Welcome to Prysmus: Port Herald (Part 1)

You step off the gangplank of the trade ship with the warm sea breeze and the soft sun beckoning you into the Prysmus. Stepping into the bustling capitol of Plexia your eyes are immediately drawn to the golden structures rising up into the sky like needles hoping to prick the sky. Prysmus is known as the City of Spires and it is readily apparent why due to those glistening golden spires of draconic design that corkscrew. They are rise up far enough that they are readily visible from all districts and quarters in Prysmus. Those spires that rise out of the city center are from a variety of buildings that used to house the personal staff of the dragon Atten'derak, the king of gold and beacon of purity. The dragons death at the hands of a well planned ambush instigated by Yua Marzio before ascending to godhood. Afterwards, this large personal palace had been claimed and made to house not only the politcial capitol but the king's personal guards. These guards are the well known Golden Legionnaires which were built from the first soldiers that were able to land in Prysmus during the War of Dragons and are adept at counter-espionage. There are also the Mages of the Golden Concord which both protect the high king from magical threats as well as oversee the various magical academies of Plexia to make certain that no summoning or other forbidden magics are practiced. The seat for the High King of Plexia, as well as the Council of Thyssian, is the center most of this structure which is the largest of them and has the most spires rising out of it.

Those grand locals are in the center of Prysmus but you have only just stepped off the boat. There is much to see and experience in Port Herald alone. Just from looking at the variety of ship sizes as well as designs it makes it clear how much trade truly goes through this port. With trade comes travel which is on show with the various fashions and languages floating through the air. It truly feels like there is someone from each part of Tiria present. Simply walking along the port one can hear dwarves discussing the recent trouble among the Dragon Spine, a Tylesnian merchant with a colourful beaded dress speaking to an Abalsynian merchant wearing a rugged layered cloth outfit speak about the difference in their regional weaving techniques, a group of Polsgrade merchants wearing simple dark clothing discuss the stock of various other merchants that they have seen, and of course the Plexian merchants with their animated and boisterous tales about their travels.

Walking further to the north, further from the more crowded areas, there is a large building resembling a giant stone barrel off of the port. This is the city prison, commonly known by the people of Prysmus as "The Dredge". It both functions as a prison as well as a coastal fort if Prsymus were to be attack by sea. The thick stone walls and the rounded structure of the building are designed to ward off cannon attacks and the continual crashing waves that have worn down lesser buildings. The most interesting feature, and why the building has been coined the name "The Dredge", is how deep underwater the building rests. The surprising depth of this port, hotly debated among scholars if this was natural or artificially created by the dragons, means that most of the prison is submerged. This means that escape from the prison requires the individual make their way through multiple floors, all of which are guarded, purely to get to a floor where escape is a possibility. There have only ever been 4 prisoners that have ever escaped from The Dredge. There are rumors that this building was originally used by the dragons to imprison beings and items too dangerous to be allowed in the world. If this is true then whatever is held in the deepest holds of The Dredge must of incredible power for the Draconic lords to fear it.

In complete contrast to the dreary and grey prison is the bright, white, stone shining tower that is known as Koharu's Light. It serves to aid ships to safely come to dock in the port during the night or stormy weather. This was actually the first building made by Plexian's after Prysmus was taken over. As the name implies it was built by faithful of Koharu, The Lady of the Bow and the Guardian of Shoals. Koharu favors captains and guards as they both protect the lives of others as she once did before ascension on her small home island from dragon attacks only armed with a bow. This light house serves as both a monument to her as well as a memorial for all of those that were lost in the storming of Prysmus. Each of the large stone blocks is engraved with the names of the various soldier that fell in the brutal battle to take over this city from the dragons. The flame at the top is managed by special priests of Koharu who make certain that the fire does not go out, they also serve as look outs for the city.

Before we move out of the harbor into the city proper it would be a major oversight to not talk about the headquarters of the Coldarran Adventurer's League on the south side of the port. The Coldarran League is known across Tiria for producing some of the most famous and well traveled adventurers. There is no place that adventurer's from the League have not stepped. They have traveled deep into the Traxion Waste, scaled the highest peaks of the Demon Spine, traversed the Abalsynian deserts, and uncovered the treacherous secrets of the Sundasstan jungles. Their crowning achievement was having an associated adventuring party being the first outsiders to be allowed into the Sundasstan capitol city, an ancient city with massive walls which is occupied only by the undead. Many consider them the pinnacle of adventurer guilds and thus there are always young, aspiring adventurers from all walks of life ready to be trained by the league. Currently it is being said that the Coldarran Adventurer's League has currently been contacted by the Academy of Stradavesk but people are not certain what this joint effort is hoping to achieve.

Let's move out of the port and take our first steps past the walls and into Old Prysmus. Our first stop will be the trade district, where all of Tiria is on sale if you know the right place and you have the coin. I wouldn't want to rush things so that will have to wait for next time!