Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 228 The Crown of the North

"Noise, noise, what's all this noise so early in the morning? I haven't had enough sleep yet." Kagan, who lived next door, walked out sleepily, stretching and complaining, "What's going on? Hey! Boss?"

As teammates arrived one after another, the Canaan team reunited.

After a round of pleasantries upon their reunion, Zhang Yuan also took the opportunity to introduce Talinda, who had officially joined the team, to everyone:

"You've met this before, she's our new team member, Talinda. She's the Moon Elf Ranger Captain, so we'll have a powerful archer to cover us from now on."

"I... I'm one of the captains. There are several ranger captains in the tribe," the latter tried to explain.

"That's pretty impressive, look at our captain, always showing off." The female thief chimed in from the side.

"Yes, welcome, welcome," Kegan said somewhat awkwardly.

Bard nudged him and whispered, "She's a moon elf, not a wood elf, what's bothering you?"

He then smiled and said to Talinda, "Kagan is just a little shy, don't mind her, welcome."

The other teammates almost burst out laughing. Even if Kagan were ten times more introverted, he wouldn't be associated with the word "shy" at all. And Bard's mouth is really something else.

Everyone forced a smile as they welcomed Talinda's arrival. The female elf was truly shy; she fell silent after only a few words, occasionally observing her new team members.

Pushing open the hostel door, I was greeted by a long-lost bustling street scene.

Although it lacks the towering skyscrapers and dazzling neon lights of a modern metropolis from the previous life, it still possesses a local charm that rivals that of a typical European town. While it may not be crowded or bustling with traffic, it is still a place with a constant stream of people and lively atmosphere.

Compared to Baldur's Gate, Waterdeep City's architecture is far superior. On the main street where the hotel is located, there are almost no buildings less than three stories high, and even buildings nearly twenty meters tall are not uncommon.

Looking around and into the distance, Zhang Yuan could see towering towers, and based on their shape and the energy runes surrounding them, he immediately recognized them as mage towers.

Goodness, just by looking around, there are at least twenty mage towers, which is much better than the few scattered ones at Baldur's Gate.

Turning our gaze back to the street we were on, the surrounding architectural style was also quite different from before. Thanks to the abundance of stone resources near Deepwater City, the traditional and economical brick, stone and wood structures were abandoned, and the bold and generous use of large square stones in the stone masonry structure was widely used here.

The entire street seemed to be occupied by shops and hotels, with colorful, magical neon signs hanging high, as if afraid the words weren't big enough or eye-catching enough.

"So they already have a basic understanding of advertising and branding?" Zhang Yuan thought to himself as he observed.

To say he was deeply shocked would be nonsense. Even Zhang Yuan, who had seen many metropolises in his previous life and had a concrete concept of "mega-cities," and even his teammates from this plane, after witnessing the magnificent beauty of Cloud City, would inevitably have a sense of "once you've seen the ocean, you can't be satisfied with a river" when they looked at this city.

Of course, the bustling and prosperous Waterdeep City has a different charm compared to the desolate and quiet Cloud City. The Canaanites don't mind spending some time relaxing and enjoying a leisurely and peaceful vacation.

As the saying goes, it's important to balance work and rest. The journey is so long, we can't spend it all trekking through mountains and rivers. The rest of the team members had arrived in Deepwater City seven days ago, not to mention the seasoned veterans who had been there before. At this moment, the "shy" Kaigen was enthusiastically introducing the situation in Deepwater City to Zhang Yuan.

“Waterdeep is much bigger than Baldur’s Gate. Baldur’s Gate only has four districts, but here there are seven, and each district is even larger. The place we are staying now is an inn in the Trade District.”

As Zhang Yuan listened to the dwarf's story, he looked around and a wooden sign by the roadside caught his eye.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a road sign that read: Prophet Avenue. Looking up at the lintels of the buildings along the street, most of them had a number or symbol engraved on them.

This is truly a big city; they even have clearly defined street layouts.

“There are so many shops in this area. Many rare items that I’ve never even heard of are displayed here with prices clearly marked. Like the jewelry store we went to the other day, they even had star sapphires! My goodness, it was the first time I’d ever seen such a legendary gemstone. It was so beautiful.” Nancy’s eyes lit up as she spoke.

The only difference is that while the girl's eyes sparkled, this female thief's were practically glowing with lust.

Zhang Yuan felt uneasy at her sight and turned to Lawrence: "She hasn't gone back to her old ways, has she?"

He was relieved when he saw the old pervert shake his head.

"The trading district has many good things, but large-scale transactions, especially trade between caravans, usually take place in the southern district," Lawrence, who was in charge of the team's finances, added.

"The southern area may not look as luxurious, but it has a very good location. It has a well-connected road network and convenient transportation. It is also close to the deep-water port in the south. Many warehousing industries are located there. Almost all port trade cannot bypass the southern area."

"Those valuable works of art and jewelry were resold to merchants and collectors in the trading district with the help of Golden Clover and a few others, while the leather and logs were sold to the Seven Suns Merchant Alliance in the South District." Lawrence walked quickly to Zhang Yuan's side and said, "There's another matter. These survivors want to establish a long-term cooperation agreement with our team."

"Long-term cooperation?" This was somewhat unexpected.

Zhang Yuan turned to look at Lawrence, a hint of doubt in his eyes: "What good would it do for us to cooperate with the Chamber of Commerce? Do they intend to hire us?"

“Boss, you’re joking. They’re not qualified to hire us. Even you, the boss, are beyond their control.” Kegan chimed in from the side, “They just want to hitch a ride on our journey to transport goods to Neverwinter, and also, like this time, take over our squad’s spoils and handle related matters.”

Zhang Yuan pondered for a moment, then sought the opinions of his teammates, who all had different views. In the end, it was up to him, as the captain, to make the final decision.

"This trip to Neverwinter is meant to be discreet, and bringing a caravan would be too cumbersome. As for the artworks and jewelry, Nancy and Moonstone Mask have enough connections to handle them."

"As for those survivors, since they've already received their share of the sales, we're even."

The captain spoke, and no one objected, so it was decided.

As they were talking, the group arrived at the end of the street. There were no buildings blocking the view, and the view was wide open. Since Deepwater City was built on a hill, one could see far and wide and enjoy the scenery from a high vantage point.

(End of this chapter)