|
TALES OF THE FIVE PILLARS GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
By King Felix
Part 1
„Everything starts and ends with the five pillars of magic,“ the old man said. „The beginning and the end…“ He seemed to have drifted in some half-sleep, so I nudged him gently to make him go on.
„Hm? Oh yes, I said I'll tell you about the world…Well, you see, it's really more complicated than it looks like because noone really knows how the central planes shift, or what's south of the Syglia desert, or where the great Mordelia mountain range ends…noone really knows this things, I mean all this things. It took me all my life to collect all those pieces of knowledge, to glue them together into something coherent and to make this map.“ He seemed quite proud of himself, the old man. His hands trembled when he showed me the black smear on the leather map.
„This,“ he said, „are the great marshes of Rhome. That's where I started my pilgrimage, and there it almost ended, if not for the Hex…“ his eyes gleamed in the light of the campfire, „but that's another story. Anyway, I went north from there, into the forest of Woldea, where I heard of Kazi and his minions, but never really saw him. Must've been dead at last, or maybe not, I don't know.
„North of that is this big mountain range that shelters Likuria, but I went east, through the sands of Savharia and Jilda, to the eastern promontory of Olabria. There I crossed the narrow sea to elemental plane of Drath. Nasty place that, and dangerous. Damn Wrathwinds.“ He slallowed hard and continued,
„So I went south from there, to Pankra. It was a time of turmoil there, but then again, isn't it always so in Pankra? Heh heh. Armelia, to the south, was too chaotic and dangerous to my liking so I went further east, crossed the Phenissean mountains and decided to negotiate the Hellride Sea at G'hall. Big mistake that, but I survived nevertheless, the sea washed me out at Myrawell. Must've been far south, judging by the climate, but I lost all sense of time and place on that damn voyage so could've been far north too, I guess.
„I heard many stories there, about the eastern frozen wastes and the great peninsula of Dansk. You see this empty space here, on the map? Well that's where I think Merisea and Wallwar probably are, encircled by Hurlaunt mountains. Can't really confirm that, though.“
„There are a lot more empty spaces here, and here and here,“ I noted. The old man looked offended.
„Hell, young man, first go through all what I've lived through, then maybe you'll have the right to mock me and my work!“
After that he fell silent and wouldn't tell me more. He carefully stored his map away and went to sleep, keeping me on the other side of the campfire.
I didn't mind, though. There was still a long journey ahead of us, plenty of time to find about the rich cities of the southern desert and of mystical and magical mountains of Servella. Oh yes, plenty of time.
_________________
"If the radiance of a thousand suns
Were to burst at once into the sky
That would be like the splendor of the Mighty one ...
I am become Death,
The shatterer of Worlds."
|
