Another delivery [morningtide, Fryday 30th of Yulember]

The warehouse of the Nipponar Company was a stand alone, three stories high, and dwarfing any other building. None of the locals were ever allowed inside, fuelling a lot of speculation what exactly was going on. Regular cargo came from the mines and were shipped out, to various merchants, though the deliveries to foreign ships were detailed with extra security and kept hush hush.

The click-clack of the machine operated cart of the Nipponar Copper Mine Company, with its shiny copper but otherwise ugly brown wood and puffs of the darkest coal filled smoke, filled the docks of the Harbour. It was a marvel of modern engineering, requiring no horse power. Yet the unfortunate tendency of such machines to blow up at regular intervals had not persuaded those outside Nipponar to adopt its use. Shoreguards on horseback, their green uniforms hidden by grey cloaks, followed closely, though with a respectful distance to the untrustworthy machinery that spooked the horses. The load of the cart was covered by a large uninspired grey canvas, its shape rather lumpy.

Not much folk was about to observe it. Just another delivery, such as happened every week. At the warehouse extra guards were in attendance, and the machine operated cart rode inside rather than being unloaded on the dock. The Shoreguards waited outside.

A figure in the shadow detached himself rrom the wall he had been pressed against. Trying not to breath in too deeply, the smell of rotting fish was oppressive, he moved quickly away, his mind churning.