Greenrock Harbor

Day 3 of Drawn into a New World

Angeline Trevena ‘s prompt for the third day was A Harbour at the Edge of the Map. Moving a bunch of concrete in ninety degree heat had me in a parched state of mind.

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Greenrock Harbor sits in the middle of the immense Savolian Desert. For more than a thousand years, it has been a needed oasis; five days from another water source. Greenrock gets its name from the 200-foot pedestal of limestone that rises from the desert floor. It drips moisture most of the year, allowing moss to grow on its surface. The vibrant green is in stark contrast to the rolling, ochre dunes that surround it.

As far as anyone can remember, there has been a settlement here; at least a dozen or so family tents, small workshops, and gardens. The population has grown steadily over the last few decades. The discovery of amber deposits to the south increased trade ships and the ruins of Alramen, appearing in the west, have drawn explorers. Six years ago, the harbor was built.

A rakshasa merchant wanted to have greater control of the oasis. He used the guise of wanting to improve safety as the reason to build the stone wall that encircles the oasis settlement. The wall is thirty feet high with an opening wide enough for two sand ships to pass each other. The gap has a watchtower on each side. The towers control access to Greenrock Harbor by raising and lowering a series of very large chains that block entry.

Greenrock Harbor requires an authorization pass to enter. The pass takes the form of a green triangular flag that is flown from a mast. Most sand ship captains buy an annual pass, to avoid the hassle of having to buy a pass every trip. Each flag has a unique number and symbol stitched on to it, to identify captains and prevent counterfeits. Each captain is given a pattern of horn blows if additional confirmation is required.

At the center of Greenrock Harbor is a deep, ever-full, large pool of water. The water is more than enough for the community and the many sand ships that resupply here. Before the merchants came, the oasis was a sacred place to the nomadic people that lived amongst the dunes. Every oasis had a water whisperer; a position handed down to daughters from mothers. The water whisperers serve as advisors to local tribes and guardians to the oasis.

There are eight oases in the Sovalian Desert. The smallest has two water whisperers and the largest has nine. Greenrock Harbor is the third largest oasis in the desert and currently has five whisperers out of seven. The rakshasa doesn’t let any nomadic girls into Greenrock Harbor. It is believed that once the tribes have the complete number of water whisperers, they will gain control of the desert storms. Myths tell of the guardians being able to create thunderstorms over an oasis and send them out over the sands. The rains don’t concern the merchants as much as the ability to control the wind and disrupt the regional power balance.