OOC: @Samsniped I embellish when I don't have much to work with.
Arrival in Phoces
Arriving in the harbor of Phoces was a surreal experience for Kalu. It was as if someone had taken the architecture and land of Alexandria and put down the city of Kenamara on it. And even that was not a fitting description, unlike in Amu Daria where the rich nobles controlled most of the trade it seemed that everyone in the nation who wasn't sailing or part of the military was locked in a competition for the best spots in the markets, many different shops selling their wares called out for his attention.
Another new experience was the ability to dock the
Ikenga herself in the actual harbor, the sea surrounding the harbor was surprisingly deep. Upon setting foot on the harbor he saw a large crowd that had gathered nearby looking at the new arrivals. One thing that struck Kalu as odd was that he saw at least two people with the same darkened skin as him among the crowd, he had gotten so used to the pale people now seeing some diversity was a shock. A group of people cut through the crowd and approached him, it was an emissary from what they called the
Ecclesia headed by some man who was referred as an
epistate. Kalu went through the process of presenting him an ivory necklace when his translator explained to him that he would be needing more than one.
Kalu spent most of his time in Phoces dealing with epistates or visiting citizens, which seemed to be the social class that took the place of the nobles. It took him some time to understand the various social classes and their relation to each other and who could move up or down in the social ladder. He was also amazed by the level of democracy shown in the government system, it was the first he had encountered which did not recognize one king. He was unsure how stable the government could be when left to the whims of the many, no matter how noble their blood could be.
Kalu was also shocked at how little time people dedicated to the gods, although everything seemed normal the first day it was only because there was a festival to the gods that there was sacrifices and many visits to their temples and shrines. When the festival was over the people seemed to
forget about the gods. He learned that the manifestations of Ani-Chukwu in this nation were weak and few in number. The only one that seemed to be paid any decent amount of respect was
Mercos the God of Trade. And depending on who he asked the names of these gods would change.
One of the first things he noticed was that the steward of Alexandria had not lied to him, these people were eager to trade with his expedition for their ivory jewelry. He found that they too had these pots among many other items and quickly set about trading for samples that he could bring back to the king. Kalu noted that these were shrewd traders as the next day when he traveled to another city he saw one of the merchants he had sold the ivory to selling it for twice the price.
The war ships that he saw seemed to be even more powerful than the ones of Alexandria, the men seemed to be in general more disciplined and the ships looked sleeker and turned faster. He noted that this was a dangerous improvement with their tactics of ramming as it allowed them to gain a superior position in battle.
Finally after three months Kalu was ready to make his journey back to Amu Daria, he had grown a longing back for his home even as he saw all the new people and nations. But before he left he took one last action that was granted to him by King Sadok himself. He went up to the Ecclesia and proposed the following to them:
To: Phoces
From: Amu Daria
Would the nation of Phoces be interested in signing an agreement with the kingdom Amu Daria to open their borders to each other's merchants?
