Chapter 2

This is my first trip further than next town over, Asserate.

The trip takes place during the rainy season. I have heard that no sane person voluntary travels any long distances on the Lost Coast during this time of the year, as the roads turn to mud and are washed away in many places, but nevertheless it is a great feeling of adventure for me as we start on our journey.

I guess I should explain a bit about the area, weather and vegetation for people who are not from the lost coast.

Lost coast is a frontier area on the south-eastern side of the great inland sea, much of the area is total wilderness and most towns are only few decades old. There are no real roads or many other signs of civilization in most areas, just small walled frontier towns.

The weather is subtropical with mostly two seasons: the rainy season and the less rainy season. The rainy season is when people up north have cold and we have moderate temperatures. During that season the rain mostly never stops, only changing in intensity. During the less rainy season we have hot weather, a lot less rain, even a few days totally without rain.

The most areas have dense growths of huge trees with not so much other vegetation surviving in their shadow, thus even when there are no or few clouds, you are traveling in partial twilight when outside the cultivated areas.

But I digress, I am supposed to tell you about the journey.

After the four months of waiting that seemed like four years, finally one morning I wake up the normal time to do my morning chores, get out of bed and go downstairs to get breakfast. But I stop in place when I get to the bottom of the stairs and stare. Ameiliee is sitting at the table having breakfast with my mother and father. I just stand there paralyzed and staring at her, my mind a confusing jumble of thoughts ranging from how beautiful she looks to my actually going away to the possibility that she is here to tell that things are canceled.

The situation seems to last an eternity, but likely a few seconds seconds in reality until those gray eyes again turn to me with the twinkle in them and she says again in an amused tone "And here I thought you did not want to go after all, given how late you slept."

I try to reply something about normal time to get up, but it all comes out in a hodgepodge of words. She laughs merrily, apparently quite aware of all the different things going through my head. Even my normally bit dour father has a small laugh at my confusion and says "Now, my lad, hopefully you will learn again how to speak before you leave, as the training in the guild is hard enough when you can talk"

My mother slaps him lightly on the arm, smiles, and says "Be nice Allan or I will tell him all about how hard time you had in getting the words out when you tried to propose to me ... the third time."

My father then smiles at her and says "I guess, I am not the most suave person at all times either, so the lad is a chip off the old block, it seems"

They then both look at each other fondly, kiss and laugh a bit.

After a while we all settle down, have breakfast and discuss the last minute details of the travel plans. Then I do my farm morning chores, hopefully for the last time and get my gear. We then leave still fairly early in the morning.

My father gave me "proper travel boots" as he called them two months ago and insisted that I wear them most of the time to break them in. He also gave me a good quality knife and showed me how to make a travel staff. Besides those I only have my loin cloth, a tunic, a spare loin cloth, flint and steel, a bedroll with wax clot on one side, some more wax cloth to make a roof to a lean to and a purse with 3 silver, 8 bronze and 20 copper. The money is about equal to 1/10 of a typical farmers yearly income.

We start walking northward, with Asserate as out first destination. This part of the journey is on a route that I know, as I have been there couple of times before with my father.

As we walk I notice that Ameiliee is different than other adults I know about, whereas for example when walking with my father on the same road, we would walk in a determined fashion and get to Asserate in about two hours, with Ameiliee the same trip takes maybe four hours.