Bellbour's Strait
| Type | Sea channel |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Ovallia |
| Notable sites | The bridge to the mainland, the statue of Bellbour Polindrad |
| First appearance | Sacred: Eslura's Calling |
Bellbour's Strait is the water dividing Ovallia from mainland Eslura, crossed by the single bridge that joins the city to the mainland. It takes its name from Bellbour Polindrad, the first Sacred Ruler of the Book of Water, who received the power of water from Aezaros and used it to set Ovallia apart from the mainland as an island paradise.[1]
The water
The strait's rapids are far too strong for even the fish, and Barnaby Britto reckoned that swimming it would be a certified death sentence.[1] Doing so is a feat out of legend rather than a way to travel: Barnaby knew the tale of Leatran the Great, who swam the raging rapids of Bellbour's Strait all by herself, and offered her as somebody worth being named after.[2]
The map of Eslura letters the name in a curve across the channel and draws Ovallia on a headland with a single arched bridge springing away from it.[3] What the strait encloses is described two ways: Bellbour is said to have made an island paradise set aside from the mainland, and the map draws a headland. The two accounts stand side by side and are not reconciled.[1][3]
The bridge and the statue
An enormous stone statue of Bellbour stands over the bridge connecting Ovallia to mainland Eslura, a constant reminder of the city's first Sacred Ruler. Its head shows above the rooftops from the market square at the centre of the city, and Barnaby, who had only ever seen it in guidebooks, found it much larger in life.[4]
Government
The crossing is policed. Two Sacred Guards stood beneath the statue searching through every cart and under each cloak on the way to the mainland, with a line of carts and people building up behind them. The word in the line was that an Olphin had escaped and that the Guard was checking whether anybody meant to smuggle him across.[1]
Notable events
- Pemadee found Barnaby in an alley by the bridge, gave him Seely's letter and one of the Olphin Stones, and then tipped himself out of his wheelchair in front of the queue. The Guards left the crossing to push the crowd back, and Barnaby went over the bridge with his hood up.[1]