794.II, 15 Floii: Greenwood Camp

The doorstep to the mountains, and the true start of adventure

Finally, the long journey across the Blue Sea is over. The endless waves of grass, flowing in the wind to the horizon were getting a bit boring to say the least. It took me fourty-one days total, to cross around fifty-five rides of flat grasslands between Lanten and here, at Greenwood camp.

This is the true starting point of my journey. Up to this point it was just a normal trip, getting to this place and getting ready. Because before me, above me, stand the mountains of the Saw Chain. The towering giants of rock and forest cross the Blue Sea South to North, an impenetrable wall of unknown heights. I have spent hours gazing, contemplating the unreachable heights, ever white with ice and snow, some of which seems to flow down to the valleys, huge glaciers descending like a frozen giant's tongue licking away at the rock. And they fascinate me, these rivers of ice that somehow advance in the land, in large and deep gorges carved like perfect half-cylinders.

I'm ready. I've prepared for the cold, for the snow, for the hunger. I've come this far, in one of the rare settlements that approach the foothills of these peaks, to attempt climbing up and crossing through the Saw, to find the highest points in the southern half of the chain, and to understand how glaciers work.

Greenwood camp is one of the handful settlements built on the margins of the Saw. Nested on a gentle slope, it hangs over the plain and offers a beautiful view of the surroundings. However here noone has come for the sight. The only people here are miners. Men and women who were brought to bore through the mountain's belly, deep in the dark, to find the earth's treasure. Lead, silver, gems. They extract fortune out of the mountains, they live off one of the most dangerous places in the North. Not to say that they get very wealthy, but it is enough to bring decent money for the family back in Lanten.

The miners welcomed me happily and are quite a merry folk. They live in poorly built barracks,but they improve on everything. They built stoves out of piping and mining equipment. In the big dormitory they even made a large fireplace with a broken steel chariot, and it gives quite appreciable warmth for the whole night. We all sleep in the same room, guys and gals. There ain't much privacy here, as they are all like family and noone seems to bother much.

Leen