Amber HarbourIndex | Time Under Chaos | Settings | Amber Harbour The harbour of Amber lies south of the city, and forms a great semicircle with an area of over 65 square kilometers (or over 25 square miles, as the natives prefer). There is sufficient anchorage within the harbour for over a thousand ships of the line, although it is seldom that more than a few hundred vessels are present at any one time, mostly merchant ships. The navy is slowly being rebuilt after the great purges of the war and the first few years of Chaosian rule. The loyalty of most of the officers and men of the Royal Navy was too clearly to the Amberite royal family, particularly Gerard and Caine, for Mandor to trust them with ships of war, and Amberite sailors have proven to be sullen workers under Chaosian officers. Merchant vessels are constantly coming and going, for Amber depends as much upon sea trade in her conquered state as she ever did while free. Ships from the sea-going realms of the Golden Circle, as well as dozens of less favoured shadows, can be found within the harbour at any time, their crews enjoying shore leave in the fabled city, gambling, drinking, whoring, and occasionally vanishing completely, much to the bewilderment of the innocent residents of the dockside, who know nothing whatsoever about any missing sailors, no sir, sorry, can’t help you at all. The waters outside the harbour are more dangerous than they were before the coming of Chaos. The invaders brought kraken, sea serpents, and less easily identified beasts of the sea along with them, to aid in defeating the ships of Amber. Some of these creatures still dwell in the deep waters outside the harbour, and take a small number of ships each year. Rumor among the sailors and the inhabitants of the dockside has it that the ships are not taken at random by hungry beasts, but rather that Mandor still directs them, and uses them to weed out suspected traitors and punish realms that have angered him, without direct culpability. The mouth of the harbour is broken by a small series of islands, which serve as anchor points for the Great Chain, a last ditch defense intended to deny entry into the harbour to enemy ships. The northern section of the Great Chain was shattered by Chaosian sorcery during the invasion, and proved impossible to recreate. The dockyards are arranged to the south of the harbour, scent of constant activity as ships are built, repaired, and dismantled. The western shore nearest the harbour is the sight of the admiralty buildings, the Port Authority, and countless warehouses, guarded night and day against theft and the ever present danger of fire. Past the warehouses to the west, and hugging the northern coast, lies the area called Dockside, where those who make a living on the sea, and off those whose livelihood is the sea, dwell. A maze of narrow twisted passages and alleyways, their true extent unknown to anyone save natives, even members of the Royal family and Mandor’s most experienced guards only enter this area with considerable caution and under the direst necessity. Or, of course, in search of excitement when extremely bored. The roughest section of Dockside is called Death Alley. It is not actually a single alley, but rather an interconnected series of alleyways and tunnels. Bloody Gerard’s, formerly Bloody Bill’s, is located here, and a portrait of the former regent defiantly gazes down on diners. The northern edge of Dockside gradually merges into nameless shantytowns, which then gradually fade into Amber City proper. |
