More days, more riverside towns, strung out like pearls along the Rhone. Many are damaged, they have the look of struggling, desperate places. Avenio was the scene of a great battle between Ostrogoths and Visigoths six years ago- no battle is as chaotic and violent as one featuring Orcs on both sides.
Then they reach Arelate.
Arelate is the southernmost important city on the Rhone river. It was a provincial capital, a purpose for which it is no longer needed. Taken by the Visigoths in 471, it has shrunk, as the Visigoths found the city wealthy, but couldn’t really understand what they city was for. Now, abandoned government buildings stand like tombs. It still as the “best of everything”, though- theaters, a gigantic “circus”, luxurious baths, all better than those in Massilia.
But economically, it’s not Massilia. Without the bureaucracy of the Empire to pour money into the city, it has not been prosperous. Most merchants pass it by, despite the wonders within.
South of Arelate the landscape changes. The Rhone is no longer in a valley, instead, it flows across a marshy plain, known for flocks of flamingos. The river splits into a delta, but the Romans thoughtfully provided a relatively straight, easy short cut.
The very last leg of the trip is the roughest, as the little boats contend with ocean, on the short stretch of coast between the mouth of the river, and Massilia. But even when far from the city you can see the famous lighthouse tower, the Pharo.
Arelate Circus: (Massilia doesn't have one of these!)
http://jeanclaudegolvin.com/wp...cirque-jc-golvin.jpg
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:43, Mon 13 Aug 2018.