The EARTH story - January 25, 1372
January 25th dawns overcast and cold...again. It dropped to -6F
overnight. Soon after setting out, you ride out of the woods and into
an area of fields and pasture. By now you know that this usually
means that you are approaching a settlement. Sure enough, you ride
down into another shallow valley and enter the town of Yna Sur
(population 3500), the capital of the Kingdom of Happy Valley. The
place seems to be a busy, though rather rustic town. Compared to the
cosmopolitan cities to the south that most of you are more familiar
with, this northern kingdom seems to be rather poor and somewhat
shoddy in comparison. Wood construction is favoured over
brick...though the wall surrounding Yna Sur is of stone. For that
matter, despite any shoddiness in other areas, the defences are
well-maintained and well manned. You realise that this is a true
frontier area, unlike even the Borderlands of Nlad, for happy Valley
is surrounded on almost all sides by mountains and deep forests which
Jo-owrn tells you are teeming with evil. This, he says, is the
northernmost true bastion of human civilisation remaining in the
land.
The Happy Road ends here, though a lesser road continues on
northwest while a second runs east down the river.
Stopping for an early lunch at an inn that Jo-owrn knows of, you
are back on the road again shortly after noon. By late afternoon you
are back in the woods again, and that night you again camp in Kelar's
tent.
This time, nothing disturbs you.