As Hill descended, the two small islands near the shore suddenly shook violently. Amid cries of surprise, they slowly swam over and stopped on either side of the main island, forming a whale's fins. The round island in front of them then drifted back and settled atop its body.
Hill landed before the great hole. His eyes narrowed slightly as he shaped the image in his mind.
All four islands trembled faintly, gradually settling into their final form.
Purvi was the first to recognize the shape below. He circled happily overhead. If he hadn't been carrying passengers, he would have rolled over and swum around so everyone watching could see who it was!
The Otherworld Whale, complete with the terrace on his back, had appeared at the river mouth in astonishingly lifelike form.
Hill glanced at the wooden bridges over the Mirar River and gently raised a hand. The water obeyed, sweeping the bridges up and depositing them on the riverbanks.
He stamped his foot. From the new island, now positioned in the middle of the river with its body at the mouth and its long tail pointing toward the great island offshore, two tall arched bridges sprang out to connect Luskan's northern and southern banks.
Luskan had never been interested in establishing a trade route with Mirabar of the Dwarf Kingdom, even though the city's early prosperity had come from selling Dwarven armor and weapons.
Rather than collect tolls, both factions that ruled Luskan had preferred to enslave those Dwarves. It hadn't mattered that the Dwarves would no longer forge ironware for the city; they could always be thrown into the mines.
After taking the city, the Undead had freed the Dwarves without demanding anything in return... To them, releasing captured slaves was simply the right thing to do...