Chapter 04: Trading Cities 03

In this mercantile city, during the years leading up to the storm, the commerce and commerce-mongers spread out along the rooftops. A calliope would perform an air-pipe symphony over the rooftops to entertain shoppers and even farmers looking for goods in the town centre. The beauty of the calliope was that it could sustain itself and its music. Customers could clap, shout or sing along as they moved between their parcels and such outside shops as said goods were in exchange for meals. The calliope created a perfect accompaniment to the streets. Even in the winter, crowds would gather to hear the music of the calliope.

Stories of the great storm and of the calliope play are still preserved in the City Records. The citizens of that time had never imagined the city could come to such a tragic end. The geography of the old city appeared elegant and serene with the buildings like rings around a mermaid's caress.

Do not forget, when you read stories of the storm that its physical manifestations are but one aspect of the enormity and terror of such a calamity. The treachery of man was too much for the climate. In such a setting, each one's heart is a seething storm with nightmares of the past exploding in their mind.