Port Kar Weather

Early Spring

Morning  is chilly

At the second Ahn, long before dawn, the herald of Samos had come  to the lake like
courtyard of my holding in many-canalled Port Kar, that place of many ships,
scourge of Thassa, that dark jewel in her gleaming green waters.  Twice has he
struck the bars of the sea gate, each time with the Ka-la-na shaft  of his
spear, not with the side of its broad tapering bronze point. The signet  ring,
of Samos of Port Kar, first captain of the council of captains, was displayed.
I would be roused. The morning, in early Spring, was chilly.
"Does Tyros move?" I asked blond-haired Thurnock, that giant of a man,
he of peasants, who had come to rouse me.
"I think not, Captain," said he.
The girl beside me pulled the furs up about her throat, frightened.
Savages

Damp and  cold stone walls saturated with chilled humid air
Dampness and moisture
on  tiles on the floor
"It is early," she whispered.
"Yes," I said.  "It is  very cold," she said.
"Yes," I said. The coals in the brazier to the left of  the great stone couch had burned out during the night.
 The room was damp, and cold, from the night air, and from the chill from the courtyard and canals.
The  walls, of heavy stone, too, saturated with the chilled, humid air, would be
cold  and damp, and the defensive bars set in the narrow windows, behind the
buckled  leather hangings. On my feet I could feel the dampness and moisture on
the  tiles.
Savages

Early fall (early September), 
in the marshes just east of Port Kar

It was the fourth day of the sixth passage hand, shortly
before the Autumnal Equinox, which in the common Gorean calendar begins the
month of Se'Kara. In the calendar of Ko-ro-ba, which, like most Gorean cities,
marks  years by its Administration of my father, Matthew Cabot. In the calendar
of Ar,  for those it might interest, it was the first year of the restoration of
  Marlenus, Ubar of Ubars, but, more usefully for the purposes of consolidating
  the normal chaos of Gorean chronology, it was the year 10,119 Contasta Ar, that
  is, from the founding of Ar.
Raiders

It was late in the afternoon, the  fourteenth Gorean Ahn I would have guessed.
Some swarms of insects hung in the sedge here and there but I had not been much bothered:
it was late in the year, and most of the Gorean insects likely to make life miserable for men bred in,
  and frequented, areas in which bodies of unmoving, fresh wather were plentiful.
Raiders

Cold marsh dawn
Gray sky

I awakened stiff in the cold of  the marsh dawn, hearing the movement of the wind
through the dim sedges, the cries of an occasional marsh gant darting among the rushes.
Somewhere in the distance I heard the grunting of tharlarion. High overhead, passing, I heard
the squeals of four Uls, beating their way eastward on webbed, scaled wings.
I lay there for a time, feeling the rence beneath my back, staring up a the gray,
  empty sky.
Raiders

Later fall, in Port Kar
Cold

My steps took me again to the paga tavern where I had begun this night.
I was alone, and  miserable. I was cold. There was nothing of worth in Port Kar,
nor in all the worlds of all the suns.
Raiders
Morning cold and damp

We came to the roof, and there, near its edge, holding Surbus between us, we waited. The
  morning was cold, and damp. It was about daybreak.
And then the dawn came and, over the buildings of Port Kar, beyond them,
and beyond the shallow, muddy  Tamber,
where the Vosk empties, we saw, I for the first time,
gleaming Thassa, the Sea.
Raiders

Canal waters are cold

Already I could see the sleek,  wet muzzles of urts, eyes like ovals of blazing copper,
streaking through the dark waters toward the bag.
I leaped into the cold waters, the knife between my teeth.
Raiders

Se'Kara (October)

On Thassa, somewhere between
  Port Kar and Cos (which lies 400 pasangs (280 miles)to the west)
Likely closer to Port Kar since the fleets of Cos and Tyros have been approaching,
and Port Kar has just mustered what ships it could.
Storm from the north

Frost in the morning

It was fall, and the wind was cold whipping
  across the water. Clouds scudded across the sky. In the north there was a
  darkness lying like a line against the horizon.
We had had a frost in the morning.
Raiders

Wind very cold

The wind was very cold now, and, the  Dorna shook in it,
the windward waters striking at her hull. We had both the stern and stem anchors down.
Raiders

Ice on the water in the gourd

There is usually a water gourd kept at the masthead, for the lookout.
I  uncorked the gourd and took some of the water. There had been a light film of
  ice in it. Some of the crystals melted in my mouth.
Raiders

Towering  blackness

Water freezes and splits the gourd
I glanced to the north. Then I opened the glass and studied the waters to the north.
I snapped shut the glass. Above the waters to the north there was now a towering blackness.
  Overhead the white clouds swept past, like white, leaping Tabuk fleeing from
the jaws of the black-maned lart.
It was late in the season.
I had not counted on Thassa herself, her swiftness and her moods.
I was cold in the basket, and  I chewed on another piece of dried tarsk meat.
The water had now frozen in the  gourd, splitting it.
Raiders

High seas

The sea was now growing high, and the darkness in the north was now half the sky,
looming like a beast with wild fur rooting and sniffing for its prey.
Raiders

Sleet

The sleet  struck down cutting my face.
Raiders

Sleeting windy skies

At this  time, before their numbers could have been well ascertained by the enemy, before  the enemy could be
much aware of anything more than the unexpected flanking attacks, I, followed by the
tarnsmen, with the picked seamen, darted through the sleeting, windy skies over the locked fleets.
Raiders

Deck is iced with sleet

I slipped on the
sleet-iced deck of the stern castle and parried  Chenbar's blade from my throat.
Raiders

Sleeting rain

I drew on the one-strap and the tarn, against
the wind, took flight and Chenbar of Kasra, Ubar  of Tyros, the Sea Sleen, in
the manacles of a common slave, swung free below us,  helpless and pendant in
the furies of the wind and the sleeting rain, the  captive of Bosk, a captain of
Port Kar, admiral of her fleet.
Raiders

Icy, wind-driven decks

When we struck the icy, wind-driven decks of the Dorna my men rose at their benches
and, cheering, waved their caps.
Raiders

Icy deck

Wearing cloak, drinking hot paga
I stood on the  icy, wind-struck deck of the Dorna, my back
turned to the storm. My admirals cloak, brought with my returning men from the
round ship, was given to me and I  wrapped it about my shoulders. A vessel of
hot Paga was brought, too.
Raiders

Incredibly rough winds

Meanwhile, the starboard oars, under  the call of the oar-master began swinging the
vessel about, to bring her stern  into the wind. The wind struck the side of the hull
and the ship heeled to  leeward. The deck was suddenly washed with cold waves,
and then the waters had  slipped back. The two helmsmen strained with their side
rudders, bringing the  ship about. Then the wind was at the stern and the
oar-master began his count,  easing the ship ahead until the storm sail was
caught by the blasts. When it was  it was like a fist striking the sail and the
mast screamed, and the bow, for a  terrible moment dipped in the water and then,
dripping the cold waters, the bow leaped up and tilted to the sky.
"Stroke!"
called the oar-master, his cry almost lost in the sleet and wind "Stroke!
Stroke!"
The beating of the copper  drum of the keleustes took up maximum beat.
The tiny storm sail, swollen with  the black wind and sleet, tore at
the yard and the brail ropes. The Dorna knifed  ahead, leaping between the waves
that rose towering on either side.
Raiders

When the storm abated, whether in hours or in one or two days,
the fleet would put about and return to Port Kar.
Raiders

More water, this in a leather bucket, has iced over
Then I had water brought for the  tarn, in a leather bucket, the ice broken through
that coated the water like a lid. It drank.
Raiders

Not a pleasant flight in the sleet

The bird was buffeted by the storm, but it was a strong
bird. I did not know the width of the  storm, but I hoped its front- would be
only a few pasangs. The bird could not  fly a direct line to Port Kar, because
of the wind, and we managed an oblique  path, cutting away from the fleet. From
time to time the bird, tiring, its wings  wet, cold, coated with sleet, would
drop sickeningly downward, but then again it  would beat its way on the level,
half driven by the wind, half flying.
The  boy, Fish, cold, numb, wet, his hair and clothing iced with sleet,
clung to the rope dangling beneath the bird.
Once the bird fell so low that the boy's feet and the bottom of the
rope on which he stood splashed a path in the -churning  waters, and then the
bird, responding to my fierce pressures on the one-strap,  beat its way up again
and again flew, but then only yards over the black, rearing waves, the roaring sea.
And then the sleet became only pelting rain,  and the rain became only a
cruel wind, and then the cruelty of the wind yielded  to only the cold rushing
air at the fringe of the storm's garment.
And Thassa  beneath us was suddenly
streaked with the cold sunlight of Se'Kara, and the bird  was across and through
the storm. In the, distance we could see rocky beaches,  and grass and brushland
beyond, and beyond that, a woodland, with Tur and  Ka-la-na trees.
Raiders

Pulling cloak tighter against the cold

I  pulled the admiral's cloak more closely about me.
Raiders

Back in Port Kar, cloaks again
"Bring cloaks," said Samos, "and let us climb to the height  of the keep."
We found cloaks, I that of the admiral, and we followed Samos  from
the room, across the tiled yard behind the great hall, and into the  now-opened
keep, and climbed behind him to its height.
Raiders

Cold  waters

Even though Telima wore her own cloak, I opened the great cloak of the  admiral,
and enfolded her within it, that we both might share its warmth. And  then, on the
height of the keep, looking out across the city, we watched the  dawn, beyond
the muddy Tamber gulf, softly touch the cold waters of the gleaming  Thassa.
Raiders



Port Kar Weather (Continued)

At the second Ahn, long before dawn, the herald of Samos had come to the lake like courtyard of my holding in many-canalled Port Kar, that place of many ships, scourge of Thassa, that dark jewel in her gleaming green waters. Twice has he struck the bars of the sea gate, each time with the Ka-la-na shaft of his spear, not with the side of its broad tapering bronze point. The signet ring, of Samos of Port Kar, first captain of the council of captains, was displayed. I would be roused. The morning, in early Spring, was chilly.
"Does Tyros move?" I asked blond-haired Thurnock, that giant of a man, he of peasants, who had come to rouse me.
"I think not, Captain," said he.
The girl beside me pulled the furs up about her throat, frightened.
Savages

"It is early," she whispered.
"Yes," I said.
"It is very cold," she said.
"Yes," I said. The coals in the brazier to the left of the great stone couch had burned out during the night. The room was damp, and cold, from the night air, and from the chill from the courtyard and canals. The walls, of heavy stone, too, saturated with the chilled, humid air, would be cold and damp, and the defensive bars set in the narrow windows, behind the buckled leather hangings. On my feet I could feel the dampness and moisture on the tiles.
Savages

I awakened stiff in the cold of the marsh dawn, hearing the movement of the wind through the dim sedges, the cries of an occasional marsh gant darting among the rushes. Somewhere in the distance I heard the grunting of tharlarion. High overhead, passing, I heard the squeals of four Uls, beating their way eastward on webbed, scaled wings. I lay there for a time, feeling the rence beneath my back, staring up a the gray, empty sky.
Raiders

We came to the roof, and there, near its edge, holding Surbus between us, we waited. The morning was cold, and damp. It was about daybreak.
And then the dawn came and, over the buildings of Port Kar, beyond them, and beyond the shallow, muddy Tamber, where the Vosk empties, we saw, I for the first time, gleaming Thassa, the Sea.
Raiders

The wind was very cold now, and, the Dorna shook in it, the windward waters striking at her hull. We had both the stern and stem anchors down.
Raiders


There is usually a water gourd kept at the masthead, for the lookout. I uncorked the gourd and took some of the water. There had been a light film of ice in it. Some of the crystals melted in my mouth.
Raiders

I glanced to the north. Then I opened the glass and studied the waters to the north. I snapped shut the glass. Above the waters to the north there was now a towering blackness. Overhead the white clouds swept past, like white, leaping Tabuk fleeing from the jaws of the black-maned lart.
It was late in the season.
I had not counted on Thassa herself, her swiftness and her moods.
I was cold in the basket, and I chewed on another piece of dried tarsk meat. The water had now frozen in the gourd, splitting it.
Raiders

The sleet struck down cutting my face.
Raiders


At this time, before their numbers could have been well ascertained by the enemy, before the enemy could be much aware of anything more than the unexpected flanking attacks, I, followed by the tarnsmen, with the picked seamen, darted through the sleeting, windy skies over the locked fleets.
Raiders


I slipped on the sleet-iced deck of the stern castle and parried Chenbar's blade from my throat.
Raiders

When we struck the icy, wind-driven decks of the Dorna my men rose at their benches and, cheering, waved their caps.
Raiders


Wearing cloak, drinking hot paga
I stood on the icy, wind-struck deck of the Dorna, my back turned to the storm. My admirals cloak, brought with my returning men from the round ship, was given to me and I wrapped it about my shoulders. A vessel of hot Paga was brought, too.
Raiders

Then I had water brought for the tarn, in a leather bucket, the ice broken through that coated the water like a lid. It drank.
Raiders

The bird was buffeted by the storm, but it was a strong bird. I did not know the width of the storm, but I hoped its front- would be only a few pasangs. The bird could not fly a direct line to Port Kar, because of the wind, and we managed an oblique path, cutting away from the fleet. From time to time the bird, tiring, its wings wet, cold, coated with sleet, would drop sickeningly downward, but then again it would beat its way on the level, half driven by the wind, half flying.
The boy, Fish, cold, numb, wet, his hair and clothing iced with sleet, clung to the rope dangling beneath the bird.
Once the bird fell so low that the boy's feet and the bottom of the rope on which he stood splashed a path in the -churning waters, and then the bird, responding to my fierce pressures on the one-strap, beat its way up again and again flew, but then only yards over the black, rearing waves, the roaring sea.
And then the sleet became only pelting rain, and the rain became only a cruel wind, and then the cruelty of the wind yielded to only the cold rushing air at the fringe of the storm's garment.
And Thassa beneath us was suddenly streaked with the cold sunlight of Se'Kara, and the bird was across and through the storm. In the, distance we could see rocky beaches, and grass and brushland beyond, and beyond that, a woodland, with Tur and Ka-la-na trees.
Raiders


I pulled the admiral's cloak more closely about me.
Raiders

"Bring cloaks," said Samos, "and let us climb to the height of the keep."
We found cloaks, I that of the admiral, and we followed Samos from the room, across the tiled yard behind the great hall, and into the now-opened keep, and climbed behind him to its height.
Raiders


Even though Telima wore her own cloak, I opened the great cloak of the admiral, and enfolded her within it, that we both might share its warmth. And then, on the height of the keep, looking out across the city, we watched the dawn, beyond the muddy Tamber gulf, softly touch the cold waters of the gleaming Thassa.
Raiders

My steps took me again to the paga tavern where I had begun this night.
I was alone, and miserable. I was cold. There was nothing of worth in Port Kar, nor in all the worlds of all the suns.
Raiders

We came to the roof, and there, near its edge, holding Surbus between us, we waited. The morning was cold, and damp. It was about daybreak.
And then the dawn came and, over the buildings of Port Kar, beyond them, and beyond the shallow, muddy Tamber, where the Vosk empties, we saw, I for the first time, gleaming Thassa, the Sea.
Raiders

Already I could see the sleek, wet muzzles of urts, eyes like ovals of blazing copper, streaking through the dark waters toward the bag.
I leaped into the cold waters, the knife between my teeth.
Raiders