Part 1Finally, Vindels breath caught our sails, and we left the outskirts of Ildritz to look for the unknown realms of Luban. The Nordan took our ship, the Southern Star, swiftly upon its waves towards the Kristal River. It had taken menoths of preparation to get this far, to gather all our knowledge, all our gear to set sails to that far away country. The ship, its equipment and crew, our goods, the trade goods, gifts and our scientific equipment was finally ready to leave the walls of the University. I can not explain the joy that was found on the Southern Star as we left the river harbour of Ildritz. The Masters of the Ildritzer University waved us goodbye, and the marshal of the Emperor wished us a good and successful journey.And now we are heading south over the Kristal River. Tonight, we will be in Wymar, tomorrow we will sail to Pyrallis, and every day after that, we will sail the Wyz to the south, to the land of mysteries: Luban. Of course, there have been contacts before with this realm. But the Luban traders we know are just a tribe that lives on the border of the real Luban. The traders have contacts with Daleth and Luban, but we never reached beyond the lands of the traders, that is known as "The Valley". From the few sources we have, we learned that the Luban people are very different from the traders we know. Their society is rather isolated, and they never tell much about themselves when they contact the traders from The Valley. Thus, we have much to explore when we arrive in the lands beyond the Valley. It is Master Terpec Arnwr who leads this expedition. His dark eyes pierced the landscape in front of us, to scan the horizon for our goal. He looked a bit like the Red Hruk, ready to dive down upon its prey. His flamboyant golden cloak waved in the wind as another sail. But under his cloak -which could well be worn in one of the Imperial Salons - he wore the garments like those of his Naglani ancestors. The heavy leather boots, the strong leather trousers of a leader, the white linen shirt, sparkling in the sun, and the blue woollen kaminzol with double rows of silver buttons made him look like a Thyngfyrst. Enthusiastic and anxious he encouraged the crew of the Southern Star to speed up. Of course, Captain Snytzu is in charge of the crew. He had sailed many times to The Valley, and knew the Wyz like the Overveer place he was born and raised in. As we arrived at the Rainbow Falls, he told the men to take the ship out of the water as if he never did anything else. He took the lead in guiding the ship to the lower end of the falls, and did not even glance at the rainbows that filled the skies here. In no time at all, we sailed on towards Pyrallis. Snytzu was master of his ship, king of the Southern Star, emperor of the river. His red waxen coat shone in the sun, and water dripped off it as if he was untouchable. His broad rimmed hat covered his smart face, only his nose -which was a little to long for his looks - poked out from underneath it. He smiled a lot from under his moustache, but I never was sure if he really smiled or merely smirked. Young Berot is our servant for the journey. He helps us wherever he can. He cooks, and cleans and does lots of things more. The little brat, who roamed the streets of the Kungsfelthan only menoths before, had a charm that no one could resist. Nobody knew why he had come with our party. Was it Master Terpec who asked him to come along, or Captain Snytzu? Or maybe one of the other members of our respectable party? It sure was not me. I did distrust him from the first time I saw him. Maybe it was that I was a lot like him when I was young, and I knew I should look through his charms to see the boy he really was. A streeturchin, always looking for his own profit. And I knew he knew I knew what he was. He disliked me. But I do not bother; I never felt the need for a servant. We had sailed through Klainskrizzon, and after that, we sailed in the shades of the high and rocky riverbanks of the Wyz River. Just before sunset, we reached the harbour of Pyrallis. The city lay miles away on the slopes of Mount Funins, smoke came from the many chimneys and the mountain itself. Dirt lay over the landscape, and the sky glowed red in the fires of the Pyrallis industry. Pyrallis is by far the dirtiest city I know, but I liked her nevertheless. Unfortunately, we did not go into the city, but stayed on the Southern Star in the harbour, where we met Obezawa, a trader from The Valley. The dark skinned man would sail with us over the Wyz and in exchange for his passage, he would teach us about Luban. Obezawa was a cheerful man, who liked jokes and never stopped talking. It did not bother him that none of us understood even half of what he said. His words in the Luban accent were flowing like the river itself, and gave us a taste of what was to come. I have thus far not mentioned Master Valosh, and she does not really deserve not being mentioned before. She teaches Cultural Studies and Ethnic Art at the University of Ciniz. She speaks all languages of Daleth and knows how to read Giantian. She has lived with the Naglani for two years to study them, and with the Sudzi for more than a year. She is anxious to study the Lubanian. She has brought with her two assistants, Mewin and Namae. Two assistants, and they are hardly capable of carrying all the books the master brought with her. When I first saw her bookcase, I was afraid it might sink the ship. Master Valosh is the only teacher I know who wears the toga and does not look like an idiot in it. Both Mewin and Namae are students. Mewin is specialised in religion, Namae in society. The others had gone to bed and the four of us talked a lot in the now silent harbour. It was a dark night, and only the growing slice of Lukarna was to be seen. During our passage on the Wyz, we would have the benefit of Lukarnas light. We had no idea about what we where going to, and our gathered knowledge was not much more than a book of fairy tales. I now realise I failed to introduce one of the party, and that is me, Yours sincerely, Gernon Tolirsson of the Feliz-Felthan, |