Beluaterra Travel Guide
Arriving at Beluaterra
Arriving in Grehk
I've boarded the Ol' Tikwans Flotilla 3 weeks ago now. It has been a very unpleasant journey, with many tropical storms. And if it wasn't raining, the sun was knocking me down with its heat. First, I was considering suicide. Luckily I managed to discover the bright side of life, thanks to Old Grehk's Natural O' Pium, some sort of tobacco mixed with dry tea, which you have to smoke. And believe me, it makes you feel good! Every time I smoked it, I saw the sun and felt it rain at the same time. Even once captain Tikwan smiled at me, which is very rare. It was also very strange that he punched me right after that. I think that's a side effect of the O'pium.
So I was once more satisfied, lurking my good old "Silver Pipe for Tabacoo and other smokes". I was nearly at the climax of this satisfaction when I hear the sailor shouting: Land in sight, all is bright! This was an old saying, first used by the explorers of the 7th Royal Flotilla, who discovered the continent. Lucky to hear that we were approaching the Island I should report of, I hurried myself to port. There I had a nice view over the coast of Midas Chia (The ship had already turned). It took another hour before we put foot at Grehk. and at this moment, my journey begins. I took my notebook and my piece of gold and started to explore the continent, beginning with the pubs in downtown Grehk.
I started walking towards the city with a sauntering gait, not sure where I should go first. My problem is that I am making a guide not just using one. This made the adventure even bigger. But as I said, I was just walking around.
I came into a street called 'Sir Son of Patrick's Lane'. I had no clue who Son of Patrick was, but the street was clearly the place to be. I picked the pub which looked cheapest and I had some luck. The pub was called 'Drunken Freedom', and it was run by a small, young barkeeper. I even became happier when I heard it was 'Ime's Festival Day', which means free food, free drinks and a free bed. The piece of gold I had with me, I could spend another day. What I didn't knew then is that I would need it very much later on, but I didn't care that eve. I got drunk and woke up with the local beauty next to me. The only thing I could hope was that I was too drunk... When I got myself washed, I checked out of the pub, which changed completely it seemed. So I was back on the street, writing the 'Beluaterra Travel Guide'.
Book 1
=== To Starting Point Cagamir === via Ardmore - Rii - Irombro
It is now Tuesday. I have been on the continent for 2 days by now. 4 weeks ago I left my home to set sail to Beluaterra. Once I arrived in Grehk, I stayed there for 2 days. Today I will continue my journey. I have made plans to go from the South (Cagamir) to the North (Doatnu). However I could also end up in Zettermain. It depends on what the locals advise me, and what happens to me.
But now I'm standing outside the walls of Grehk. In the city itself, there were a lot of young people. But when I took a look at the fields, I saw that they were barely used. I decided to ask one of the few men that I could find why it is so empty here. He told me that there was a war going on, between Luz de Bia and Midas Chia. He said that almost every men was forced to join the army. Many of these men never returned, and those who did were traumatised and had terrible smelly wounds. But well, I wasn't here to report a war. I thanked the mand and moved on, to Ardmore.
Ardmore
This all sounds simple, but passing the borders between Midas Chia and Riombara wasn't that easy. First, the Midas Chian Guards stopped me and suspected me of smuggling. It took about 3 hours before I could convince them that I was just a hitchhiker. When they finally let me go, I had to get trough Riombara's checkpoint. Again, they stopped me and suspected me of something dark. They said I was an assasin. It took again some hours to convince them, and I realised I would never make it to Town before nightfall. So I decided to look for a nice farmer who didn't suspect me of everything bad. Luckily, the Riombarians are very nice people who always like to help a hitchhiker. I stayed at Eywin's farm for just one night, but he told me so much about the 'world' that it seemed a century to me.
He told me about how beautiful this land is and how gentle their king 'Dalvin' is. (Afterwards I heard the real name was 'Delvin', but 'Dalvin' is just a dialect.) He told me that his family owned about 15% of the land in Ardmore. Together, they were one of the richest families of the realm. And he had two daughters and three sons. They all helped him on the field accept one daughter, who married a local captain. He said his harvest was good this year, and that he had thanked the gods in the forum. When I asked more about the forum, he told me that it was about 3000 years old. He said that it had first been a shrine to one of their gods, but that when the colonists came, it became a forum. I asked him how to get there, and he offered me a lift.
I must admit that the 'Forum Ardmorei' is very nicely built. Everything is made from white marble. It seems like the monsters haven't touched it. That might be true even! The South has, not like the North, been saved from major invasions. And if I should believe the locals, Riombara had this land during the entire last invasion.
Rii
It was already dark when I arrived in Rii-'Downtown'. In my hurry, I was scared to get robbed, I entered the 'White Horse Inn'.. The door was made of silver, and inside there were golden torches everywhere. The White Horse Inn seemed to be existing ever since mankind was here. This building was built even before Jaffar The Explorer had been aware of the existence of the island. I managed to get a bed for 1 gold coin. The room was very clean and large. The next morning I ate a fantastic breakfast, but I couldn't stay in Rii for long. Besides, there was nothing worth to be visited here.
Irombro
A city, finally! After travelling almost a week through dark forests and humble regions, the light of a living city was a joy for me. Once I got in the city, I was invited to stay over at some clerk's house. His name was Lorence, and he was fascinated by me for some reason. I told him about what my plans were and what I had already done. He asked if I would survive. I wondered why he asked that. So he told me that there were still regions with monsters and other demonic mutanies. He told me, as well, that I should be careful when I would pass mountains. He said that the mountains are the homes of the Gods, and that when you disrespect them, they would send horrible creatures to chase you down. So we kept on talking for the rest of the evening. I felt sad when I had to leave the city.
First Steps in the Unknown World
Cagamir
Cagamir was the place where my real journey begins. I will now try to describe the regions I pass trough as good as I possibly can. I will try to describe the way of living and I will try to describe their religions and their buildings or their monuments. However some regions will not earn more then a few lines, whilst others earn whole chapters. I will also write about the realms and their leaders. I will try to give an opinion about every realm, however that might be hard, since I have relatives in this world. I will surely meet new people, some of them will travel with me but no-one will do what I do. I will meet my relatives, or so I hope. I can only hope they welcome me.
For now, I am in Cagamir.
The sun splits my skull with its heat. I ask to my self what I have done wrong, that the gods punish me like this. I find myself on a ship between the calm beaches of Irombro and the Black Cliffs of Cagamir. Cagamir is a region, controlled by Riombara, with a population of ca. 750 men when I arrived there. No dense population indeed. The first place with houses I saw was situated upon the high, black cliffs. Under the cliffs was a small beach with brown sand. The boat would drop me off there. I could use the small stairway which have been there even before there were boats, to get upon the cliffs. The community where I arrived had about 60 civilians. Almost all of them were fishermen, a few travellers were staying over at the Dark Water Inn. I got myself a room and enjoyed a beer in the tavern. There I met Sangues, a rich farmer from Lopa. We began to talk about what brought us to this village, and we chatted about some political stuff. I must admit that I do know nothing about politics, so I just questioned and listened.
He told me that opa was a part of Enweil. He said that he would go back to Lopa in 4 days, and that he first had some undone business left. He asked if I would like to join him on his way home, after I told him I would have to go trough Lopa. I agreed, of course. These 4 days left gave me a chance to explore the region.
Sangues woke up at 5 minutes past sunrise. I was already awake, I never learned how to sleep past sunrise. It was a lovely morning, the sky was a mixture array of blue and pink colours. I could see the sun rising in the East, which was the sea. My grandfather used to tell me that Carozar, God of light and sun, rode upon a horse made out of clouds, and that Carozar's had a golden, blinding shield (aka the sun). He said that Carozar turned crazy after he got attacked by demons and monsters. Carozar would then have created his shield and he is now still chasing the darkness of demons every day. I still believe this, because one of my great-great-great-grandfathers was the founder of this religion. I see it as a way to honour him, every day. He had written his believe in an old language, which does not exist anymore. His original manuscript was destroyed in the war of the seven gods, but luckily some people copied it and you can now find the religion in The Spiritual Guide to Estahs
I first had breakfast with my 'friend'; bacon with eggs, and Cagamir Cake. After this, Sangues asked me if I would like to join him today, visiting farms and warehouses. I couldn't say no to that, so we left for our first farm to visit.
Lopa, here I come!
After a few day of farm-visiting, we left for Lopa. Lopa was still far away, so it would probably take us a few weeks to get there.
Bolkenia
Bolkenia is a rural region, with only 845 habitants. Not much indeed. And that is what makes this region rather boring. The old glory has long been gone. In the West you still have the city of Eno, but anarchy is currently controlling it. Bolkenia is a region long forgotten. I wonder if Delvin even knows about this region. It is clear that the monsters have been here, because the local town hall is completely destroyed. Only a few people didn't feared me and Sangues and started to talk to us. They told us that the monsters were terrible, and that they had eaten a lot of peasants. Of course, and angry civilian said, the government just abandoned us and we had to make it on our own.
It is obvious that there won't be much to visit in this region, so I moved on to Eno.
Eno, Capital of the Monsters
It was kinda easy to get into Eno. The town was completely destroyed. However there were still about 50 000 civilians, it was a complete anarchy. The chance to get robbed was very high, and Sangues and I hired some guards at the entrance gate of the city. They were pretty useful, because we got attacked seven times. There was no place to stay over night, so we decided to enter an empty house. We got us a nice diner and found ourselves some beds. The next morning, we had an average breakfast with old, black bread.
When we wanted to visit the Cathedral of Eno, our guards strongly disapproved it. They said that the Lord of the monsters was seated there, and that we would be killed if we even looked at that building.
Very sad, I thought, because the Cathedral of Eno was one of the buildings to visit on my wish-list, but that couldn't get me down, and I visited some other important monuments. The Tower of Light, for example, was still complete. It is a very nice tower, build of Vatrona's Finest Marble. The tower was dark-red colored and seemed to be untouched the whole time. When I asked why, a guard said that the monsters feared this tower, as it spreads light at night.
Brovyl
Well I had my fun in Eno, however it was occupied by the monsters. So Sangues and I decided to continue to Lopa, passing Brovyl first. We thought that it would be very easy to get into Luz de Bia when you come from a rogue region, seeing the fact that they are in war with Midas Chia(and therefore concentrate their military on the northern borders).
That, however, was totally not true. When we were at about 500 meters away from the Border Post, we were taken under fire by Luzian arrows. It took us 30 minutes to convince them that we were not attacking them. Then we were allowed to come a little closer. We stopped at 10 meter away from the Border Post, as the guards ordered us. They asked some question, like what we were planning to do and if we had weapons with us, would we use them. We answered very fairly that we were just travelling to Lopa, Enweil, and that we had no weapons with us.
We must have had the look of a monster, because the guard kept questioning us. Finally, after 3 hours of negotiating and donating 5 gold to the Guard's Personal Treasury, we were allowed to enter the civilized land of Luz de Bia. And yes, Brovyl is very civilized.
Brovyl has a nice town, with approximately 800 Brovylians. In whole Brovyl, there are 905 civilians, but some of them still live on the country side. The center of the region is located on the Eastern Brovylian Riverbank. In the town, you can see many traders selling their goods to wealthy locals. If the economy in Luz de Bia is as good as it is here, in Brovyl, Luz might be the richest realm.
After finding ourselves a bed in the local inn, we explored the town a bit. The town really comes alive at night, when the pubs are crowded and musicians use their magic to make your feet go moving. They have, also, a sweet tasting beer here, called Distilian. A barkeeper told me that Distillian is made from oak leaves, sunflowers, sugar and water. When I asked for the receipt, he simple turned away. It seems that the receipt is secret, or something like that. I don't care, as long as I can buy the beer.
Next morning I woke up and I had a hangover. Luckily Sangues brought me a cup of coffee, which made me fit again. Moving to Epinotke!
Epinotke
Appendix
Just something that does not belong to the book, like a special word of thank or something.
Writer
The writer is not known yet. Although it is a family of the Willems Family, the name has not been found. I (PrinsSimon) will try to find a character name as soon as possible.
Special Thanks
Special thanks for Fanta, with helping me with the spelling and encouraging me of writing. Thanks a lot, Ghostly!
