February 19^th, 912

Travel across the Ciric Hills is treacherous, and I suspect the dangers serve as the primary reason most of its settlements have been so thoroughly abandoned. Few are willing to travel here except along the main road directly to Erenley, which speaks doom for any settlements not built along that road, such as the one Alicia and I stayed in. The more people leave, the worse-defended the settlement becomes, sparking even more to leave in response.

While dangerous, Hippogriffs and Bulgasari aren’t threats a well-trained militia or a pair of competent travelers would be unable to deal with. I believe what causes people the most fear is the looming threat of Basilisks.

Basilisks are large, incredibly powerful monsters. Their corrosive breath turns everything it touches to stone, and they wield a terrifying magic that lets them project that power as a destructive beam. Though perhaps not among the most powerful monsters across the world, they are certainly the most dangerous and terrifying.

They used to roam these hills in great numbers, but the people of Gravalt and Emberfall made a great effort to purge them from the lands. The event came before even the formal beginning of the Holy Wars, one of the bloodiest hunts in history that resulted in countless deaths. Even so, they were eventually successful in slaying every last Basilisk that made its home in the hills.

Of course, I have already written that the threat of the monsters looms to this day. That is because the Basilisks made their homes not only among the foothills here, but in the great mountains to our northwest, as well. Even the bravest hunters dared not venture there, so Basilisks remained hidden among those peaks and valleys. Occasionally they wander out into the hills, and all the people of Gravalt can do is slay them when they appear.

Thankfully, we have not encountered any Basilisks. I doubt I would have the opportunity to even write of it were we to stumble across a waking one. Erenley is within our sight now, and it stands as grand as ever. We shall finish the trek after a short break.

—Kirra

February 19^th, 2^nd entry

We have arrived in Erenley and are resting at an inn. It is a truly impressive city, even after all these years, and it doesn’t seem to have diminished whatsoever following the end of the Holy Wars.

The city is among the most well-defended in the world. Three separate layers of fortified walls surround the city, each utilizing different designs intended to combat different threats. Bands of flying warriors patrol the skies, and magic crystals hang above the city to shoot down any would-be invaders. The bulk of the innermost layer of the city is interconnected as one truly massive building, the individual homes and shops and workplaces within like the rooms of a great castle. The central tower is complete with streets and parks and everything else one might expect of a city not enclosed within stone walls.

The central tower does not stand alone. Flanking it, its form intersecting the second wall, is a towering mountain. This mountain lacks a peak, instead featuring large, cubic outcroppings, their silhouette visible from miles away.

This unique shape is the result of the world’s largest and longest-running quarrying effort, slowly chipping away at an entire mountain. Mt Eternity is so-named due to the thick potency of the Ley of earth in the area, which attempts to continuously regenerate the mountain to its original shape, all the while filling it with heaps of ore and gems. That the people of Erenley manage to whittle the mountain down despite its constant regeneration is truly impressive.

It is late, so I shall retire for now. I plan on exploring the city properly tomorrow.

—Kirra

February 20^th, 912

Today, Alicia and I ventured deeper into the city. There are some thin outskirts beyond the outermost wall, which is where we stayed the night. The city itself gets progressively thicker with each wall one passes, the central tower naturally being the densest—one of the densest in the world, I would bet.

Erenley is a mixing pot of cultures, since most of its residents are the descendants of immigrants. Many small subsections of the city have their own subcultures, often mimicking other nations or being groupings of similar races. Simply strolling through the city is a magical experience as you find yourself in miniature versions of dozens of other nations.

The main hub of trade in the city is located on the northern side, within the first wall and beside Mt Eternity. This is because the largest portion of the city’s trade flows north to Emberfall, where it is then shipped outward via sea. A decent portion also flows east across the Akkhil Desert, though it is a long and harsh trek, doubly so for a large caravan.

We happened upon a rather interesting interaction within the trade district. A group of Hek and Tiddaliks were going around and negotiating with many of Erenley’s resident traders, and it seemed their proposal had become quite a large ordeal.

These froggy merchants came from Toskila, specifically from Ko-Hanna-Takla. They followed the same general route as I did, traveling north along the Ovcharkan Trail and across the Ciric Hills. They seem intent on establishing formal trade between Toskila and Gravalt, skipping the middleman of Emberfall by having traders follow their land route north and south.

Erenley’s merchants are naturally hesitant to commit to such long and dangerous routes. It took me roughly twenty days to reach Erenley from Ko-Hanna-Takla, and that was with Kakana to pull me through Gravemarch by boat. Her help easily reduced my travel time by a couple days, and an entire caravan would likely take twice as long to make the full trip—not to mention it would be far more likely than a lone traveler like myself to fall prey to monsters or bandits.

At some point, I found myself participating in the discussion, and I relayed the above information, much to the dismay of the Toskilans. I was, however, able to offer some additional information. It seemed neither group was aware of the Marilin Harpies who lived atop the behemoths, and I suggested that they could serve as trading partners when they roamed near Toskila or Gravalt.

It was an interesting discussion, and quite a refreshing dose of human interaction. Alicia had been my only real company since I disembarked from Karrygeus, so it was quite nice to play a role in a heated argument. I am not sure how the discussion concluded; Alicia urged me to leave before things escalated.

We next ventured to the Eternal Quarry, the previously-mentioned operation that chipped away the peak of Mt Eternity. Security, as it turns out, is quite tight around the quarry, but I was able to use my affiliation with the United Mortals and claim Alicia was my bodyguard. I do feel a bit bad for abusing my authority in such a way, but it is for the sake of research.

As it turns out, managing the quarry is one of the main tasks the United Mortals has tasked its remaining forces with. The organization has been diminishing since the Holy Wars ended, and that has only hastened now that all the stragglers seem to be dealt with. Many think the world no longer has a need or place for the alliance, and many nations have already pulled out of it to pursue their own goals. I spotted someone from the UM I vaguely recognized, though I could not muster the courage to strike up a conversation.

The quarry itself is truly massive, enough to easily fit a town within its borders. It brings the truly incredible scale of Erenley into perspective. I have visited many places throughout my life with strong ambient magics like what are present here on Mt Eternity, but it is a sensation one can never truly get used to.

Many of the miners are Minixes and Gargoyles. They make up a large portion of Gravalt’s overall population, and even today they are occasionally born from the leyline here; finding and caring for these newborns is as important a job as the actual mining efforts. There are also quite a few races who possess supernatural strength, like Oni and Alphiccae, as they can put that strength to great use in this line of work.

The most interesting group I identified among the miners is a rather large number of Dwarves. They are a rather rare race to encounter, only choosing to live in a select few places above ground. Erenley is one of those places, and it is said that the surface world’s first encounter with Dwarves actually occurred here, despite the common knowledge that they originally emerged from the Trench of God.

After a long day of exploring the city and the quarry, Alicia and I made our way inside the second wall before deciding to call it a day. There was still plenty of daylight left, but we were both eager to take things easy after the long journey here. We found a nice inn and… perhaps drank a little too much. I am quite pleased that the inebriation does not significantly impact my ability to write, though it has largely worn off at this point besides.

I suppose I shall join Alicia in bed. I plan on exploring the central tower tomorrow.

—Kirra