…cruisin’ and singin’ the blues
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Sister Bomia’s Adventure Diary #24
The Eternal Forest
Dogsday 1, Sun God Month, Year 25 of the Golden Emperor
Dear Diary,
Well, Diary, we followed the big river for a day and a half, but then we saw an enormous creature that looked like an alligator with longer legs and 4 tentacles. It was at least 80 feet long and 10 feet at the shoulders. Not wanting to risk upsetting it, we took a fast right hand turn into the forest and continued that way for an hour.
It turns out, that was a lucky thing, because we actually found more of the Great Road! It was surprisingly intact, given that it is in a pretty dense forest. It helps that this stretch of the Road is made from huge slabs of stone about 2 feet thick and 6 feet on a side. The horses had very little problem negotiating it, even when we got to forest destroyed areas.
And speaking of the forest, it really does seem like it could go an forever. It’s is dense, pretty quiet, and so far, seems not to be inhabited by anything other than animals. Olivia thinks that the parts of the woods we have traveled through may never have been lived in. She also noted that it was very strange that nobody lived along the river, but Grettin pointed out that if a “bloody huge tentacled alligator” lives in it, settling would be dicey at best. We couldn’t argue with that.
After heading east for a couple of hours, the Road turned north toward the river. We were ready for any attacks by giant and/or hungry creatures, but we saw none. Relieved, we followed the road for three more hours, until we heard the unmistakable sound of a waterfall in the distance. The Road turned away from the river for a couple of hundred yards, bet then resumed paralleling it again. Soon, the trees started thinning out and the waterfall off to our left was very loud. When we came to the end of the forest, we realized that we were near the edge of a great escarpment. We dismounted and walk to within a few feet of the edge.
The drop was a good 500 feet and it looked as if the cliff went both north and south far enough to be lost to the curvature of the world. The waterfall was a good half mile wide. The Road went right to the edge of the cliff. Far below we could see it resume again a few yards from the cliff base.
It seemed unlikely that the land rose up like this in the last few centuries, so I began praying for guidance while Olivia cast spells of detection and information. For my part, the Mother Goddess told me that this was indeed how the Road had been built, and that I should trust her not to let me be harmed.
Olivia found that an ancient magic was still upon this part of the road. She believed she could activate it, but the ritual would take several hours. We then decided to make camp back under the trees.
Olivia ate an early dinner, then napped for a few hours. She is now starting her rituals. My watch is almost over, then Halana comes on. I’ll write more tomorrow, Diary, after we step off a cliff.
Sister Bomia Evarain
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