The Jail is connected to the court rooms by a covered walkway two stories above street level. A sense of vertigo comes upon me while looking at the old farm buildings sinking slowly into the earth. They drift unevenly into the mud and stand at odd angles awaiting a breath of wind to blow them over. Suddenly the land changes. Areas of it seem to rise up and fall away for no apparent reason.
Deep pits appear in unexpected locations.
The Serpent lies in an area nearly 5 miles in diameter which has been faulted, folded and twisted by two immense explosions. To the consternation of many theorists, no volcanic or meteoric debris is found in the area. Akoko, a fellow sorcerer, holds that the first explosion took place when the Serpent burst through the soil in an upward leap. The second explosion took place when it reentered the earth. Moss-covered limestone retaining walls rest to the right as the site of the mound is approached.