February 17^th, 912

My journey along the Ovcharkan Trail finally came to an end today. Alicia and I arrived at a small village along the outskirts of Gravalt late in the afternoon. Though it is quite remote, the village does have a basic inn to house travelers from the Ovcharkan Trail.

Surprisingly, one of the two rooms is already being used by another traveler, so Alicia and I are sharing. She is currently pestering me and looking over my shoulder as I write and I am going to continue describing her until she stops. It is very distracting trying to write with someone watching, Alicia.

She has reluctantly walked away to see to her weaponry. I shall write about my initial impressions of Gravalt.

It is a very remote nation, flanked by the expanse of the Akkhil Desert to the east, the Marilin Steppe to its south, and the Ciric Mountains to its northwest. The region the nation itself is founded upon is called the Ciric Hills, composed of the extensive rolling foothills of the nearby mountains. The land is dry, warm, and rocky, but extremely rich with minerals and ores thanks to nearby volcanic activity and the powerful presence of the Ley of Earth.

Much as it pains me to say, it was not uncommon for mortalkind to war against each other throughout the Holy Wars. Many groups and nations were desperate for resources, and Gravalt was a frequent victim of such attacks due to its abundance of valuable resources. Its people are hardy, and it benefited from an army that naturally resupplied itself as Fae were born from the nearby Ley, but it likely would not remain standing as it is today without the steadfast support of the United Mortals.

Fighting the Holy Wars naturally required a large number of resources. Not just metal with which to forge weapons and armor, but magically-charged minerals used in artificing and the creation of Relics. Gravalt has both in great quantities, so it was a key member of the United Mortals.

Due to its importance to the Holy Wars, Gravalt’s capital, Erenley, is one of the largest and most fortified cities in the world. Even at the nation’s peak, that single city was home to over four-fifths of Gravalt’s population. To my knowledge, Erenley has continued to prosper, but the rest of Gravalt has seen a significant downturn following the end of the Holy Wars.

This village is a perfect example. There are large fortifications and an extensive number of abandoned buildings and ruins, indicating this was once a rather large and well-defended town; most of its residents left after the end of the Holy Wars, leaving only a few native Fae to inhabit a cluster of buildings amidst what was once a much greater settlement. Said Fae are likely dozens or even hundreds of years old, remaining here simply because it is the only home they have ever known.

I am quite tired, so I shall retire for now. I shall write about the races of Gravalt tomorrow.

—Kirra

February 18^th, 912

I slept well last night. Alicia and I had to share a bed, but it was pleasant. She is a good cuddler No she isn’t that’s wrong ignore that

I must be more careful not to let her distract me and alter my entries.

We plan to disembark soon and travel towards Erenley. I doubt we will be able to reach it within a day, so we will have to camp out in the hills; we shall need to purchase some supplies, as I used up almost everything I had on me during the long trek across the Ovcharkan Trail. I would also like to take a moment to write about Gravalt’s people before continuing our preparations. The native population of Gravalt is made up primarily of two races, the Minixes and Gargoyles, both of whom are earth Fae.

The former is a race with very primal appearances, their bodies literally constructed of rocks loosely assembled into a stocky humanoid form. Some of the rocks that make up their bodies are physically connected, but most float in the air independent of each other. When they move, all the independently-floating rocks move as one as though they were connected tissues of a body. Larger parts of the body, like the torso and limbs, are made of larger rocks; smaller parts, like the fingers, are made of many smaller ones. Most Minixes lack a head, but have a “face” in its place, usually consisting of two flat, rounded rocks that form the facade of lips and two oblong rocks that form the facade of eyes.

Minixes are peculiar beings whose “real” bodies are primarily made up of energy which is channeled through the rocks that make up their physical form. If the rocks are sufficiently damaged and forced away from each other, the energy linking them dissipates; if this is repeated enough, the energy becomes too weak, and the Minix dies.

Minixes do not need to eat—perhaps unsurprising, given they lack a digestive system. They instead live off of energy absorbed from their environment, usually a combination of heat and ambient magical energy. They are capable of expending some of this energy to incorporate rocks form their environment into their bodies. In this way they can patch wounds or grow larger. If a Minix becomes sufficiently large, it can perform a sort of mitosis, splitting both its energy and the rocks that make up its physical body into two distinct entities that share the same memories and personality.

Minixes can be made of more than just stone, though that is the material most born naturally form the Ley of Earth are composed of. If they happen upon minerals, metals, or gemstones, they can fuse those materials onto the rocks that make up their body. Over time, the fused material will grow and replace the rock onto which it was grafted. Having a body made up of multiple materials causes Minixes to become unstable and can even lead to death, so they generally don’t fuse more than two or three of their rocks unless they have access to enough material to fuse their entire body into a new substance, and they strictly avoid having bodies composed of more than two different things. Additionally, Minixes are capable of fusing with processed metals just as they can raw minerals; this even includes alloys like bronze and steel.

Gargoyles, on the other hand, do not appear earthen in the slightest—most of the time, at least. They are demihumans with grey or black skin and fur, clawed hands and feet, animal-like snouts, large leathery wings protruding from their backs, and long, scaled tails.

Gargoyles have a natural aversion to sunlight, and as such most of them are nocturnal. The Minixes don’t particularly care whether they are active at day or at night, so they generally align themselves with their Gargoyle neighbors, resulting in Gravalt as a whole operating on a primarily nocturnal schedule.

In addition to being quite tall and physically powerful, and possessing the ability to fly short distances, Gargoyles have the ability to temporarily transmute their bodies into stone. They primarily use this ability defensively, hardening their skin to protect themselves, though it can also be used as an offensive tool, particularly by turning their wings to stone to allow the otherwise vulnerable limbs to be used for attacks.

Being exposed to sunlight for more than a few minutes causes a Gargoyle’s stone-transmutation ability to begin to activate against their will. If a Gargoyle remains in direct sunlight for too long, it is possible for their entire body to become a statue, leaving them trapped that way until the sun sets or they are moved into shade. For this reason, Gravaltian settlements feature large amounts of shade in the forms of awnings, umbrellas, and the like.

Ah, it seems Alicia is growing impatient. That is enough writing for now; let us finish our preparations and embark.

—Kirra

February 18^th, 2^nd entry

As expected, night fell well before we arrived at Erenley. Travel across the craggy hills is much slower than across the wide-open Marilin Steppe. Not only are we constantly going either up or downhill, we also must be much more cautious here. On the steppe, danger could often be seen from miles away; here, it could always be just around the corner.

We had several close encounters with Hippogriff during today’s travels, but were thankfully able to escape without resorting to combat. Those monsters, while territorial, prefer to graze rather than hunt and are not especially aggressive, so we were thankfully able to get by. They are quite far from the biggest threat to be found in the hills, however. Bulgasari and Griffins roam these parts, and I am not eager to come face-to-face with either.

Hundreds of years ago, quite early on in the Holy Wars, a number of very brave—or very foolish—beastmasters went to great effort to capture and tame a number of Griffins. Since then they have continuously bred the monsters to be smaller and less ferocious; they are now commonly used as mounts for the world’s top-class officials. Most people seem to think of those tame Griffins first, but it is important to remember just how terrifyingly powerful the wild ones are. There is a reason almost every tame Griffin descends from the same ancestors; most attempts to tame new ones have failed.

In any case, I don’t expect to be attacked at night. Most of the region’s predators do not hunt in the dark, so we can sleep semi-peacefully. We were also lucky to come across a small cave to use as a shelter.

I offered to sleep together with Alicia again, but she refused. Oh well. Hopefully we will reach Erenley tomorrow.

—Kirra