Scroll 3 - treating of the geography and travel information of the Forest and beyond of Ythor.

 

 

The Traveller's Guide to the Empire of Corwyth.

Published by the Corwyth Royal Press (Lower Level Dungeons, Imperial Palace), in the 14th Year of the Gryffon.

Section 3: Inland regions of Ythor.

It is best to travel inland from Pallmor – the route is clearly defined for the first twenty miles. Along the way is the dwelling place, usually inhabited by folk who have their own reasons for staying outside of the town.

FORESTS OF PERPASIA

Gradually, the way becomes more thickly treed, until a large black sign with red lettering announced, “Here be the Forest of Perpasia! Enter no further, ye unwary traveller, unless it be that ye seek adventures. Beware ye the Vampyres.”

It is impossible to say whether the rumours of vampyres are correct, but it is better to be safe than Undead. (Pallmor provides some vampyre protective equipment in the marketplace… remember to stock up there.)

The trees here are Perpasic pines, and are dark and full of silent rustling. (Some say the trees themselves are sentient, but these people also talk to flowers to make them grow, and may be seen chatting with stone walls to get a sympathetic hearing.) Those who enter this forest will find that it takes MUCH longer to get through than might be expected – the forest is a maze through which navigation is difficult. There may be trapped princesses hidden here, or secret hoards, or desperate criminals in hiding, or – lots of things! – for those brave enough to venture off the main path.

RUINS OF AEROTH

There is definitely a ruined city in the middle of the forest – but it has yet to be explored at length. What is known to date is that it is the remnant of a once-glorious city, now in ruins – and so it has been since before the Barbarian Wars and the founding of Corwyth. Known as the Ruins of Aeroth, the plan of the city that was once here included a large castle, ceremonial public baths, a huge altar for sacrifice to a dæmon, many houses, and a large marketplace in the centre of the city. What is left now is waiting to be discovered by some intrepid explorer. No-one knows what disaster caused the city to become ruins, and no-one knows what became of the inhabitants. Rumour states that strange noises reverberate through the Ruins...

A fortunate, well-equipped traveller who survives the terrors of this Forest of Perpasia will emerge into the cleared area beyond, where the road breaks into a number of paths. To the left, leading north-west, is a path marked by the signpost as “This Way to the Pirthie Swamp”. To the right, leading almost due north, is a path marked “The Balthereze Mountains”. In the distance can be seen the blue-peaked mountains. They are quite high, and obviously not for the amateur who’s out for a pleasant stroll.

UNEXPLORED REGIONS

A number of other paths lead off in various directions, but the lettering has been obliterated from the various signs. Information about local attractions may be gathered from locals who live in small isolated farmhouses along the various paths. The Empire of Corwyth actively encourages parties to explore new regions and bring back details to the Imperial Family. An adventurer will choose any one of the paths, most of which lead vaguely right, to the east.

A recently published manuscript, "Around Ythor In Eighty Months", written by Pikell Hayling the famous traveller, is now available for further information.

PIRTHIE SWAMP

The traveller who takes the left fork will travel along an overgrown and winding path which is approximately sixty miles in length. Along the way is the occasional small cottage, but mostly a traveller will have to fend for himself in the open. Finally, the path widens into a very marshy area. There, marked around with forbidding boulders, is the huge Pirthie Swamp. It’s an evil, noxious place, and it is not recommended that the traveller swim within this swamp. Frilled HarlequinSnakes (so named for their unusual variegated colouring and ruff) live here – their venom is lethal. No known cure exists for their bite.

A huge creature is rumoured to dwell here – but this guide can only speculate on the nature of the beast. Insufficient evidence has been accumulated to prove its existence.

Also dwelling here are the Swamp Trolls, monolithic creatures who don’t want to be friendly. They guard the hidden bridge of the Swamp. There is some unusual vegetation growing in the centre of the Swamp, but any traveller must get past these trolls in order to gather these plants. Getting past the trolls may be the easy part – for in the centre of the Swamp dwell the Hags of Narcissism. They are extraordinarily hideous, extremely vain, and somehow are convinced that they are ravishingly beautiful. They are powerful magic users, and love to eat flesh. An enterprising adventurer has put up a sign at the edge of the swamp, which reads, “Please do not feed the Hags of Narcissus. Thank you”.

If the right fork is taken, the traveller proceeds slowly upward as the road begins with a gentle slope. Gradually, however, the path begins to rise steeply at the foot of the Balthereze Mountains. A large cottage has been built here, where a group of mountaineers have grouped together to provide experienced guides, good quality equipment, and both useful and useless advice. The place is known as The Peaky Pack Shack.

BALTHEREZE MOUNTAINS

Once beyond The Peaky Pack Shack, the path winds upwards on the mountain proper. There are mountain caves here, and many fearsome species live within these mountains. The name Balthereze comes from the Balther Dwarves who dwell here, extremely powerful and pogonophobic (making them the only beardless dwarves in existence).

{Pogonophobia: a fear of beards}

Other creatures, such as the goblins, trolls, and orcs, also live here. Most species are dangerous – only the orcs are completely unreasonable. Don’t ever try to negotiate with them – the travellers who have tried have ended up as Orc-hor-d’oeuvres! The orcs can generally be found closer to the top, but they have been known to climb down in order to snack upon an unwary climber. Raiding parties are frequent upon these mountains.

About half-way up, the mountains become extremely cold, and warm clothing is a must. Gradually, ice begins to appear on the mountain, and by the time the climber is four-fifths of the way, the mountainside is completely covered with snow. Stalactites point downwards from the curving sections of rock as the way becomes incredibly difficult. Climbing here entails good rope-work and every care should be taken – many unwary climbers have frozen to death or plummeted to their deaths by a careless step or as a result of insufficiently maintained equipment.

Right on the top of the mountain is where the giants dwell. They are harmless, as long as the climber mentions that he/she comes from Corwyth.

Where the top of the mountain curves into an icy plateau, there is something else – a Cavern. The Cavern is a place of legend, infamous in Corwyth. It is a place of... coldness. The following is an extract from a diary written by the famous (and long dead) explorer Sandor Snau, a remarkably powerful writer – most of the diary is destroyed, however...

“Ice has a smell, a chill perfume that crackles coldly with vitreous bite. And in this cavern of gleaming crystalline ice, the ice-chilled scent of it was overwhelming. The curving walls whose crisp ice was folded and layered with intricate strata of faint blue, pure white, and something darker, rose high, high, high above the silent whiteness of the floor, rising and curving, rising and curving, until they met in a domed ceiling that was cathedral-like in its conformation. How strange, too, that the very air here seemed silent, save for the occasional crackling that came from the depths of the ice.

"A subtle blue light emanated from the apex of that domed ceiling, spilling downwards with a chilling luminosity upon the altar in the centre of the cavern. And here, here was what drew the eye ... an altar of black ice, sheared and carved by winds more powerful than could be made by nature. It held within its substance a coldness more absolute than mere blackness could contain, and from its heart emanated a chill more glacial than ice itself could hope to bear. Most ominous of all was the tinge of redness that lay smeared in stilled protest upon the surface of the altar, a few muted drops of past horrors frozen upon the nearby floor, and the daubs of chilled blood that lay amidst the snow-scuffed trail that led to the right...

"Great pillars of blue ice marked the entrance to this cavern, and the strange symbols carved deeply into the heart of the ice archway were mysterious, arcane, and indecipherable - indecipherable, at least, to all the mages who had come here before to the Catactaric Cavern, and certainly to me, although my knowledge of symbols and languages is remarkable. This Catactaric Cavern was accessible only to those who traversed the terrible peaks of the Balthereze Mountains, and cannot be reached in any other way.

"I would have stayed longer to examine the Cavern in more detail, but I was weak, terribly weak from the wounds I incurred in battling the orcs of these mountains. I needed to get back down to civilisation, to return to where the ice does not freeze the blood, where beardless dwarves do not lie in wait to slaughter the unwary. I left, promising that I would return one day…”

Sadly, Sandor Snau perished shortly afterwards, and few have traversed the mountains to the top since that time. Those that have were repulsed by a magical field which seems only recently to have dissipated. The time is rife for further exploration.