dismounting his wagon and pointing out a small stall with twin chimneys that were set up next to the bigger building. Beneath a simple sloped roof were two ovens made out of stone and judging by the smell a fresh batch of bread was almost done. A elderly dwarven lady and a young elven boy was cutting up a dark slices of bread and slathering them with butter and jam of some kind. Saga felt their mouth water as they had eaten only dried fruit and fish the past few days. Ordan seemed to be just as enamored with the smell so they quickly made their way over much to the annoyance of Olaf.

"You can both wait half an hour to eat. We are almost at the gates" He spoke in that deep, commanding voice that likely did the trick for the most part. But Ordan and Saga were both experts at becoming entirely enraptured in their appetites and in turning their hearing of when it came to listening to more responsible individuals. As they made their way over, they noticed that a group of the mills workers were doing the same. They looked surprised at not being first and one of them, a dwarf with a large black beard and a mohawk frowned at Saga. They gave him an apologetic shrug.

"I am hungry" They said with a sheepish grind.

"But I am always the first. I need that bread pipin' hot."

"Listen dude, I don't know what to tell you. I been eating dried fist for like, three to four days." Saga said and the Dwarf made a face.

"Alright. I'll give you that one. Ye'r not local, are ye?" He spoke with a accent that was different from any of the other dwarves they met so far.

"Neither are you by the sound of it. None else talk the way you do."

"Aye. I am from Operath"

"Operath, where about is that?" They asked which garnered them a look from several of the people around them. Luckily Ordan was quick on the ball before Saga could further confuse the people around them.

"Our friend here is from really far away. I mean really, really far away." They said and gave Saga a sandwich. "Operath is the largest Dwarven city in the world. Its also the bastion that held back the undying hordes for long enough to let the other races of Ardelia to get their forces in order to drive back the undead from their borders. For which we are all very thankful."

"You from Melans Tear, boy?" The dwarf spoke, attention turned to Ordan who gave a nod.

"Aye. But I sadly have no the time to talk, master dwarf. We have to get this one somewhere and I allready made our friends wait for us to get bread." Ordan said, his voice apologetic but Saga felt he spoke far quicker then before. As if he was trying to brush past the whole Melans Tear thing before Saga could catch on. Saga gave a shallow bow to the dwarf and his colleagues before turning to head back to the caravan.

----------------------------------------

Not long after, the group were finally upon the the massive fortress city. Saga stared open mouth at the sheer size of its walls. With no less then three consecutive rings of walls it was a Fortress as much as a city. Like with the outpost city, the walls were made primarily of enchanted, rune inscribed wood with large Stone towers breaking the walls up every so often. The river ran straight trough the city with the two halves of the city were connected with several bridges. Some of the bridges were out of stone but more interesting was the ones that were out of wood. They weren't made of logs or lumbler. Instead it seemed as if massive tree roots had been grown across the river and then hollowed out and carved into the shape of a bridge.

As the river was large enough to take multiple large barges the river port both inside and outside the city walls seemed to be teeming with activity. Massive towers, much larger than the others, guarded each river entrance into the city. And between the big towers several lengths of heavy, spiked chains rested against the river bottom. Saga realized that at any moment, they could be pulled up to bar the river entrances into the city. The second wall was entirely in wood, with no towers to speak off, but it had massive braziers of strange blue fire that dotted the battlements. The innermost walls ringed what seemed to be the Jarls estate. It was a massive, almost castle like longhouse made out of stone and wood, unlike most of the wooden housing around it. The inner walls in turn were entirely made out of a reddish gray stone that was different from the white stone of the outer walls towers and shimmered with a strange light when the sun shone upon it. The Jarls abode was truly massive and you could see it on top of the hill from far away.

The city itself was a mix of massive long houses, tall, multistory buildings that looked like the Viking version of an apartment building and entire neighborhoods of single and two story buildings. The streets seemed to wind about every which way, but all radiating out from the four gates of the city and the four main that started at said gates.

“Home sweet home.” Olaf said, with a sigh of relief and Ordan noticeably relaxed, something that did not escape Sagas attention. The man was very good at masking his discomfort but it had seemed to have been mounting since the magic accident and the ambush. They had noticed it with the troll most of all. But now he had turned back into the same, brash mage that Saga had first met waking up in this world. His eyes seemed to shine with excitement at being home.

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As they brought the caravan closer, they found themselves one of hundreds of wagons making their way in and out. All manners of goods, from lumber, magical ice elementals, and caged animals and beasts to large crates of metal tools and weapons. The closer to the city they, the more people they saw. Men and women and others with clothing styles that must come from all corners of this world.

“This place is really bustling. So much trade.”

“It may not be a coast city but it is still very much a port city if you think about it. It is also the biggest Jarldom in all of the North and if you want to trade with anyone in the north, the fastest route is by boat up this very river. There is a smaller port town down river, but it is essentially a extension of Alebridge at this point.” Olaf said say they were now close enough for the nature of the walls to become evident. It was as if they had made wall out entirely out of fully grown redwoods. Saga had no idea how you drove such massive trees into the ground. The wall was absolutely massive.

“I had no idea you could build walls this big out of wood."

“We didn't built them” Ingrid said, pointing the bottom of it. Massive roots were tied together and it did seem that they had indeed grown the trees.

“When the first children of the North, the half-giants, welcomed Humans to their lands, they gave the Humans a number of seeds. The jarl at the time planted these in a wide circle by the river Ida.” Olaf explained while the wagon slowly approached the gates.

“You guys actually grew an entire wall.” Saga said in disbelief. "God I love magic."

“In time, yes, the towering trees would then be manipulated and bent so that they melded together. The canopy was hollowed out and stone was brought in to reinforce where they could not properly shape the trees as well as being lad down across the top in order to to make the armaments. For as long as they were united, this was the capital of the Northern folk.

“So this was the capital when the Jarless went with the so-called prophet and died, yeah? I take it this place is instrumental in Ainar's plan to take all of the north. Can't call yourself the true king if you don’t possess the capital.” Saga surmised as they remembered what had been said about Ainar's ambitions.

“Got it in one” Ordan said. It didn't take long for the others to join the conversation after that as they waited to make it all the way past the gate. As the others extolled the virtues of the great northern capital, Saga saw Hallvar approach with a sullen looking Jasper in tow. They turned to greet them, holding out a hand as the two shook arms.

“Parting with us are we?” Saga said, loud enough for the others to hear and turn to look.

“Aye. This is where our roads split. I am afraid I will have to forego a chance a drink with you. I found a boat to take me out to sea as soon as I drop Jasper of to his fathers associates.”

“That is a shame. Where are you headed.” Saga asked, genuinely saddened by the missed opportunity to pick the mans brain and learn more of the half-giant.

“To the withering wind isles. It is where I was born. I have been told they have a pirate problem.” Hallvar said with a smile. There was a shift among Sagas companions but they paid it no mind. T

“Best of luck to you, Hallvar.”

“And to you, Berserker. May you blaze your path with glory and honor. And let nothing stand in your way.” Hallvar nodded to the others then turned around .Jasper looked like he was about to say something but Hallvar shut him down with a glare. As they left, Saga turned to the others who were all watching Hallvar and Jasper

“What?” Saga asked as they knew there was something they had missed.

“Hallvar is from the Withering Wind Isles.” Vetra stated.

“Yeah, and?”

“There is only one clan of northern half-giants that are dedicated sea-folk.” Ingrid added.

“Oh?”

“They were all pirates. In fact, they were the most feared pirates in all of the North. They make Ainar's raiders look like children."

“Oh. And now they are not.? You said they were.” Saga asked as they realized this Hallvar person had been much more then met the eye.

“They conquered the Withering Winds Isles from the Jarless' people. Or I should say, reconquered. The Jarless at the time was very cross with them for raiding trade ships. So she invaded the isles and burned their ships and took their ports.”

“And they took it back?” Saga knew the Jarless had been very powerful, having held a united North together.

“Yes. And then sailed over to torch two of the Jarless most prominent trade ports.” Ordan added and Saga gave a low whistle.

“Ah. And if I know my history back home, but the Jarless decided it was better to pay them not to raid after that.”

“Indeed. And over the years, they became a sovereign nation that instead of being pirates, were traders themselves, as well as some of the best seafaring mercenaries in all of the world, not just the North. Their ships and crews can be seen all over the seas.” Sasha added, still looking towards where Hallvar had left.

“Well. Damn..” Saga huffed. "I got lucky, huh?"

They all nodded in agreement.