Contents
22. Toward the Red City
Overview
Kinch and Galva are purchased by King Agraias and transported by cloud-ship toward Erydon. Kinch observes Erydon’s priest-run technologies—sathium balloons, steam, and thunderdust—and notes the Praxeter’s authority. The journey cements their status as royal property and positions them within the power structure of Erydon as they arrive over the city.
Summary
Kinch recounts that King Agraias purchases Galva for his elite blacksand fighters and buys Kinch specifically for eight-year-old Princess Renata. The king’s vanity and the Erydon crown’s firestones signal a court steeped in display and controlled power.
The captives board the Pride of Geryat, one of Erydon’s red cloud-ships, while the king and Princess Renata ride the royal Storm’s Plaything. Kinch learns from observation that these craft use sathium-filled balloons and fire-belching bottles for steering, technologies monopolized by Erydon’s bald, bearded priests.
Kinch describes the rigid hierarchy: priests wear metal circlets denoting rank, and the supreme Praxeter bears a glowing iron circlet aboard the royal ship. He links these authorities to other controlled innovations—alchemy, steam drives, printing plates, and the explosive, incendiary thunderdust once used against giants.
As the ships travel south, Kinch silently studies the pilot-priests after a rebuke. By sunset, the vessels circle the palace to disembark the royals first. Kinch and Galva behold Erydon, the City of Giants, looming beside the black mountain called the Throne of Thumos, ending their flight at the seat of the realm’s power.
Who Appears
- KinchNarrator; sold to King Agraias for Princess Renata; studies cloud-ship operations and priestly hierarchy.
- GalvaFighter bought for the king’s blacksand troop; travels with Kinch on the Pride of Geryat.
- King AgraiasVain half-giant king who purchases Galva and Kinch; travels on the royal cloud-ship.
- Princess RenataPrecocious royal child for whom Kinch is purchased; rides with her father.
- The PraxeterSupreme priest with a glowing iron circlet; symbolizes priestly control of Erydon’s technologies.
- Pilot-priests of ErydonBald, bearded operators of the cloud-ships; enforce strict hierarchy and control over sathium flight.