Xanth:
At long last, after weeks on the Great River Erd your barge has pulled into the Free City of Paravail. Only days ago you saw your first mountains, followed shortly by your first bandits, as the fierce Keks tribesmen of the mountains attempted to steal the precious cargo you had been hired to guard.
Now, here in the city you see new mountains, great pyramids of dun colored stone built right into the great walls of the city, as if these strange southerners were not simply content to move to the edge of the water, but they had to bring the mountains with them!
And so many people! Everywhere you look you see masses of people, all shapes and sizes, burly orcish men with great wooden plaques hanging from their necks as they carry vast timbers to the ship yards, the squat forms of what must be dwarves hustling about. The city is so full that even as you step upon the docks for the very first time you can't help but notice that there seems to be an entire second city crammed beneath them!
The Caravan master, a burly northruner who had long ago moved to the Savannahs, his pale skin burnt ruddy from the hot sun, hands you the last of your pay before turning away with a taciturn grunt.