Artor nodded, "If no other reason than we might see the lie of the land ... and what possibilities exist to support the community"

"Let's be about it"

Once the cart is reloaded and everyone has taken their seats, Radwa continues the northward journey.  The land is largely flat, although it seems to slope upward toward the plateau.  This area seems to be a desert, similar to the land around Canthus, however the air seems more humid.  A sparse smattering of plant life is evident, although many of the varieties are unfamiliar.

OOC: Any particular actions on your path northward?

As the group travels, Derrick focuses on keeping an eye out for danger.

The Veil itself walls off visibility in every direction, eventually.  Within it's bounds, you see to the west, in the distance, odd landforms and shapes.  Sometimes they seem to be moving or flashing, but it could just be distortion from the heat.  To the east, there seems to be more desert, sometimes broken by low buttes.  Beyond that, there is greenery in the distance and more humidity.  There also seem to be some large creatures in that direction.  A herd of slowly moving ... somethings is visible, but impossible to identify at this distance.  Occasional glimpses of flying creatures in the distance offer more proof of life.

The winds blow from the northwest, slow and irregular.  White puffs of cloud dot the sky, thickening to the west.  You can occasionally observe one drift through the Veil, seemingly unimpeded.

The drive itself is largely uneventful.  There are some minor crevices and weathered rock formations to navigate, but nothing that a few minutes of exploration can't find a way around.  One or two small lizards scurry from your presence into the protective shade of fallen cacti and rocky overhangs.  As you approach the plateau, the incline becomes steeper.  Perhaps a half mile from the top, Radwa picks a more level portion and parks.  "It's too steep past here, not safe to drive."

Derrick nods his understanding and clambers out of the cart. He stretches to loosen up from the drive. "Then we will hike from here." He looks over at Agatho as though considering saying some word of caution, but instead addresses the group generally. "We will have to move slowly to be safe."

"We should err on the side of safety over speed, I agree." From the ledge, Hoa Sen looks around. "Do any of you find it strange that there does not seem to be an 'other' side to the Veil? Is it perhaps circular? We have passed through, but..." she gestures to the horizon blurring northward into hazy light. "it seems intent on surrounding us once again, no matter how loose the fence. There is life here, but I wonder whether it came from inside or outside, and whether it is allowed to pass through as the clouds seem to."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:17, Fri 13 Mar 2020.

Disembarking the vehicles, Artor peered upslope and the returned his gaze to the others, "Safety? I favour speed ... why safety?"

The slope itself isn't a particularly technical climb.  There are numerous handholds and footholds, wide ledges to rest on, when needed.  The ascent takes less than half an hour, even for the least physically fit among you.

When you reach the top you have a wide view of the lands to the south, geography largely familiar to you.

You also have a commanding view of the massive crater opening up to the north.

Nearly sixty miles across, the great bowl slopes downward in a wide arc to a "floor" approximately 300 feet feet below the rim.  The land below is studded with clusters of constructed spires and ridges.  Each of the dozen or so groupings seems to be slightly tilted in a different direction, and none reach more than 150 feet above the ground. There seem to be trees and grasses and other life around each of these clusters.

In the center of the bowl is a wide, shallow lake with additional,smaller structures in it.  A waving canal seems to enter the lake from the southwest.  As your gaze follows the river, you see its path from a far point along the rim toward the lake.    Numerous tiers of concentric canals and swaths of lush greenery stretch out from the river in both directions, some reaching nearly twenty miles from the source.  More plants seem to be evident on the other side of the rim, there, as well.

And beyond the far edge of the rim and even further, the Veil persists.  It forms a rippling wall concealing this realm from the rest of the 9th World.

During the climb, Derrick focuses on helping others make the ascent regardless of the need to do so. At the top, he spends several silent moments taking in this view of the crater. "This would make a fine place to settle, but if we have found the Aix, or even some other group, they might not like to share such a land."

"We cannot know without speaking to them", observed Artor, "We should descend"

From the rim, the way down is quite steep to begin with, eventually sloping to become flat about two miles inward from the edge.  At your current position, you would likely need to climb down the first 75 feet or so, requiring ropes, skill, and/or luck.  From there onward, you could walk, but you'd need to take a number of switchbacks to keep the slope manageable until you reach some of the more gentle grades farther in.

Derrick eyes the terrain directly below the group with a dubious expression. Perhaps if we travel around the rim then we can find an easier place to descend?"

Glancing at the descent, Artor nodded once, "We might. Or not... I believe my rope will get us part of the way down... perhaps if we have another, then we might descend swiftly enough?"

"I believe we can manage the climb," Hoa Sen says. "I suspect we have enough rope between us to manage the worst of it." She looks out over the basin. "It may be possible, too, that there are more exotic dangers than hostile sapients below. We need no reminders to remain cautious, I am sure, but let us not assume these Aix are even the primary threat."

Artor nodded, “We must choose whether to leave the ropes in place, or not, with such in mind. If we can, a certain exit might be wise”

Much later, and far away ...

Alyssa was sitting outside her small cottage, examining the crystal trinket that she'd been given for her kind work earlier today.  There were still a few hours before sunset, and she wanted to enjoy the breezes off the sea as the sun sank into it.  Ghaan was lovely this time of year.

As she watched, there seemed to be a glow beginning to emanate from inside the crystal.  It quickly became bright and then blinding.  Soon there was a flash that surrounded Alyssa and enveloped not only her sight but all of her senses.

- - -

As she regained her awareness, Alyssa's sense of uncertainty grew.  There was sand and rock beneath her feet, not grass.  The air was dry and still and she smelled no hit of salt.  As her vision returned, two discrepancies struck her as very worrying.  The first was that it was much later in the day than a few moments ago.  The sun was nearly set behind the ... and that was the other worrying thing.

All around Alyssa, towering in the distance in every direction was a massive wall of some shimmering purple fog.  She had never seen nor heard of anything like it.

Alyssa's heartbeat quickened. Where was she? Was this the afterlife? It was not at all like the stories she had heard in her home village. She thought back at the events of the day. She had gotten the crystal as payment for helping a herder's child. It had just been a bruise really, nothing that really needed any treatment, but as her village resident healer it was to Alyssa they came when anyone was hurt or sick.

"No, I'm not dead. Can't be." she said to no one in particular. She pinched herself. Hard. "Yeah, you're definitely alive Alyssa, but where are you?" Alyssa lived alone in her cottage and she had the habit of speaking to herself aloud.

"HELLO? ANYONE THERE?" she shouted. "I guess I'll walk this way" Alyssa stated and started walking towards what she believed was east.

Taking further stock of her situation, Alyssa can see the following:

The purple fog is nowhere near her, but still surrounds her.  It's several miles away to the south and stretches into the sky at least a mile.  She's never seen anything so tall.  It seems to form a ring. She can see it, even above the slope, in the far distance in any direction.

Around her is desert, primarily.  She is on a south-facing slope that wouldn't be too difficult to climb for a better view.  The gentle grade leads south.

As Alyssa turns to head east, she trips ... over the wheel of a trailer.  The trailer is attached to a vehicle of some sort, one that seems to have been used recently.  A few tire tracks are discernible to the south, but farther down, they've been obliterated by the wind.

Two things regarding the cart stand out to Alyssa.  First is that there is a book in one of the front seats, with a tool in place to hold it open to a specific page.  On that page are designs for a device, including a part that looks identical to the crystal Alyssa had gotten this morning (one she can no longer find).

The second thing that stands out is footprints.  In the dirt leading northward, up slope, are the footprints of at least two different people sheltered from the wind by the cart and the rocks.

In reply to Immortal Eye (msg # 129):

Alyssa is tempted to stay and study the book and the vehicle further, but decides that it's probably better to find people instead. They might offer shelter and maybe some food. So she decides to follow the footprints north.

Moving up the slope, Alyssa is guessing that there will be a plateau or something from which to get a better view.  When she finally reaches the top, it's not a plateau that she finds, but the view is amazing.

Alyssa is along the rim of a giant crater, easily 50 miles across.  In the fading light, she can see towers and spires at various points, the closest nearly 10 miles away to the north northwest.  There seem to be trees or buildings around the bases of the spire, but it's difficult to tell in the twilight.

Directly below her is a steep, jagged cliff face that drops down to the crater floor, the slope easing eventually.  The climb down would be dangerous with proper equipment during the day.  At night, alone, it would likely be suicide.

As the darkness deepens, Alyssa does spot a light.  Two, in fact.  Perhaps a mile or more away on the floor of the crater, is a small group of people.  They're carrying glowglobes, or some other type of illumination.  They seem to be walking westward, in a line that will take them to the edge of the crater.  Tracing the path of their progress forward, Alyssa can see a ... deformity?  Crack?  Path?  in the rim of this Great Bowl.  It's about four or five miles along the rim, clockwise from her current position.

Alyssa decides that her only way of survival is to try to catch up with the people in the crater. She decides to follow the edge of the crater in the hope that she can get to the destination of the group in the crater before they do or perhaps find an easier descent down into the crater.

The rim of the crater, where Alyssa can get a regular view of the people below, is not a safe route to travel, especially in the dark.  She'll need to move back down the slope to the level the vehicle was at to find ground even enough to avoid breaking an ankle.  If she stays at the top, she might also fall in, which might be fatal.

In reply to Immortal Eye (msg # 133):

As the footing was precarious and the light so dim, Alyssa gave up her attempt after several instances where she almost twisted one of her ankles. Without any light source of her own she had to get to the other group fast. She returned to the vehicle which she assumed belonged to the group down in the crater.

"I hope you forgive me for borrowing it, but i don't have a choice" she for herself. She started examining it hoping to find a mechanism that made it start. Perhaps it had a light source as well?

The 4-wheeled vehicle seems to be laid out in a fairly straight-forward way.  The book, as Alyssa examines it more closely, is not instructions related to the vehicle, but rather information about other numenera devices.

In reply to Immortal Eye (msg # 135):

Alyssa rather quickly gets a grip of how the strange vehicle probably works.