Anoomenon Old Port

The Old Port region of Anoomenon is the most ancient part of the city, dating back to its very beginnings. When the small town was granted a charter by the New Sophisticates in 40 AF it had a few hundred inhabitants. three inns and a thriving market place all built close to a harbour on the western bank of the Perque estuary. This was the seed for later expansion north and west over the river as the settlement grew into the great, prosperous and powerful city it would become in later ages.
Now, in the age of the Pax Helsporan the Old Port district is one of the few regions of the depopulated city which is still home to a significant fraction of the remaining inhabitants. It is almost as though Anoomenon has fallen back to its origins.

Geography

Old Port "proper" is considered to occupy only the land to the east of the Old Port canal which feeds into the Perque bay via a series of complex tidal barrier locks, keeping salt and fresh water from mingling in the natural way they do where the river meets the sea. There are two main routes from the south and east into the heart of the Old Port quarter. The harbour road climbs west from the quays before making a sharp turn north into the market district.

Anoomenon - Old Port Harbour Road by DMFW with Stable Diffusion

Aproaching from the east, a traveller encounters the Fletcher's Gate. This was once a gateway to the ancient and original town before the newer Anoomenon city walls were established further east in the direction of Leeward Sands, later in the Foundation Age. Now Fletcher's Gate no longer serves as an external defence and merely marks the boundary between the East Wall and Old Port districts. The curtain wall which used to run north from the gate has been demolished and the stone reused elsewhere, so that it is entirely decorative these days.

Anoomenon - Old Port Fletcher's Gate by DMFW with Stable Diffusion

Passing through Fletcher's Gate, a traveller from the east will reach the central market, where the harbour road divides into a number of streets which open out into several small squares.

Anoomenon - Old Port Central Market by DMFW with Stable Diffusion

Here, all varieties of goods are traded on two days in the week. Different courtyards specialise in specific types of trade, including haberdashery and cloth and tinsmith stalls, dealing in pots and pans, knives and forks and other metal tools.

Anoomenon - Old Port Cloth & Harberdashery Stalls by DMFW with Stable Diffusion

Anoomenon - Old Port Tinsmith Stalls by DMFW with Stable Diffusion

At the north east corner of the Old Port district, we find Bell Corner. This is the location of a number of warehouses that back onto the canal where goods used to flow up and down into the heart of Anoomenon during the height of its power. Bell Corner is named after a famous bell tower with a single simple silver bell which once stood at the edge of the ancient town. Now it simply marks the route out north into the greater part of Anoomenon. The bell is only rung at midday with a single distinctive clear chime. It is said that the bell has always rung on every day since Anoomenon became a city and that if it should ever fail to ring the city will fall.