LOST IN THE INFINITY
Journey to the Far North
I told you about my journey to see Sir Balrough and Macha the Kajira dancer again. On the Pirate ship I'd asked to accompany me, we reached the city of Rive de Bois at the end of the Exange Point River. From there, I took a caravan to the city of Ko-Ro-Ba. I'd already been there for the Kajira dancers' festival, and it was there, many years ago, that I met Macha, the choreographer of the dancers of Tyros (the Cos archipelago). Sir Balrough and I would later become very close friends. But once we reached the city, everyone had left to reach the city of Olni, where they would open a dance school and the new headquarters of the Tyros dancers. All I had to do was return towards the Sea of Thassa and then decide. We thus reached the city of Piedimont passing through the Teveh pass. We stocked up on provisions. There were two possibilities: reach Rovere in its gulf, or go down the river and reach the city of Laura, on the Larius river, and then head back towards the sea and reach Lidyus at the end of that long river.
Lidyus didn't hold much attraction for me, even though the city was located at the end of the promontory and on the route of ships heading to the islands to the north.
viking warrior
I could have gone south, but it was Spring, and I wanted to return to visit northern Torwsland, many large cities on the islands north of Lidyus: the great Farnacium on its own island, the coastal city of Kassau, then the island of Hulmeth, the island of Skjem, the city of Helmutsport on the coast beneath the Prigmar mountains, then the island of Scagnar, and the island of Hunjer. I had never been to these islands; I had always traveled along the coast. I stopped for a few days on the island of Scagnar. I wanted to explore that highly populated part of the planet.
I asked around about what lay beyond that sea. They told me there were no more islands, but on the coast were the Blue Tooth lands, then the Torvaldsberg region, in the Torvaldsmark region, and then it all ended with the great region of Axe Glacier, perpetually frozen. They told me it was impossible to live there, and no one had ever ventured into that frozen land.
Everywhere I went, I took note of the places and positions on the maps. There was still an unexplored region called Hrimgar Mountain. They told me that few had undertaken that journey, and many had never returned. This piqued my curiosity. I wanted to know everything about the planet, and I organized that journey into the unexpected.
Traveling in Torwsland is never easy. There are many difficulties to overcome. There are no pre-established paths; you have to travel by the stars and the moons. We had to head east, starting from Scagnar, the planet Gor, located on the other side of planet Earth. Therefore, the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. We had to follow the sun. And so it was that, after passing the great mountain of Torvaldsberg, we headed towards the mountains of Hrimgar, the last known ones. No one had ever discovered what lies behind those icy mountains.
We were already in sight of those mountains. Around us lay the desolation of the lands, great valleys crashing against the distant slopes. We found shelter at the foot of a hill whose summit was frozen. The cold was already making itself felt, even though it was the height of spring, and I was beginning to think I had made a grave mistake in wanting to visit that region.
One morning I went off to draw a map of the area. I was looking for a hill where I could take notes. The sky, initially clear with a timid sun, gradually became more and more cloudy as time passed. A light rain was falling, then from rain it turned to snow. I tried to return to the camp, but between the snow and the wind I lost track of the place and consequently my direction. I wandered in search of shelter. By now the snow was falling heavily. I don't know how long I walked, forcing my way through that storm, and finally, from exhaustion, I collapsed. I thought that this was my end, after a life spent traveling through storms and tempests at sea, the heat of the desert and the cold of the north. Then I fell asleep, exhausted.
I woke up, I don't know how long I had slept, I wasn't cold anymore, a warm fire was warming me and I had a Tarsk hide blanket on my legs. I looked around. I was in a large cave. A fire was illuminating part of it and I could clearly hear the moaning of some Tarsk and Borsk, and of course their stench, I got up and found myself in front of two large men dressed in skins with long hair and long beards, they had large axes in their hands, they looked like Vikings seen in old books, they looked at me suspiciously, I backed away in fear to the wall of the cave, until from the shadows came out a woman already advanced in years but, certainly, that she was expecting a child, you could tell by her large belly, she greeted me while signaling the men to stop.
In her hands she had a steaming bowl, it was Tarsk milk, I could finally warm up, they invited me to their table on the other side of the cave, after we sat down I explained who I was and why I was there, they listened with interest to what I said, the woman said that they had never seen southern men like me come all the way to their land, sometimes they came down to Laura in the summer, to sell their milk products, and the furs of hunted animals, and exchanged them for tools that were needed for survival.
They told me that they lived so free, that their mother was also their woman and with them also lived a sister of theirs who was sitting in the shade apart, a beautiful girl with golden hair and eyes as blue as the sky, they continued the family lineage among them, if at first they seemed like dangerous savages, in the end I had to change my mind, they were kind, they gave me some cheese, and some pieces of dried dog, they told me of their decision to live in those remote mountains, because they were descendants of the Vikings who came from planet Earth, and they did not want to change their family tradition or their culture.
They invited me to stay with them; they would give me their sister as a bride, and we would live happily. Their proposal made me proud. I liked the still very young girl with womanly curves, but I said I had my own oasis of the seven palms, and that they were surely worried at my camp and I didn't want to alarm them. So the next morning, by then it had stopped snowing, they accompanied me to the trail that led to the camp.
A contrasting experience, of people who lived promiscuously, but I respect their culture and their decisions, and I thanked them. I gave them some maps of the area to the west, and returned to the camp. My men had gone out to scout, and when they returned they found me and were happy.
So we set off again towards the coast. This journey had served me well, but I wanted to return to civilization..............
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