“King's Landing, all hands-on deck” bellowed Quhuru, his voice likely reaching the distant port and beyond.

Immediately, the entire vessel began rocking as every sailor simultaneously started docking preparations, a distinct order within the chaos betraying that they had carried out this operation innumerable times. Having no experience and not wanting to get in the way of the sailors, I found myself a position in the corner of the deck where I could relax. Our destination visible on the horizon, I couldn’t help but reminisce about the voyage we’d been on including all of its pitfalls.

The first stumbling block came only hours before we embarked, when I was informed the Cinnamon Wind was headed to King’s Landing. On this specific leg of its journey, the focus for Quhuru was to generate as much profit as possible in Westeros. The cargo he chose reflecting the varied tastes of the Westerosi, ensuring he would end up with no unsold products. To achieve this aim, the vessel would need to attend various harbours and trade goods at every location. This meant that my personal destination of Oldtown was simply one of many from the point of view of Quhuru. Fortunately, in this case Oldtown was only the third stop in this journey, subsequent to stays at King's Landing and then Sunspear.

King's Landing as the capital and most populous city in the Seven Kingdoms is a sprawling centre of commerce promising rich returns for any trader. It is also the seat of power in the kingdom and where some of its most powerful individuals reside, including the royal family. Large sums of money funnel into the capital from all over Westeros making it a prime target for merchants like Quhuru. The city featured prominently in my visions and a chance to become acquainted with the city and its main players will be advantageous to me moving forward.

The start of the journey was quiet as I was content to savour a well-earned break and recuperate before we arrived at the city. The calm sea and fair weather purifying my mind and soul before the hardships that I would face. Idleness though had never suited me and within a few days the same clear seas had started to become a source of irritation. The monotony of sea travel starting to wear at me mentally. Jahi had took to excessive training to overcome it and I began joining him for daily sparring and exercise, careful not to lose my edge in battle. The crew especially Quhuru provided a valuable source of information about Westeros, that I utilised to the fullest during our journey. Quhuru proving his reputation as a consummate professional, by answering succinctly on any topic related to finances and money. The first lesson I had with him was on the currency employed in the Seven Kingdoms, which left me truly befuddled. The coinage used on Westeros was both varied and complex with no clear rules on the relationship between the different denominations. As Quhuru would also inform me, the rules were not set either and in times of hardship it was common for the value of the currency to fluctuate. As a merchant, Quhuru had become familiar with its usage over time hence taught me the usual relationships between the coins. He also gave me an idea of the buying power of each coin which would help me avoid being exploited.

To increase my familiarity with the Common Tongue, I would take any opportunity available to hold conversations in the language. My options for conversation partners was extremely limited, especially considering Quhuru was only interested in financial matters. This meant I had spent large portions of the trip communicating with Kojja Mo, the daughter of Quhuru and lead archer on the ship. We discussed multiple different things about Westeros such as its geography and customs, greatly increasing my general knowledge. The only danger of the journey came when we attempted to cross the Stepstones, a chain of islands that stretch from Westeros to Essos. The islands are well known as a hub for pirates and many ships have been beset by corsairs over the years. Kojja demonstrated her prowess and that of her red archers by raining arrows upon the pirate ships until they eventually chose to retreat. The calm manner with which the attack was dealt with impressed me and truly convinced me of the capabilities of this crew. The rest of the journey time was filled up with stories about distant cities broadening my horizons, but not preparing me for what I would witness.