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Corinth

Location

First Eastern Landfall in the Byzantine Empire

Historical Accuracy

Use Corinth as named in the manuscript. Do not insert Athens, Thessalonica, or other intermediate cities unless they appear in a later manuscript revision.

Historical Significance

Sources: Standard history of 6th-century Corinth within the Eastern Roman Empire.

Corinth establishes that the threat is not confined to Francia, and begins the long overland portion of the eastern journey that eventually leads to Lampsacus.

Historical Era

540 AD · Byzantine Empire

Book II, Book III

Novel Canon Role (Book II): During the voyage, Merona senses black fog spreading from within the ship and uses the Cauldron's healing abundance to protect the travelers. At Corinth, she contemplates the city's past and future before the company continues by land. Novel Canon Role (Book III): The Isthmus of Corinth returns as a place of deep supernatural significance — described in-story as one of six entrances to the underworld. Merona, the Morrígan, and Murdach return to its cliffs and a hidden sanctuary within it to seek guidance from the recesses of memory and myth.

540 AD · Byzantine Empire

First landfall in the Byzantine Empire on the eastward route, at Corinth's western harbor of Lechaeum. Chosen historically to avoid rounding Cape Malea, the most dangerous headland in the ancient Mediterranean. Marks the point where the company shifts from sea voyage to overland travel toward Lampsacus.

corinth