Aethelgard: Rootbound
Book 1 · The Dying Roots
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Page 117 · The western road
Morning light reaches an ancient trail as the trio leaves the Mirror Glade behind. The distant World Center Tree rises through the canopy. Elara keeps her map accessible and a coil of travel rope secured to her pack. Caelan walks carefully on his bandaged right leg; Sylphina remains quiet.
CHAPTER 7. THE WESTERN ROAD. Silent departure.
Page 118 · An older map
Elara consults the worn map as the travelers head west. Caelan questions its certainty, and Sylphina offers a small, tired joke. The party's injuries, dirt and limited equipment remain.
Elara: The western road should meet the river before midday. Caelan: Should? Elara: The map is older than you. Sylphina: A reassuringly low standard.
Page 119 · The pace they can keep
Caelan pauses with his spear for support, impatient with his injured right thigh. Elara checks their remaining water and keeps the group's pace manageable. Sylphina walks with them through the quiet, sunlit forest.
Elara: We keep the pace we can keep.
Page 120 · Worn markers
Roots and ferns overtake the old western road. Elara uncovers a weathered stone marker bearing worn shapes resembling water, roots and mountains. The symbols offer no precise directions. The travelers continue west.
Silent page.
Page 121 · The other direction
Ordinary deer, foxes, rabbits, birds and small woodland animals travel east, opposite the party. They look tired and thirsty rather than aggressive. Caelan stands on the left of the road, Elara kneels at its center to study tracks, and Sylphina waits on the right beside the passing animals.
Silent page.
Page 122 · Conserving strength
Elara reads the depth and number of tracks. Sylphina briefly feels the animals' thirst, confusion and exhaustion through Beast Empathy, receiving no words or directions. The ordinary animals keep moving east.
Caelan: They aren’t running. Elara: They’re conserving their strength. Sylphina: They have been walking for days.
Page 123 · A quieter warning
The western forest remains beautiful, but close observation reveals dry moss, an empty puddle, wilting flowers and exposed roots. The leaves hold an unusual quiet. A small bird rests before following the other animals east.
Silent page.
Page 124 · Pressure below
Caelan carefully kneels, keeping weight off his injured right thigh, and touches an exposed root. Wordless impressions suggest pressure, dryness and water moving beneath stone somewhere unexpected. He withdraws his hand, retrieves his spear and follows the hillside road with his companions.
Silent physical impressions. No words or explanation.
Page 125 · The fractured road
The road crosses a steep wooded slope. Caelan walks ahead on the lower outer edge; Elara follows near the center, with Sylphina farther uphill behind. Enormous roots rise above the road, rocks lie below, and a stable pale boulder stands on the uphill bank. Elara notices a crack and crumbling roots beneath Caelan's next step.
Elara: Caelan—
Page 126 · Hollow ground
Rotten roots and hollow soil fail beneath Caelan. He slides down the rocky slope, his existing thigh injury restricting him. With his right hand, he drives the spearhead into the earth and slows his fall. Elara and Sylphina remain above on stable ground; Caelan stops several meters below the road.
Sound: KRRRK.
Page 127 · A line to hold
Elara removes the rope from her pack and moves uphill along intact ground. She anchors it around the stable pale boulder before throwing the free end toward Caelan. He catches it with his left hand while keeping his spear braced in his right. Sylphina begins strengthening nearby living roots.
Elara: Take the rope.
Page 128 · The living root
Caelan calls up a small root foothold with Rootstep, but its weakened surroundings begin to break. Sylphina strengthens a second living root nearby. Holding the rope in his left hand and bracing with his spear in his right, Caelan uses his uninjured left foot to climb toward the stable bank.
Sylphina: The living root. To your right.
Page 129 · Difficult to recommend
Caelan reaches stable ground beside the boulder before the remaining outer road collapses. His old injury aches more, but he has no new major wound. Elara recovers and coils the rope. After a dry exchange, the trio identifies an intact descending trail toward the river valley; their original route is impassable.
Elara: Do you always test the ground by falling through it? Caelan: It saves time. Sylphina: An innovative method. Difficult to recommend.
Page 130 · An empty riverbed
Elara's map shows a large river in the valley. Below them lies a broad, nearly empty channel: damp stones, mud, stranded pools, fresh waterlines and exposed roots. A distant waterwheel stands motionless. The trio carefully descends into the riverbed.
Silent river reveal.
Page 131 · Fresh waterlines
Elara studies fresh leaves caught high along the still-damp bank. The river's loss was recent and rapid. Sylphina examines swollen roots beside roots that have collapsed inward. Nearby, fish struggle in a shrinking pool.
Elara: This did not happen slowly. Caelan: Then where did the water go?
Page 132 · What they can save
The travelers unpack their ordinary cooking pot and a bowl. With water already in the pools, they gently gather stranded fish and move them to a deeper surviving pool a few paces away. Caelan helps while seated, protecting his injured leg. No water is created and the river remains empty.
Silent rescue.
Page 133 · Water elsewhere
After the fish are safe, the travelers repack their utensils and retrieve their weapons. Caelan touches another exposed root. Wordless sensations suggest trapped water, deep pressure, shifting stone and a distant flow leaving the old channel, without giving a location. They follow the empty riverbed west toward a small settlement in the distance.
Silent physical impressions and travel.
Page 134 · Where we start
The three stand in the empty riverbed, looking toward a distant settlement with motionless waterwheels, tiny figures carrying buckets and fields beginning to dry. Enormous exposed roots cross the mud beneath their feet. One damaged root carries a faint violet-grey residue. Caelan remains bandaged and Elara's quiver depleted.
Elara: The western road passes through that settlement. Sylphina: And their river has vanished. Caelan: Then that is where we start.