Into the Wilds: Khulur Bede's Adventurers into the Realms of Lylcairn and Courrakey

Into the Wilds: Khulur Bede's Adventurers into the Realms of Lylcairn and Courrakey is a book that was gifted to Naldri by Lysiphoia upon their visit to Chalimar Palace.

## Description

Seemingly an account of the experiences of an explorer spending time with the residents of the northern realms of Ahlus, Into the Wilds in bound between wood in place of leather.

## Research

### Completed by Zareyl Arkenviir

*Preface: The following tales occurred between the years of 1003AG and 1008AG, although these notes were not collated and made ready for publishing by the Esterving Printing Guild until after Khulur Bede's passing two-and-forty years later. These texts are dedicated in his memory, so that his joyful spirit and boundless energy for adventure may never be forgotten.*

*1004AG | Fellden - Lylcairn.*

*The peoples of the Half Hag tribe are a strange and isolated folk, but no doubt well-meaning to outsiders, in spite of the fact that their chosen name may suggest otherwise. Fellden is no true town or city, but rather a series of loosely-connected villages that sprawl across some forty square miles. In place of the traditional Ahlusian Pantheon, they instead worship spirits of the forest, a fact no doubt tied to their supposed origin as eluded to in the nomenclature of their tribe. When I proposed that they had simply based their focus around Caihrnn, One with the Dirt and the Lord of the Quiet Places they instead refuted this with a gentle laugh and we spoke no further on the matter. That night we dined on a stew made with Merry Berries, the mildly-magical fruit that have been a constant across this land. It seems that the plant possesses a remarkable talent for adaptation, surviving equally well on the arid edges of the Aurochs Plains and in the chill mists of the north. Instead of the spiked fruits growing beneath palm fronds that I am more used to, they instead develop a thin waxy skin to hold back the frosts here in Lylcairn - but the pink flesh tastes cloying sweet all the same. With our senses enhanced by the substances brought out in the cooking process, I spent the night with the tribe elders, counting the stars and spying the constellations that join them.*

*1005AG | The Burrow - Lylcairn.*

*Though not intrinsically unpleasant, I cannot help long for the hospitality of the Half Hag tribe now that I have spent some more time with those that tattoo their palms with the symbol of the Brown Fox. I know understand why the Emperor never once sought to conquer these lands and add them to the Empire, for it is surely a place of little true worth. Once simply has to compare the clean streets and towering constructions of stone and brass in the Imperial Capital of Esterving to the mud-tracks and desolate groves of the Inkwallow Mire and see this plain. Each set of eyes, regardless of the beast seem to watch as we pass, but I have seen that many amongst the Brown Fox tribe seem to have talent for transforming themselves into such beasts. I cannot help wonder whether the Giant Toad that ate Bavan was one of their number; he had got in a heated debate with a pair of them a few days before about the ownership of a silver-plated spoon, I recall. Nonetheless, we will soon be at the border with Courrakey - and from there the Hoarfrost Expanse awaits me.*

*1008AG | Grimvern Bluff - Courrakey.*

*So I stand, at what appears the end of the world. With stretches of snow behind me I stare out across a sea of pale ice and cerulean waters and see nothing beyond. The howling gale of the northern winds causes me to avert my gaze as I stare off into the horizon, and so I find myself seeking shelter from the worst of it in an inlet at the base of the great mountain known as Grimvern Bluff. What is better than a raging blizzard to force one's hand back to his writing after all, although warming my inks sufficiently proved a task and a half in its own. Praise be to Buwello for the wines and oils made by the alchemy jug gifted to me before my departure, for without them I would surely have suffered greater than the trifling incidents that have indeed befallen me. Though I had hoped to be the one to find the clutch of Chylzrad while the beast lays dormant, I feel it is about time that I start upon my journey home. I'll make south, and then travel back to Esterving in style upon the Great Conduit. I've heard the Elemental Caravan has satin-lined seats!*