Chapter 7

Moving down the road at an even pace we found ourselves amongst a lot more foot traffic the closer we got to the summer capital of the country. Everything from small merchant carts to large caravans carrying literal tons of cargo were being hauled to Pont Vanis to most likely be exported out of the country and then the traders would bring back imports to sell across the country.

While there wasn't much lore about Kovir and Poviss from the game I did know the rocky and cold country used to be quite poor until it discovered its mineral wealth, quickly making it the richest country in the Northern Kingdoms, if not the known world.

And when I saw Pont Vanis I could rightly say they put all that wealth to good use at least building up their capitals, I haven't seen Lan Exeter but I assume if it has a university there it had to be equally built up.

While certainly not as large as any city back home it was certainly impressive looking with tall and thick-looking walls surrounding the city and a huge gatehouse where most of the traffic was passing in and out with little trouble. Over the walls themselves I could see smokestacks, taller buildings that no doubt belonged to the ruling elite or rich merchant groups, and of course what had to be the royal palace sparkling in the sunlight. Ivar says as a show of wealth and power some of the roofs were studded in gold and other precious materials, especially the palace.

I guess when you mined 80% of the world's gold you were allowed to be as wasteful with it as you wanted.

There should also be a rather impressive port on the opposite side towards the sea, which I could see next to city and ship traffic also going in and out.

"Ivar, forgive my ignorance, but why do they change a country's capital cities during the seasons? Seems like an awful lot of work to shift the administration of a whole country to two main locations over a year." I asked curiously, the thought has been bugging me for awhile and it was only now that I pushed through to ask a possibly stupid question locals would naturally know. Just because I could claim memory loss doesn't mean I could totally explain selective knowledge on some things.

Thankfully Ivar loved answering questions and only really asked them in regards to monsters.

"To understand why there are two capitals, first I need to explain a quirk about Kovir and Poviss." Ivar adopted a lecturing tone, probably acquired from his experience as both a student at university and professorin training. "Many countries have summer and winter capitals - the summer capital is usually in the north, to take advantage of the cool mountain air, while the winter capital is in the south, since it's less prone to snow and ice."

"Usually? So that's not the case here?" I noticed and asked.

"Indeed, Kovir and Poviss's economy is based on mining and shipping, with some fishing on the side to help feed the people. In the summer, the king and his court come here to keep an eye on the shipping and fishing income, and make sure those assigned to managing the kingdom's trade do so in an honest fashion. In the winter, the waters are too dangerous from storms and ice for there to be anything in the way of commerce. However, mining, taking place underground for the most part, can happen year-round, and many people who otherwise work as fishermen or merchants find seasonal work in the mines, and stockpile minerals that will be shipped out once the winter storms end. It's during this time that the king comes north, again to monitor the mining industry and ensure the kingdom receives its cut of the profits." Ivar finished his explanation and looking quite proud in the process.

"Huh, neat system. Also, it looks like that university education of yours isn't totally wasted on nothing but monsters." I joked.

"I'll have you know I have studied history, astrology, alchemy, botany, philosophy, physics…!" Ivar went off listing all the subjects he learned about, if not focused on, and I politely tuned him out for the sake of our friendship.

We moved with the flood of people entering the city while in the other lane of the cobbled road were people of all sorts coming out. I noticed that since we got to the actual city I have been noticing an uptick in nonhumans, from elves to dwarves to halflings and even a couple of gnomes interacting with local humans seemingly without issue. I wasn't saying that racism wasn't a thing, but at least it wasn't readily apparent.

Knowing my luck, I will enter the city and not long after a pogrom will start up.

The line of traders and travelers slowed down a little as we approached the main gate but from what I could see people were easily be allowed in without things like cargo inspection or taxes. Seemed to imply a pretty free economy and no civil unrest, which fit with what little I know of the country from the game. They hadn't been a part of the recent war against Nilfgaard, so hadn't experienced any of the negative aftereffects of it.

The gate was rather large and walls even more so now that we were so close, and I could see lots of armsmen sporting the red and yellow armed arm of their country on their gambersons.

It was finally our turn and Ivar and I motioned our horses to move forward through the-

"Halt there Witcher!" One of the better armored soldiers suddenly shouted.

Oh fuck… I restrained a groan as I stopped Griffin and turned to the speaker.

He was a middle-aged man with a hard-looking face, and seemed to be the highest ranked soldier among the bunch guarding the gate. Most of his features were covered by his apparel but first thing that stuck out to me was his mighty fine mustache, the one that went along the jaw and up to his ears. I had no idea what it was called, though.

I was almost certain I was about to be hit by some anti-Witcher retorick when the man got a good look of my face and suddenly his hard features split into a grin.

"Markus, you cat-eyed bastard! How've you been?!" was the suddenly very cheerful greeting. "The boys said they saw a Witcher coming up to the gate and I was hoping it was you! What has it been? One, two years? The countryside keep you busy?" he asked.

"Aaaaa-" before I could continue my intelligent reply another armsmen came up to his superior.

"Captain, we can't hold up the line." he gently reminded.

"Right, right. Move along, Markus and friend. Come by the guardhouse later tonight so we can catch up and maybe I can get you proper work." He stated and waved us off.

We complied and kept moving through gate, good thing to since it looked like those behind us were getting annoyed by the wait.

"You know a captain of the guard of Pont Vanis?" Ivar asked.

"Apparently." I said, though quickly shut up as we passed gate and saw the city proper.

It was… quite the sight.

The city stretched out before us. Given that Kovir and Poviss had primarily a mining-based economy, it made sense that the city's buildings were almost all made from stone. Some of the nicer ones even had plaster or wooden paneling over the walls. The streets were filled with people from every race and profession - sellswords bartered for supplies with merchants, elven fishermen carried their catch in baskets carried between themselves, halflings trotted about on their business, and dwarven hunters hauled their game; and all that just within the first fifty feet!

Seeing as it was summer at the coast, the air was hot and humid; the streets were also thankfully dry and a little dusty. Given their wealth and access to stone, it wasn't a surprise that the streets were cobbled or laid with brick. It made for a bumpy ride for any wagons, but was preferable to wading through mud up to your knees. But the stench! Piles of horse shit could be seen dappling the streets, while just ahead someone emptied a bucket full of piss and excrement out a window into the street. The smell of ammonia and rot was almost unbearable for a normal person; for someone with enhanced senses, it was a special sort of hell.

The street extended from the gate in a straight line for half a kilometer to the central square; from there, the city spread out like a starburst along eight major roads, with the central one continuing on to the palace of the king of Kovir and Poviss in Pont Vanis, the so-called "summer palace". The city was subdivided into various districts; merchants in the southwest, the harbor in the southeast, the government in the north, and various industries sequestered amongst the northwest and northeast. Homes were scattered all across the city, mainly those of shops, businesses, and workshops owners near their places of work. No doubt there was a nonhuman district somewhere in the lower income part of city if you looked hard enough, though basing that belief from the games alone might be overly pessimistic. On the landward side of the city (opposite the harbor), the city was heavily fortified against attacking armies from the land; the harbor, in turn, had forts with ballista, catapults, and a heavy chain that could be raised to close off the harbor from approaching ships.

I could even see some of the impressive breakwaters built in front of the harbor from here - massive man-made levees that not only protected the city from rogue waves, but also restricted the harbor approach to something that could be easily defended by the harbor forts.

The landward side of the city was where one could find weapon and armorsmiths; given that Witchers usually outsourced their weapons and armor maintenance beyond the basics, I would definitely be stopping there before leaving the city.

Walking south through the city, we walked past the palace towards the harbor; the plan was to find a ship to take us to Novigrad before getting our shopping done. The smell of salt filled the air, and a fresh breeze blew off the sea, the feeling delightful after the heat and dust from the road. Fishmongers hawked their wares, barkers announced the virtues of various ships for hauling passengers and cargo alike, and people of questionable morals attempted to lure sailors into the brothels and gambling houses that littered the waterfront.

The docks were packed; almost every slip held a ship of some make or model, and the piers were filled with people. Crews were disembarking or boarding, dockhands were hauling freight on and off ships, fishermen were cleaning their catch… everywhere I looked, there was a frenzy of activity. Flags of every conceivable design fluttered from the masts of different ships. The whole thing was rather overwhelming, to be honest.

But I had a goal in mind and I aimed to see it done.

After asking for directions from some passing locals we made our way to the harbormaster's office. It was one of the smaller structures built by the docks compared to large warehouses and trading company buildings despite it's important job, but it was just the place I needed to go.

After tying up Griffin and Ivar's horse we walked through the door and found ourselves in quite the busy setup with clerks going around moving paper and likely all kinds of important documentation I couldn't even guess at. Ignoring all that I walked up to the most central and largest desk in the place and found the harbormaster… lady.

"Yeah, what the hell you want? I don't recall putting up any notices for Witchers." was the friendly reply from the well built woman who could no doubt wrestle most dockworkers to the ground, not ugly but certainly not soft. More like… the hardcore matron from media I think would be best description. She did have her red hair up in a large bun though.

"Good day, m'lady. I was hoping you could point me to a group I might be able to hire to transport me to Novigrad that is leaving relatively soon. Seeing as you are the harbormaster I figured you would be the most well informed about such things." I said politely to the most likely powerful woman.

"You guessed right, but if you haven't noticed I'm too busy to answer every question some moron asks." she motioned towards her large desk holding several decent piles of papers she was in the middle of reading and signing.

"I apologize for interrupting, I don't have much experience with this." I admitted.

"Huh, at least you're honest when lacking sense. Better than most men I know. If you are looking for transport on short notice you should head towards the Guild of Merchants. Nilfgaardians always got ships coming in and out of port and all along the coast so I'm sure you can buy your way onto one to take you to Novigrad."

"Thank you very much for the help, m'lady." I said honestly.

"You can thank me by letting me get back to work and shoving off." she stated and went back to her papers.

I took that as our que to leave and Ivar couldn't help but comment in a whisper.

"Rather rude woman, that one."

"She likely deals with idiots and tons of paperwork everyday, I'd rather fight monsters naked than deal with that."

---

An hour later had us walking out of the Pont Vanis branch of the Guild of Merchants with recently purchased permission to be passengers on one of their ships to Novigrad. Sadly, the vessel would not be setting sail until a week and a half from now.

On the plus side, that gave us plenty of time to do some shopping, exploring, and for me seeing what Witcher work I could pick up. In a city as big and active as Pont Vanis there had to be some good ones after all.

Ideally outside of the city center away from all the literal shit.