Karch

Karch is an island city in the middle of the Apollan Ocean on Delos, lying east of Devil's Rest at the edge of the known world — described as being "as far from civilization as possible on a planet like Delos." Where Meidua is tall and tower-filled, Karch is squat: a rambling tangle of two- and three-story buildings along a stony rise above a bay. On the bay's blue-gray waters floats a network of pontoon bridges and floats anchored to concrete piers, a harbor that accommodates sail, steam, and starship traffic alike.

The city is heavily populated at street level, with crowds dense enough that Hadrian — unusually tall among the plebeian population due to his palatine genetics — must stoop to avoid standing out. The air on the pontoon pier smells of ozone from fusion drives and diesel fuel from outboard motors. Among its establishments is at least one wine-sink, a low dive bar with jubala-scented air, faded opera posters, and sparse clientele, where Hadrian meets the Jaddian trader Demetri Arello to arrange passage off-planet. It is from Karch's harbor that the Eurynasir departs Delos.