After the warm and happy conversations I had with my new family mbers, though I don’t want to leave just yet, I am on a very tight schedule. We ended the day with a sumptuous dinner with all the people in the territory. It also served as a celebration for completing the rebuilding of the Larkspur territory in only under a week which is a miracle if you think about it.
We all slept soundly that night and by the next morning, at day break, I bid my quick goodbyes and started my journey to Kolyer which was part of my original itinerary to the north. The first thing I did was to co back the way I went first until I reach that familiar crossroad that asks you to choose between going to Larkspur or Kolyer.
It took an hour and a half to get back to that crossroad. This ti I did not do any side trips to harvest and hunt stuff because I already used up several days in Larkspur.
Upon reaching the crossroad, I traveled nonstop till I got to the borders of Kolyer. Due to the rough terrain and its location within a mountain range, the travel ti took about 3 hours. It was double the ti I used to get to Larkspur from the sa point.
Kolyer is a territory built in a secluded valley, surrounded by mountains filled with mineral veins and precious stone mines. I have already been given a heads up by the scouts that the path to this region was dangerous and challenging even to experienced adventurers.
After traveling for about 30 minutes on flat and slightly barren plains, the road will then connect to a narrow path that will pass around the steep sides of the mountains. If you look at it from the foot of the mountain, you will already get an idea on the type of path you will be using to get to your destination. It was winding, going in endless circles around the mountains, making one feel dizzy. Another problem about this path is that you have to stay focused all the ti even when you are feeling discomfort during your travel because there is a cliff that is constantly looming on one side of the path, making soone have constant negative thoughts of falling in.
For humans, falling at this height will be death for sure. I am not human but it doesn’t an I don’t hate this bumpy road or I like heights and the idea of falling down a cliff even if I won’t die.
As I looked around while sitting comfortably in my wagon, I imdiately thought that the first thing that I would like to put on the list of things to improve, repair or build for Kolyer is this road. Just looking at this path from the foot of the mountain, it would surely deters visitors, investors, rchants and even new inhabitants from going further.
I plan to make this road wider and safer by putting fences on the side facing the cliff. I may also need to smoothen the road itself for easier passage of wheeled vehicles. If ti permits or if possible alternate paths are available, I don’t mind making shorter paths to the territory so it is more accessible to the rest of the empire. Well, this are all but plans and the final say will still depend on what the residents themselves wanted or suggested.
After the boring and strenuous trip, I finally reached the border of Kolyer. As I looked around, the first thing I noticed were the mining carts going back and forth delivering things, tons of broken stones scattered on the ground and a lot of sweaty topless n carrying mining tools on their shoulders. There were also female workers in the area but only a few and they do not look too tired or sweaty like the others.
The more I looked around, the more I realized that life must be hard here. The age range of working miners was quite a bit wide too. So looked like they have surely been doing this for several decades. There were also young ones and judging from their body sizes, the youngest should be about 13 to 15 years old. Lastly, there were the ones aged 20 and above who looked deli- quite muscular due to doing daily heavy work at the mines.
I looked around a bit but did not stare since that would be rude and I don’t want to be forced to take responsibility for soone just because I gawked at people. That would be really sad on my part.
My sudden arrival at the mines in the middle of a busy working day did get the attention of a lot of people. With the way I am dressed and the fact that I looked fresh and clean, I would surely stand out, of course.
I decided to ignore the huge crowd of onlookers since I have other more important things to worry about. I asked a random passerby about the place where I can go to et the chief of this place and he looked at all confused then surprised when he realized that a woman was speaking to him. He coughed to hide his awkwardness and replied that this place has a total of three chiefs and if I know the na of the chief that I need to visit.
His answer left even more confused than before I asked anybody for directions. This is the first ti I encountered a territory that has three leaders managing three separate areas. I guess there are more issues in this place than I initially expected.
It turns out that Kolyer was divided to three regions governed by three families that own the mining areas. The most powerful one seems to be the family that owns half of the region and controls the mines that produce precious gems and stones. They mostly earn money for selling them for jewelry and as stones needed by the magic tower to strengthen spells.
The other two families divided the remaining half among themselves. They do have their own specialty products too but unlike the first family, they specialize more on the mining of minerals. Based on the helpful passerby I asked, the other half of Kolyer produces copper, gold, silver, iron, aluminum and coal. There may be other minerals present in the mines but they just don’t know what their values and uses are.
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