just as he had not had a family before , errand had never had a home ; and , though he had never seen the cottage in the vale of aldur which was their destination , he nonetheless yearned toward that place as if its every stone and tree and bush had been imprinted upon his memory and imagination since the day he was born.a brief rain squall had swept in off the sea of the winds about midnight and then had passed as quickly as it had come , leaving the gray , cobbled streets and tall , tile-roofed buildings of camaar washed clean to greet the morning sun .