The star of Arvia

by Foon1

The star's path was not as the fair people had hoped, it did not go to the house of the great king, nor in his land. It came to the lands of Ortock, the dark lord's land. Yet the light was not forsaken, as one being was there to hear its song as it landed on the dangerous fields. And he would remember what it sang.

3. Appendix 1 journey of the western map

The journey of the western map, and the history of Ortandir, Malnadir, Enrvia and Arvia

by Deil of the guild of cartography

These writings are made by 'Deil', once leader of the known oldest cartography guild, whom is credited as the one who made the map of the old west, as well as transcribing the history of the east. For this book is one of the few remanences of its reign. This is a copy which was handed to us by the people of the last island of Malnadir. The names of locations have been rescribed as their modern counterparts

Introduction;

"It is said that all was once dark, that no light came to the empty lands of which the world made up. Yet it is foolish to exclaim that it was of darkness, for darkness is too a product of which life informs. It could neither have been light nor dark, for the land was of simplicity. As the god whom made it wished for no life, no pain yet no joy, to make up its land". That is what the people of lendivir chose to believe, for we had once seen what the old world had formed. The shores of the old world could be seen from the tops of Lenkakri, of which our people had once lived. There they could see not light nor darkness, an empty land, devoid of comment. Some still found interest to travel to this land however, yet when they arrived it seemed more lively than had been presumed. And soon the people made it their homes, moving away from the mountains. Yet as they travelled west they found Ortandir and Arvia, which had been documented to be near, to be unseeable, and the waters further west nearly inaccessible. As time continued to move, and as our ancestors became all the more proficient in their craft. The mystery of the west loomed in our hearts ever stronger. We have little knowledge of the time before Aéndivia. And I feel as if discovering the west would make our history all the clearer. That is why I started this expedition. Seven others will also travel west to find the lands of Ortandir and Arvia. The list of members; Deil - leader of the guild of cartography, Enliv - member of the guild of cartography, Ortan - member of the guild of cartography, Fali - member of the guild of cartography, Dasil - member of the guild of cartography, Perndul - Historian of Aendi, Cervi - member of the guild of cartography, Oliniad - Historian of Aelenda

Travelling from Lendivir;

We were ready for the expedition October seventh year *694. It was dawn when we first set out to find the west. We started from the bay of north lendivir. Having enough food and water to last us until the spring of the next year. We got onto the boat early at dawn. For I wanted to waste no time before setting off. We said our goodbyes to

the guild members whom stayed and went on our way

*In this text time is written from the battle of Uskila. With year 0 being the conquering of the land by the people of Aéndivia. In modern writing this is applicable to IIII;2405

Travelling through the forgotten sea;

"From western woods to eastern leaves, to the northern city of gods. Laid the land between the worlds of two. Whom sat empty, without death nor life. Not feeling the flow of time. Yet it could hear the songs coming from Enriva's shores. The ever beauty from which life was created. And it became ever impatient, lashing out on the island. Destroying whatever had been made. Yet its beauty spread, and the emptiness fled" That is what Perndul told me on the second day of our voyage. He claimed that we were now sailing the seas of which Enrivia once stood, but I doubt him on his claims. From what I've seen of the current islands of Enrivia it should be miles south from here. We should be near the sea Ortandir once stood. Whatever the case may be, we should be heading near the location I predict Ortandir to now be placed. I predict Arvia to be further NorthEast than out current path, we will see with time.

It is now the eighth day of our voyage, our estimates have not yet seemed untrue, yet Fali has begun questioning our current path, for he thinks the lands merely moved south, not north. Yet I have quelled his worries. As if it was as he is saying, it would be best to change direction on the twenty-fifth day, for then we would be assured to come to its shores. Doing so now would completely abandon the possibility of it going North. Doing so could cost us the entire expedition. It would be most foolish. With what we know of Ortandir we can say that it is the same shape as Merandir with utmost certainty. As such our current trajectory is of best quality.

"The sea rises ever deeper, as the lands keep changing, as our homes are built the waves follow, yet the waves tell of a story different from one whom followed the other land, it tells of darkness, and it tells of dispute. The mountains are safe", This is but a short part of a poem I was told by Dasil today. The waves are acting strangely, it reminded them of their peoples home, they said. I hope writing it here eases their tensions of the coming waves.

It is the Seventeenth day of the travels, fog has clouded our view substantially, we can now see very little beyond our vessel. Yet in the morning Cervi said to have seen beyond the fog, and could thereafter see a landmass further north. We have therefore changed out direction. As I imagined, Ortandir was further north, yet I underestimated the amount. Nevertheless we should be there by the night of the day second from this.

"Set sail, Set sail. For the time of war has come. Set sail, Set sail. For far the drums are burning. Go East, Go North. For the battle has already begun. Set sail, Set sail. For our time to die has come", one of my most favorited momentous from our library. It tells of the time of the great war*. Where our people were tasked with defending the great capital of Aelenda from armies far north. It is said that our fleet intercepted theirs, and soon made them flee onto their own land! The cartography guild is good for more than map making, I will not let my crew forget that.

It is the Nineteenth day of our travels. And we have found it! The lands of Ortandir. It is but as empty as I assumed, yet it is stranger than the stories would lead you to believe. We will not step foot on this land, we will only sail around it. Surveying its look as we move along. The fog has seemingly weakend, but not much light goes into the lands, we will have to sail closer than I would have prefered.

Travelling around the lands of old;

It is the night thirdly after we found the lands of Ortandir. We have gone around a good chunk of it now. Yet on our maps it looks as if it is purely circular, not in shape too dissimilar to the shape of the old Enriva was predicted to be. As such some of my subordinates have begun to question if we are actually near Arvia instead, and if Ortandir is further south. Fali has been especially keen to this idea, he whom originally thought Ortandir was as south as it would have been long ago. "The logical conclusion drawn should have been that Arvia travelled nearer Ortandir from the beginning, the lands of god would not be as separate as you would like us to believe'' as he said, I have my doubts to this matter, as Perndul said, "through legend it is inferred that an island existed on Arvias south side. We would surely have seen it considering our trajectory", his point was sound, yet it stands to reason that this could still be Arvia. We will have to circle it completely to answer this definitely.

It is the thirty-first day after our travels start, and we have now found further evidence pointing towards this land being Arvia, as we have found the island at its western most point. And from that point a river flowing into the island, splitting it into two. It seems as if the island had somehow flipped from its original position, this discovery reshapes our venture substantially. We will now go through the river and see where it leads. Then after we've gone back to our original position, we will plan what we will do next

*'Great war' refers to the battle of Uskila, where Aéndivia and Uskila fought, and Eáskivnia was created.

"Two, same, yet of life and of gods", this is the only text which could be prescribed to the island of Arvia, yet it told us much of its existence. Enriva was presumably the same shape as Arvia, and while its island was known, its indent had not. It seems to cut almost perfectly into the middle of the island, where we are located now. A fascinating site, giving more crevence that it truly was built by a god.

It is the Forty-second day of our travels, and we have finally reached where we started. We have conscribed the map to the best of our abilities. It was rounder than we thought possible, being a sphere with a smaller sphere to its western side, which opens up to a large river which flows through half of it. This is an immaculate discovery. We are, however, not done yet, for it is only the seventeenth of november, and we have much too many resources to not find Ortandir.

"Two, same, yet of life and of gods. Two, flying high above the sky. One, in the middle of war". This is the exact poem mentioned a few days ago, it tells of Enriva, Arvia, Ortandir, Malandir, and Lendivir. The translation for Ortandir and malandir is most commonly thought to be referring to the shape of the two, as malandir shares a resemblance to a wing. I am not doubtful that we will find something of a more perfected shape once we arrive at Ortandir. Yet the waters are looking ever tougher. And the fog is getting ever stronger yet again

It is day forty-fifth of our travels, and we have found the lands of Ortandir. Our hardship was shorter than expected, we cannot see any of the land's area, yet I suspect it to be of similar quality to Arvia. We will start our journey around it tomorrow, going first to the west.

Day sixty, we have reached a point to where the island takes a steep turn south, if we are to assume it is shaped as Malandir, this is both the most north and most west of all lands. Only rivalled by the northmost point of Malandir. It is a large milestone in our journey. And my subcomponent's morale will grow ever stronger. Yet it is not going all well, for Enliv has informed me that our raisins have been shrinking faster than we had expected, thus we need to cut our meals substantially to make it around Ortandir fully. The fog has also grown more thick, yet I will not allow these setbacks to take away from our work. I will make sure of it.

"The ever beauty from which life was created. And it became ever impatient, lashing out on the island". I heard these words again today, Perndul had repeated them to me. Yet now he seems to take them with the utmost seriousness. I knew he was of more religious beliefs than my own guild when I took him onto this mission, yet I did not think he would utter words implying that the gods themselves would try to destroy us for our travel to the western lands. The cut in rations has sparked a worry in all my crew however, they urge us to go all the quicker, yet I will not let the map go unfinished. We will go as fast as we can sufficiently create.

Day eighty-five. It pains me to say that our food and drink have almost fully gone out. I do not condone the idea of blaming a will of god for whatever goes wrong. Yet I see why one might believe it. I have ordered the crew to eat as much as they can in a short amount of time, for otherwise I foresee it merely disappearing, not being eaten at all. The ocean is growing all the more fierce. I am however not giving up hope yet. For me, and the people whom follow me, will not let a map of this calibre be incomplete. If so it takes my last breath.

"Gods whom create, create ones who do. For creation cannot end, through Enrvia, Malnadir, Lendivir, Ortandir, Arvia, it will flow". Those were the last words Dasil said to me before leaving me alone at deck

Saved by the travellers of cartography;

It was day a hundred and seven, when I saw a ship approaching from the horizon, it was as a stroke of a god that the members of the guild managed to find us, or that they knew to look at all. I can sense that strange occurrences such as this are not the last to come, I am afraid that we went too far in going to the western map. Yet that is not to dismay us now. For the map of the lands was almost fully completed. With just a bit of ingenuity we were able to fully complete the first map of the world. For that I am grateful. I am now deciding to settle down from adventuring, and I will make Fali my heir if he so wishes, for he has shown a keen eye in this adventure, most of which were sadly not shown in this recollection of events. I hope for him the best. As I do all whom joined me here, may you ever find peace in your craft.