Eril's Story

Day 273

It has been close to a year since my last writing. I have been preoccupied and it felt out of place in my life. But I would like to record at least some of my travels for my own memory as I enter my final years.

I have come upon a civilization! One I didn't know even existed. An offshoot of humanity, grown from just a small tribe long ago. Over hundreds of years of isolation becoming a mighty nation of free peoples. But I feel that context is needed for how I even came to this place.

It was after I had been healed that I decided to continue on to the South. I had traveled through the foothills, spending spring in a verdant utopia of nature. Being immersed in a land that was abundant with both wildlife and awe inspiring natural wonders. There were no major incidents and I felt the greatest sense of peace in my life I had ever felt. I was truly in the heart of the wilderness and there were no other souls in that vast expanse.

The further South I got the warmer and flatter it became, and with Summer approaching the land began to dry out. I then came to parched lands where food was scarce and it became increasingly difficult to forage. And despite setbacks and many hungry days I pressed on. Making it through took a month and I lost significant body weight. Biting winds would whip the dust up in colossal storms that would send walls of gritty sand flying across the world - only survivable by taking shelter immediately.

After traversing the arid desert, I came to more hospitable lands that renewed my joy. These places were much different from those in the North. Strange plants and fruits were abundant, and most were good to eat. Though I had an odd encounter with a red berry that left me with a swimming head for the evening. I avoided eating them going forward.

More months went by and I decided to travel West. I had only ever heard myths of what lied there. But I had the notion that if my legs would carry me, I would gaze upon that mystical land myself. Ever West I traveled from that point on.

The first place I discovered after my shift in course were desolate rocky lands in which little grew. While in them, I felt strange forces acting upon me, centered around rough spires of rock and metal that jutted from the ground. A strange thing happened while walking near one to examine it more closely. My spear flew out of my hand, smashing into pieces, all of which stuck to the pillar.

I tried for the whole day to get the fragments unstuck. Even trying to carve out pieces of the rock it was on. As I got close to the rock the rest of the metal objects in my possession became stuck as well. Fortunately, I did not have much that was metallic. And I was able to untangle the things that were from out of my bag, that had been dragged with them to the rock. With no other option I was forced to leave these behind. The only thing I truly missed was my spear, and that was simply for nostalgic reasons.

I came at last to a range of mountains, that after finding a passage through, came into a strange land. A jungle basin where giants roamed. It didn't take long to see the creatures that dwarfed the land and shook the Earth when they thundered by - many a fallen tree their doing. Even so they still possessed a gracefulness in the way they moved, sparing much of the flora in their stride. I was in awe.

The only features that could match the creatures in scale were large pillars of stone that dotted the horizon to the West, intermingling with the sky. Providing food for the voracious giants. When one would pass by I would take shelter in the shadow of these formations, so as not to be accidentally crushed. Waiting out the trembling ground.

Some weeks later, I had my biggest surprise. Stumbling upon another person. I was so shocked that I was speechless for a time, forgetting all my manners. I had resigned myself to never seeing another human. So this encounter filled me with wonder and a hundred questions. At first we had great difficulty communicating, as the dialect they spoke was foreign, though with similar structure and cadence. I was only able to pick out a few words here and there.