>Excerpt from the memoirs of Lord Talem, Acting Mayor of Safe Harbor_
~
I often like to think that every major human settlement had something that they are colloquially known for.
For the Indestructible City, it is for being the largest, most heavily defended settlement in existence, carefully built into a defensible location up a mountain slope and bristling with weapons.
Hence the name.
For smaller towns like Talisman or Valor, they are known for being relatively quiet, peaceful places where dragons rarely encroach. Also for being the residence of the famous Dragonslayer, for the latter town's case.
Safe Harbor, on the other hand, is largely known for two things. Perhaps three.
The first was that it is generally known for being, well, safe.
Although I, and many other residents, might contest that point. At least on a technicality. Safe Harbor is not really a very defensible city. It is easily visible from the sky. There is little benefit from the physical terrain the city was built on; Rather than being built under a dense forest, or into a massive cliff overhang, or even underground, Safe Harbor was largely built on a shallow hill. And onto the shoreline, of course.
And other than Safehold, the large castle that makes the city so distinct and the defense provided by both it, the light ballista and the archers it housed; There isn't much that the city has to offer in terms of direct defensive capability.
What truly makes Safe Harbor safe is mostly its geographic location, and a little bit of luck.
You see, the principal dragon territories that Safe Harbor is situated nearby are the Ocean, Rainforest, and Great Swamps. Which in turn are known to be home to the Sea Dragons, Rainforest Dragons, and the Swamp Dragons respectively.
None of the dragons on that list are particularly known for venturing far from their habitats.
The Swamp and Ocean dragons seem content with their traditional hunting grounds, and no one has even reported seeing a Rainforest Dragon for centuries.
That is the true reason Safe Harbor is safe. Because it is ignored.
Which really isn't all that reassuring, and a little depressing, I sometimes think.
The second facet that Safe Harbor is known for is also a source of pride for the locals, a pride that I myself admit to share. Though it is less known colloquially among those that do not regularly interact with us. (Which is a lot of people these days, to be honest)
Safe Harbor was, and still currently is, perhaps, a very industrious city.
Safe Harbor has been known for its adept blacksmiths for a long time. It is with the sizable and considerably powerful HarborForges from which they forged the majority of quality tools and weapons of bronze and iron found everywhere on the continent!
Not only is Safe Harbor known for its metalworks, but it is also known for its aptitude in the invention and production of masterful contraptions.
...Boats that sail couldn't exactly be cobbled together by monkeys, after all.
Not only that, but the huge ballistae that defend the Indestructible City, and the more modest downscaled versions that adorn the Safehold, were all designed here.
However, being able to design impressive machines and forge exquisite tools of metal are feats of expertise that are all well and good, but simply being able to only do those things would be of little use if you had no materials to work with, and no practical use for them after you made them. As it would seem, by far the easiest way to remedy those problems is through trade.
Which leads to the third facet that Safe Harbor is more widely known for.
It's a harbor.
The only harbor, actually.
Safe Harbor is the only port city in existence. There are some fishing villages, sure. But Safe Harbor is the only city with Deep-water piers. Which means it's also the only city really capable of facilitating meaningful maritime trade.
Or, at least, it was.
Safe Harbor's docks have long since fallen into disrepair. There are no boats for them to facilitate. In the long past, Safe Harbor was a thriving trade center.
As much as it could have been, anyway, given the ever present threat of dragons.
Even then, boats went out. Reliable trade took place.
To be certain, some craft were lost, but it wasn't as though the dragons were circling overhead at all times. Our Sailors were smart. Only sailing at night, deliberately setting out sporadically and at random to avoid forming recognizable patterns. Places where dragons frequently flew or swam were charted and carefully avoided. Storms that dragons dare not fly in were readily braved.
It even is said, in the surviving history books, that long ago, Safe Harbor was so strong that it had its own fleet of ships, huge vessels absolutely armed to the teeth built to directly enforce trade routes in spite of the dragons.
I admit to knowing little about these ships on a level of specifics, as so much about them was lost when during one of the times the Harbor was attacked and burned by dragons. The attack that is said to have taken the ships also destroyed most of the written information we had on them, including technical details and pictures. All we have left are mere mentions found in personal accounts not unlike the one that I am presently writing.
In any case, the days of the ships are long gone. No one, not even the oldest of elders alive today, or even their elders, or theirs, so much as knew what the legendary ships even looked like.
And nowadays, all boats that set out don't come back.
Even if every precaution was taken, even if the brave men that crewed them were absolute experts in the art of navigating, evading, and even fighting off dragons, they disappeared.
It became clear that the only real reason we could take to the waves was probably the same reason Safe Harbor is generally known for being safe in the first place. It was because the dragons had largely ignored us.
But for the past decade and some, a new equilibrium has been in place. One that, judging from stories shared by new travelers entering the city, and by what is shared by traveling messengers, is in place across the continent.
Humans that are caught outside of the large and protected cities, are doomed. Hunted down with a vengeance
That is why Safe Harbor's harbor has rotted. There are no boats more to moor.
They had all been destroyed.
With no vessels to facilitate trade, the iron veins had run dry. We could no longer move our heavy machines to those who might need them.
At least we can feed ourselves. We can still farm small crops, raise just enough livestock and fish just enough to keep ourselves and the ominously increasing number of refugees fed.
Still, one has to wonder what Safe Harbor could be if we still possessed the great ships of old. If we could not only cower away from dragons but stand up and fight back. To not only hide away and remain still, lest you be caught and killed, but to boldly go out and explore the majesty of the lands and the great seas.
...Wishful thinking.
Those machinations were long ago constrained to the pages of history. No man in his own mind would reasonably think that they could ever come again. That anyone else would ever hope to lay eyes upon-
~
***
Lord Talem was interrupted from his bitter writing by a rapidly blinking light coming through the window, close to the waterline.
He at first feared it was a lurking Sea Dragon, brightly flashing its luminescent scales at them for whatever reason. But he quickly realized that was unlikely, as the light was too stable to be a dragon hovering above the water. Also, there only appeared to be one light, and it was the wrong color; being yellowish-white in hue, whereas Sea Dragon scales typically glowed blue.
What in the thrice-cursed moons...?
There was a knock on the door. Loud and frantic. Before Talem could so much as turn around, a Castle Archer Guard barged in, looking somewhat panicked.
"Lord Talem, there's-"
"None of that 'Lord' trite!" He interrupted the Archer Commander, judging by the uniform and rank color on his left sleeve that Talem could now get a better look at. He gestured to the nightgown he was wearing.
"Do I look like I'm in stately attire? Just say 'Talem,' it's faster. Or 'sir' if you must, commander."
Talem tended to disregard formalities when he was agitated, a habit that harkened all the way back to his days as a boat skipper.
"Uh, alright, Lor- Ta-... sir." The now somewhat flustered commander stuttered, before quickly sliding back into a more professional posture.
"There's something out in the harbor waters that we think you should see."
"Is the city in danger?"
"We don't know sir, but we do know that whatever it is out there, they aren't dragons. It should be safe to go up to the roof to take a look."
Lord Talem followed the Archer Commander without further comment or complaint. The Castle Archer Guard were experts in determining how much danger any given threat would immediately pose to the city. If they thought that whatever this was was an imminent danger, alarms would have been raised and citizens would have been rushed into the Safehold. That they had instead decided to take the city's mayor up to the castle roof to get a personal look hopefully meant that the city wasn't in immediate jeopardy.
The two men quickly scaled the numerous staircases that led from the hold's interior to its level roof, and emerged into the moonlight.
The Safehold wasn't built like a traditional castle that many might think of, with multiple series of walls and outer walls and towers surrounding a central citadel. The Safehold was instead a singular large box-shaped building, with reinforced exterior walls and flat roof, and large circular towers that made up the four corners of the structure that provided extra structural stability. The ballista that defended the structure from aerial attack were positioned in turrets atop the four towers. The entire huge building was designed to give shelter to the city's whole population in case of an emergency.
To that end it has performed admirably so far.
Talem quickly glanced around, taking stock of the situation atop the Safehold. What looked like most of the castle's on-duty Archer Guards were all standing at the south wall, which faced the ocean. Several of them were pointing at something and speaking amongst themselves. Only two of the four ballistae were manned, the two with a line of sight to the ocean.
They approached the line of Guardsmen. One of them noticed their presence and broke off from the line of onlookers to meet them. He snapped off a quick salute.
"What's the situation?" The commander demanded. All vestiges of his previous fluster with Talem gone.
"Nothing new sir, er, sirs" the Guardsman responded, correcting himself to address both men.
Talem felt like waving him off, but there were more pressing matters at hand.
"One of the weird shapes was just flashing its light for the third time. It stopped just before you got up here." The Guardsman pointed back out to the harbor.
Talem followed his gaze to where the man was pointing. Sure enough, just outside of the harbor area, several large, dark shapes were silhouetted against the waterline. The increasingly bright moonlight from the rising moons was making them only slightly more visible than ethereal black blobs where the moonlight reflecting off the water and stars behind them were blotted out. There seemed to be quite a few of them, actually. Talem thought he could make out at least seven shapes from the gloom. They didn't appear to be moving.
"Uh, I'll explain further." Talem was cut off from his silent observation by the Guard Commander.
"We first saw the shapes less than an hour ago. The lead one, at least, the one we think is in the lead, was the one rapidly blinking that light at us. It only flashed twice, one series of rapid blinks, then a pause, then another. Then it went dark. Unti, ,that is, it seems to have done it a third time?" He turned to the Guardsman.
"Yes sir." He nodded affirmatively. "This time appeared to be the same length as the other two times. Some of the others are certain they can see patterns in the flashes, too."
Before either man could respond, yet another series of flashes came from one of the shapes on the water, and it seemed as if the entire world held still and watched it.
The blinking continued for about a minute, by Talem's reckoning. When it stopped, nothing but darkness came from the shadows.
One of the men near the wall turned back towards them. "That was the same as the other times! There's definitely a pattern!"
"What could it be...?" The Commander mused aloud.
"Is it possible, whatever it is, that it's trying to communicate?" The Guardsman asked.
Talem had no idea. He supposed it was possible, but the only things known to communicate with each other via light flashes were Sea Dragons. And whatever those huge shadows were, they weren't Sea Dragons.
Before he or anyone else could say anything, a great blinding light shone forth from the black shape that was previously flashing, aimed right at them. More painfully bright lights from other nearby shapes quickly followed suit.
"What in the thrice-scorched moons!?"
Talem quickly shielded his eyes with his hand, and cursed, the other Archer Guards on the roof did the same, a chorus of surprised cries and profanity ringing through the previously quiet night.
The oppressively bright lights held their gaze for a few minutes. All the men atop the Safehold did the same, none of them willing to break the stare despite the discomfort.
Until the lights eventually looked away on their own, turning away from the town. They turned eastward, towards the rising moons.
Now that the blinding light had gone, Talem's eyes began to slowly readjust to the resting darkness of the night, and he realized he could make out the shapes on the water better.
The slowly-brightening light from the moons was beginning to reveal more about the mysterious shapes. Now he, and surely the other men on the roof, were able to recognize the distinct outlines of what were almost certainly naval vessels. Huge ones.
Thinking quickly, he grabbed the attention of one of the Guardsmen near the wall. "You there! Go to my quarters and fetch the looking glass from atop my dresser so we can see these things better!"
The Guardsman nodded his understanding, and ran off to fulfill the quest.
Talem turned his attention back to the shapes on the water, wondering why they had turned their lights upon the rising moons.
"What are they doing...?" He asked aloud.
"I've no idea, sir." The Commander replied, not breaking his gaze from the waterborne shapes.
Talem found his excitement growing, despite his wariness and general confusion. If the hulking shapes were indeed giant watercraft as they appeared to be, it would mean the vast ships of old could have somehow returned. It could spell an end to Safe Harbor's stagnation!
Suddenly, something happened that surprised every man present for the umpteenth time that night. From the dark shapes appeared more lights. Dozens of them. These lights weren't blinding or directed like the previous ones, and they didn't appear exclusively from the tops of shapes either. Instead, they were dim. Being closer in brightness to most traditional lanterns. There were also multiple colors that Talem could see, ranging between pale white, warm yellow, as well as green and red.
Just then, the Guardsman returned with Talem's looking glass, an impressive work of glass, wood and metal that was another testament to Safe Harbor's technological prowess. A handheld device that could enhance the user's eyesight by making far away objects appear larger via a series of specially shaped lenses.
He took the looking glass and quickly aimed it at one of the clusters of lights. He peered through. After quickly adjusting the device's focus, he centered it on the glowing outline.
There, sitting on the water, highlighted slightly by the moonlight glow, partially illuminated by the glow of its own lights, was surely, clearly, absolutely the biggest water going vessel Lord Talem had ever conceived of.
A Ship...
He let out an overwhelmed exhale. The ship was huge, with a sharply angled bow and many smaller structures built atop it. He could hardly imagine their purposes. The green and red lights, he realized, were on the right and left hand sides of the ship respectively. If he was indeed looking at the ship's bow. If he looked carefully, he swore he could see human shapes moving around aboard it.
Open-mouthed, he lowered the looking glass from his eye and absentmindedly passed it to the Archer Guard Commander, who eagerly took it and peered through it himself, promptly gasping as he no doubt came to the same realization Talem had.
"Ships..." The man breathed.
They were indeed ships. Even with the naked eye, Talem could easily make out many more of the vessels. There were dozens. Now that their lights were appearing, They could see many more ships that they hadn't noticed before.
Between the slowly rising moons dimly backlighting them, and the appearance of their own luminance, Talem could now get a reasonable idea he thought of their general sizes. Based not least on how high up the small lights were above the water. While some of the ships were smaller than the one that had originally lit up, others, close to the middle of the formation, looked to be possibly larger than the Safehold itself!
Talem found his excitement tempered when he thought of what this development possibly meant. These were ships. Ships that were built by unknown people. They certainly weren't built by anyone on Pyrrhia, as Safe Harbor was the only port city on the continent, and they obviously didn't build these vast vessels. These ships were built by foreigners. Foreigners that must have come here for a reason.
He, and all the men atop the Safehold, and possibly the entire city at this point, could be looking right at an invasion fleet.
Significant Human on Human conflicts were very rare on this continent. Most people and states were too preoccupied with just trying to survive against the dragons to pick quarrels with one another. There weren't really enough humans around for people to have to fight over territory or resources. And even if there was, fielding large amounts of troops in pitched battle against other troops was simply suicide for all involved, as it would inevitably attract the attention of dragons.
But given whoever built these ships was even able to conjure up the sheer amount of manpower and resources it would take to build such a large fleet, they must have such control over wherever it is they harkened from that dragons were not a concern. They're operating on a different playing field entirely.
At least their vessels are far too large to dock with our piers... He thought grimly, taking back the looking glass from the Archer Commander, who looked like he may just have come to a similar conclusion as Talem, judging by his now nervous expression.
He once again centered his gaze through the glass onto the initial ship, and was able to make out some activity on one side of it.
Ah, it looks like the foreigners have thought of that.
On the side of the ship facing the moonlight, the green-light side, Talem could just make out the shapes of what was clearly a boat, closer in size to the boat's he was used to, being lowered over the side of the ship into the water.
Well, it looks like we're about to find out what their intentions are.
He handed the looking glass back off to the Guard Commander, and set off back for his quarters. If he was going to meet the potential invaders, he was at least going to do so dressed like the city's mayor.
***
>Aboard a Utility boat deployed from the USS Sampson, approaching an unknown town_
The initial shock and panic on deck from realizing there were suddenly multiple moons had quickly been replaced by relatively collected professionalism. You weren't a trained sailor if you couldn't stay calm under strenuous circumstances and think quickly. Nobody lost their heads, and those that came close to doing so were calmed by the presence of their more stoic comrades.
Radio silence and darkness protocols had been broken during the initial confusion of the multi-lunar discovery, with ship commanders frantically requesting to know if anyone knew what was going on. Deck and navigation lights had been turned on as well, because it was pretty clear they probably didn't have to worry about hiding from U-boats any longer.
The shock was certainly going to come back and hit them later, though.
In the meantime, there were things that had to be done. Such as establishing contact with the medieval-looking town. To that end, Captain Drake volunteered himself to lead an ad-hoc envoy, which his crew had initially protested. Citing the obvious potential danger of meeting an entirely unknown group of people, in an entirely unknown location. He had overrode them; As the senior most commanding officer in the convoy, he was responsible for his men's safety. He also felt responsible for getting them into this situation, as it was his decision to sail into that mysterious storm in the first place.
The next man to volunteer was the next-highest ranking officer of the convoy, Commander Arthur Johnson of the Royal Navy. Drake had initially himself protested that in turn, himself citing that, in case something happened to him, the next highest officer, meaning him, would take command. Johnson politely but stubbornly refused. Citing the same responsibility Drake felt to his men, and that: "It just wouldn't be proper to let you Yanks have all the fun."
It took a little while of inter-ship movement to get all the men deemed necessary on board, but here they were.
Other than the enlisted men that crewed the Utility boat, and the handful of US Navy Armed Guardsmen stationed to provide a modicum of protection to those going ashore, the only other passenger aboard the boat was one Signalman Darren Olson, who had a reputation among the enlisted crew for being something of a multilingual prodigy, reportedly being both fluent and literate in English, German, Dutch, and knowing a fair amount of Cantonese and Russian. And while none of those languages would probably help us here, Olson had also said he was also apparently rather good at communicating with people whose languages he couldn't speak.
So there's that.
They all waited silently as the boat steadily approached the town's decidedly disused docks. There was comparatively little chance the people currently not working there would help them moor the boat, so they would have to maneuver in and secure the boat on their own, which would be an arduous process even considering the 40 ft craft's relatively small size.
At least we didn't try to come in on one of the Destroyers, DEs or Corvettes. Drake thought. While there was a good chance that the harbor was deep enough to accommodate the larger vessels, it wasn't a risk he wanted to take. The rickety piers they had weren't enough to reliably secure them, anyway.
As the Utility boat motored closer, Drake could make out a handful of decidedly humanoid figures standing illuminated by lantern light on a short cliff where the water met the land, in between the two piers. The boat's helmsman noticed them too, and maneuvered the boat to reach the pier closest to them. More lights had appeared from the town, it seemed they probably had an audience.
Drake reasoned the center figure was possibly the town's leader, given the somewhat ornate nature of the clothes he wore. The other men nearby him appeared to be guards of some sort, as they seemed to be uniform with one another. The guards wore a kind of long sleeved overcoat over what was probably a tunic and baggy pants and an odd looking helmet, all colored a drab gray. Except for one who stood next to the probable leader, who had a bright blue cuff on one sleeve.
Probably an officer of sorts.
Drake thought he could see spikes jutting out from the shoulders, helmets, and upper arms of the guards, which was odd. The guards did not carry spears, halberds, clubs or anything that you might typically see a medieval city guard carry, but rather had longbows, which was also odd. The probable leader wore an attire that was more in common with a robe than an overcoat, and was bright blue in color.
Drake could at least say with certainty that the figures all appeared human, which was a plus. They also appeared nervous, even the probable leader who was clearly keeping his expression steady. Though Drake supposed that was understandable, given the convoy that was possibly larger than anything that they had ever seen which had just shown up at their doorstep with no warning.
Well, here we go. I guess that short course on diplomacy in the Naval Academy will hopefully come on useful after all. He thought as the boat slowed on its final approach to the pier nearest to the onlookers.
***
>On the Docks, Safe Harbor_
Lord Talem watched as the stranger's boat moved on its own up to one of the piers, relatively close to them. He had no idea how the craft was able to move, as no oars were rowing and he couldn't see any kind of waterwheel. A sort of rumbling could be heard from the boat, but that didn't offer much in terms of specifics, to say the least.
The boat itself was partially enclosed, certain sections of it had a kind of shelter that looked as if it were made to shield the passengers from spray more than anything else. He couldn't tell what exactly the self-moving boat was made of. It certainly wasn't wood, however. Talem counted at least ten men aboard the vessel.
The boat slowed down and drifted up to the pier, and one of the men, who was wearing an outfit he didn't recognize, deftly leapt onto it carrying a mooring line and tied it onto a wooden column.
Once the boat was reasonably secured, another man stepped off. Then another, then another, then another. All in all 7 of the 10 men aboard the vessel disembarked. Two of them were dressed distinctly different from the others. They were clad in dark blue overcoats that were so blue that they appeared almost black, both with eight brass colored buttons and similarly blue smooth pants. One of the men had gold colored stripes on his sleeve cuffs and crisp short-brimmed hat that was white on the top, while the other had deep brown cuff stripes and an entirely dark blue hat that matched the rest of his outfit. Both men's hats had ornate ornate decorations positioned just above the brims of the hat. And while Talem couldn't discern what exactly the decorations were supposed to symbolize, he could tell the white hat's decoration depicted an anchor, while the other man's blue hat had a sort of bird on it. He wondered what those meant.
The other five men were dressed much more simply. Their attire consisted of a light blue long sleeved shirt that was close in color to his own official robes, and pants that were darker blue, but not as dark as those worn by the other two men. Their dress wasn't as refined as the other two, so Talem guessed they were lower ranked. If he was indeed looking at members of a foreign navy.
The two immaculately dressed men carefully stepped towards them, quickly followed by one of the men in the light-blue shirts. The other four stood back and eyed Talem's procession warily. They were holding a sort of wooden... tool(?) that was about as long as their arm resting on their torso, with a wide end positioned near their shoulders. Looking closer, Talem realized the strange wooden objects were not simple sticks or short staffs; he could see intriguing bits of metal work near the end of the object pointed towards the ground, and the part just above where the men had one hand placed under the object. He had no idea what they were, but he suspected they were somehow weapons.
The man with the bird on his cap approached him, cleared his throat, and spoke:
"Gree-tings. Ah am Cap-tane Rawbert Drae'k uhf thuh ooeu-ess naevee. Whee arr plees'd too mee't ooeu. Whee meen ooeu awll noe harrm."
Talem stood dumbfounded. Although he knew he really shouldn't be. Of course the strangers spoke a different language which he had never heard before. That wasn't really a surprise. On top of the radically different technology and clothing, the stranger's looked different, too. While all the humans Talem had ever seen had brown skin, eyes, and brown or black hair, these people had pale white skin, and the man trying to speak to him had bright blue irises, not brown.
He decided to respond in turn, anyway. "Uh, hello, strangers. I am Lord-Mayor Talem. Welcome to Safe Harbor."
Now it was the other man's turn to stare dumbly, he clearly couldn't understand a word he said, either.
The other sharply dressed man chuckled mirthfully, amused at the shared confoundment. Despite himself, Talem found himself reciprocating the amusement. And soon, all the men present joined in on the short laugh, finding levity in the absurdity of the situation.
They were all in the same boat, so to speak.
Talem looked back at the man who had originally spoken, and pointed towards him, his cohorts, and the rest of the ships behind him. "You." He waved with his arms around, gesturing to the world around them and looked around. "From where?"
The man raised a hand and stroked his cleanly-shaven chin in thought. Talem hoped he understood the question.
The other man with the light blue shirt that had followed closely behind whispered something to the man that had spoken, who nodded.
The man stood in thought for a few moments.
"Heer." He said, pointing to the ground they stood on. "Iss whear?" He mirrored the same gesture Talem used to ask 'where.'
Answering a question with a question. Is it possible they are lost? Talem thought.
Fortunately, Talem had anticipated the question. He motioned to the Archer Guard Commander, who was carrying one of their maps of the continent.
The Commander approached the strangers, unrolled the map and presented it to them. The map had every major known human settlement marked and warnings where dragons were known to dwell.
Talem pointed at the ground the same way the other man had. "Here." He pointed on the map where Safe Harbor was marked. "Safe Harbor." He then traced a wide circle over the entire continent and then made another wide gesture that encompassed the land around them. "Pyrrhia."
The strangers were staring at the map as if it were a ghostly apparition. They looked like they probably had never seen it before. None of them said anything.
So Talem repeated his earlier question. "You." He again pointed towards them and their ships. "From where?" He then gestured to the map, then to the rest of the world around them.
None of the strangers did anything for a few moments. Then, the speaker came forth and pointed at the sea just southeast of Safe Harbor's marker, presumably where the fleet of ships currently sat, and traced a straight line off into the ocean, probably the direction the fleet came from, Talem reckoned, and then his hand left the map with a waving gesture. The man looked at Talem with wide eyes, shook his head and shrugged. "Nott heer... "
...So they are probably lost...
Talem thought of another pressing question to ask.
"You," he said, once again gesturing to all of them. He had to think for a couple of moments, as he thought of how to act out his next question. He stepped over to one of the Archer Guardsmen, and took his longbow. He held out the weapon to the strangers, and pointed to their ships out in the harbor, then back to the bow, then back to the ships again. He repeated the process a couple more times. "War-vessels?" he said.
The strangers watched his miming and clearly thought for a few moments, before once again the light blue shirted-man nearby the one that spoke whispered again to him, and he nodded.
The man then shook his head emphatically, and pointed to a loose pile of old wooden crates sitting nearby, then he pointed back to the ships in the water.
Cargo vessels? Those massive things are cargo vessels!?
The man who had chuckled cocked his head to the side and made a considering "well..." sound. The speaker sighed, and seemingly amended himself by nodding and gesturing to the bow Talem was still holding, then to some of the ships, but again pointed to the old wooden crates.
So... they are war-vessels? Or are they cargo vessels? Are they cargo ships being escorted by ships of war? Talem thought, though he supposed that would be similar to the purpose that the legendary ships of old had.
Still, he needed to be sure. Nervously, he took the bow, pointed once again to the ships, and pointed the bow at the city, drawing the sting slightly back. He looked back to the strangers.
This time they all seemed to get his message quickly, and they unanimously shook their heads in the negative. Even the men with the odd wooden staffs did so, as well.
So they probably aren't an invasion fleet, then. Talem nodded, relieved. But that still left one to wonder, why did they come here? Are they lost? How did they get here? Who in this blasted world were they trying to trade with that would require such a large procession?
...What are they even carrying?
One of those questions would be more easy to answer right here, and now, however. Talem passed the inert bow back to the Guardsmen, and pointed towards the strangers again. "You," he then pointed to the map held by the Commander, and then threw his hands up in a dramatic shrug. "Are you lost?"
The man nodded again, pursing his lips grimly. "Whee hav noe ai-dee'a whear heer is."
Well that probably answers that question, at least.