Hello all!! Sorry it's been so long, summer vacation to Newfoundland
(that's in eastern Canada for you yanks and people of other origins that
may not know) it rocks!! I'm so moving there. Anyway after there was
school starting, with loads of other stuff to so I haven't really had much
of a chance to do much typing, I'm pretty slow as it is. Anyway this is
just a brief over view of the four lands; please let me know if I've left
out any really important places. I'm leaving the history until another
time. Enjoy!!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ "So where exactly are we?" Asked Steph. The strange group had stopped by a creek for a drink as nobody had given any thought as to how long it would take them to reach the path that only Nick and Katie had been able to see, by now the others could make it out but it was still a good ways off.
"Well my guess would be that we are in a dimension parallel to ours that was found by my machine." Said Katie.
"What do you mean found? I thought it made other dimensions, not found them."
"Well see that's not exactly true, I wasn't able to find a power source strong enough to let me make one so I made it search for one instead. I kinda lied about that part. Basically there are near limitless dimensions overlapping ours at any given point. My machine simply finds one that fits the requirements to the search." The few minutes of silence following the explanation were filled with sometimes painful looking thinking faces.
"So then what were the search requirements?" Nick P. asked.
"My Shannara books, all of them, oh no! Do you have any idea how long it took me to save for them all, I didn't even have a job back then!" Cried Nick. "Together that's near $200 bucks!"
"Then that means that's where we are, in where ever the stories take place in your books."
"Wait a minute, I think it's around here somewhere," Nick said patting his robes. "Ah ha! Got it!" He cried. "I give you the a map of Shannara!" The others crowded around as Nick smoothed out the map on a near by rock. "I'll try and make this as simple as possible; this is what is known as the four lands, it is split into four areas, the Northland, the Southland, the Westland and the Eastland. Simple, but effective. The Southland down here is where most of the humans live. They generally prefer to be cut off from the rest of the world. I'll fill you in on the history later.
"This over here is the Eastland. This is where the dwarves and gnomes live, in the Anar Forest.
"Ollie, you are a gnome, and Chad you are a dwarf. That's why your skin is yellowish, not cause u pissed the bed.
"Now, dwarves live in the lower regions of the Anar and know the area there like no others, gnomes are further to the north and live in tribes, they are a very superstitious people and often hold ceremonies to pray to their gods. The dwarves are the mortal enemies of the gnomes and they often have battles along their borders."
"They started it." Ollie said in a whiny voice.
"Nobody knows who started it. The wars go back as far as anybody remembers. But like I was saying, gnomes are mostly pretty stupid as far as I have ever seen, in both great wars they were used simply for their numbers and because they were so easily intimidated. No offence Ollie.
"Any way over here is the village of Storlock. It is run by an entirely different sort of gnome is dedicated solely to the healing of others. Gnomes believe the land of the stores to be sacred and would never enter uninvited. Storlock is widely known as the having the best healers in the land. Mind you, its not like they have a CAT scan yet or anything but they know their balms and herbs. To the west of Storlock is the Valley of Shale, beyond that lays the Hall of Kings. The valley is where the shade of Allanon and before him Bremen and before him Galaphile, the first druid. The shades have often helped in the harrowing journeys the Ohmsford at that time has to make. The Valley of Kings is simply another way into Paranor and does not concern us, and hopefully we wont have to go any where near it.
"Up to the north is where the rock trolls live. They are very big and you would never want to have to fight them, just one could easily take down 15 soldiers. They have bark like skin and are trained to fight almost from the moment they can walk. They live in tribes too but they are nowhere near as ignorant as the gnomes, they have a strong sense of honor and will defend another troll with out a second thought.
"The Westland is lands to the elves, that's you and Katie," He said pointing at Nick. "The Rill Song is the main river that flows all through the Westland. Up here is the capital, Arborlon. That is where the Ellcrys lives, the magical tree that holds the Forbidding, a magical barrier that holds back hoards of demons from the old times. Back then they were loaded with magic but after years of not needing it most of it has gone. Hey, use it or loose it eh? Anyway, down here is Grimpenward, home to some of the worst scum and vile people in the four lands.
"The lower part of the Westland is considered Rover land. Rovers are like gypsies, bright clothes, mostly dishonest to outsiders but with a strong sense of family. They do consider women nothing more than a vessel for their children, daughters no more than a coin to be traded away.
"Back to the Southland, down here is Shady Vale, it is where all the Ohmsfords, the heroes of the books, are from. It's for the most part a small village, unnoticed except for that. Up here is the kingdom of Leah. It should, I hope, house the sword of Leah. It has magic that can destroy most any evil magic. To the north lies the Rainbow Lake, which into flows the Silver River, home to the King of the Silver River. A fairy creature from the time of old, one of the few left. He helps any traveler in need and has been a great help to the Ohmsfords, being in every book that I brought in, I think that we should be able to count on him for help. In the center of all the four lands is the city of Callahorn with its famous border legion. It is the main defense of the Southland with a mix of all races that come and go.
"And finally in the southern most regions of the northland lies Paranor, home of the druids, or more accurately, the last druid. The druids were once of great ambition, pooling knowledge in order to benefit all lands, something like the UN I suppose. They were all but destroyed in the second Great War. The last druid surviving was Allanon, whose father fled before Paranor fell. He died in the third book, and was replaced five hundred years later by Walker Boh."
"And that explains where we are how? You might just as well have told us we were lost; it would have saved us some time. Saying the CN tower was in Canada would have been just as accurate." Complained Jen.
"But I did, since all the heroes came from Shady Vale, my guess is that the forest nick and Katie saw was the Duln Forests, they surround Shady Vale.
"Now I suggest we all get some sleep, we still have a day of walking from here I'd guess, when we get there we can get a couple of rooms at the Ohmsford Inn."
They all found a spot next to a grove of trees and fell asleep listening to the stream trickle by and staring at the clouds trough the leaves. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Thanks to Craig Julian for the tips about my mistakes, there's so much to explain at once that it's almost over whelming. But anyway, the part about Walker still living at Paranor that's ok cause the books brought in were all up until the newest series, The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara. But thanks anyway and glad somebody cares about the books to point that out.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ "So where exactly are we?" Asked Steph. The strange group had stopped by a creek for a drink as nobody had given any thought as to how long it would take them to reach the path that only Nick and Katie had been able to see, by now the others could make it out but it was still a good ways off.
"Well my guess would be that we are in a dimension parallel to ours that was found by my machine." Said Katie.
"What do you mean found? I thought it made other dimensions, not found them."
"Well see that's not exactly true, I wasn't able to find a power source strong enough to let me make one so I made it search for one instead. I kinda lied about that part. Basically there are near limitless dimensions overlapping ours at any given point. My machine simply finds one that fits the requirements to the search." The few minutes of silence following the explanation were filled with sometimes painful looking thinking faces.
"So then what were the search requirements?" Nick P. asked.
"My Shannara books, all of them, oh no! Do you have any idea how long it took me to save for them all, I didn't even have a job back then!" Cried Nick. "Together that's near $200 bucks!"
"Then that means that's where we are, in where ever the stories take place in your books."
"Wait a minute, I think it's around here somewhere," Nick said patting his robes. "Ah ha! Got it!" He cried. "I give you the a map of Shannara!" The others crowded around as Nick smoothed out the map on a near by rock. "I'll try and make this as simple as possible; this is what is known as the four lands, it is split into four areas, the Northland, the Southland, the Westland and the Eastland. Simple, but effective. The Southland down here is where most of the humans live. They generally prefer to be cut off from the rest of the world. I'll fill you in on the history later.
"This over here is the Eastland. This is where the dwarves and gnomes live, in the Anar Forest.
"Ollie, you are a gnome, and Chad you are a dwarf. That's why your skin is yellowish, not cause u pissed the bed.
"Now, dwarves live in the lower regions of the Anar and know the area there like no others, gnomes are further to the north and live in tribes, they are a very superstitious people and often hold ceremonies to pray to their gods. The dwarves are the mortal enemies of the gnomes and they often have battles along their borders."
"They started it." Ollie said in a whiny voice.
"Nobody knows who started it. The wars go back as far as anybody remembers. But like I was saying, gnomes are mostly pretty stupid as far as I have ever seen, in both great wars they were used simply for their numbers and because they were so easily intimidated. No offence Ollie.
"Any way over here is the village of Storlock. It is run by an entirely different sort of gnome is dedicated solely to the healing of others. Gnomes believe the land of the stores to be sacred and would never enter uninvited. Storlock is widely known as the having the best healers in the land. Mind you, its not like they have a CAT scan yet or anything but they know their balms and herbs. To the west of Storlock is the Valley of Shale, beyond that lays the Hall of Kings. The valley is where the shade of Allanon and before him Bremen and before him Galaphile, the first druid. The shades have often helped in the harrowing journeys the Ohmsford at that time has to make. The Valley of Kings is simply another way into Paranor and does not concern us, and hopefully we wont have to go any where near it.
"Up to the north is where the rock trolls live. They are very big and you would never want to have to fight them, just one could easily take down 15 soldiers. They have bark like skin and are trained to fight almost from the moment they can walk. They live in tribes too but they are nowhere near as ignorant as the gnomes, they have a strong sense of honor and will defend another troll with out a second thought.
"The Westland is lands to the elves, that's you and Katie," He said pointing at Nick. "The Rill Song is the main river that flows all through the Westland. Up here is the capital, Arborlon. That is where the Ellcrys lives, the magical tree that holds the Forbidding, a magical barrier that holds back hoards of demons from the old times. Back then they were loaded with magic but after years of not needing it most of it has gone. Hey, use it or loose it eh? Anyway, down here is Grimpenward, home to some of the worst scum and vile people in the four lands.
"The lower part of the Westland is considered Rover land. Rovers are like gypsies, bright clothes, mostly dishonest to outsiders but with a strong sense of family. They do consider women nothing more than a vessel for their children, daughters no more than a coin to be traded away.
"Back to the Southland, down here is Shady Vale, it is where all the Ohmsfords, the heroes of the books, are from. It's for the most part a small village, unnoticed except for that. Up here is the kingdom of Leah. It should, I hope, house the sword of Leah. It has magic that can destroy most any evil magic. To the north lies the Rainbow Lake, which into flows the Silver River, home to the King of the Silver River. A fairy creature from the time of old, one of the few left. He helps any traveler in need and has been a great help to the Ohmsfords, being in every book that I brought in, I think that we should be able to count on him for help. In the center of all the four lands is the city of Callahorn with its famous border legion. It is the main defense of the Southland with a mix of all races that come and go.
"And finally in the southern most regions of the northland lies Paranor, home of the druids, or more accurately, the last druid. The druids were once of great ambition, pooling knowledge in order to benefit all lands, something like the UN I suppose. They were all but destroyed in the second Great War. The last druid surviving was Allanon, whose father fled before Paranor fell. He died in the third book, and was replaced five hundred years later by Walker Boh."
"And that explains where we are how? You might just as well have told us we were lost; it would have saved us some time. Saying the CN tower was in Canada would have been just as accurate." Complained Jen.
"But I did, since all the heroes came from Shady Vale, my guess is that the forest nick and Katie saw was the Duln Forests, they surround Shady Vale.
"Now I suggest we all get some sleep, we still have a day of walking from here I'd guess, when we get there we can get a couple of rooms at the Ohmsford Inn."
They all found a spot next to a grove of trees and fell asleep listening to the stream trickle by and staring at the clouds trough the leaves. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Thanks to Craig Julian for the tips about my mistakes, there's so much to explain at once that it's almost over whelming. But anyway, the part about Walker still living at Paranor that's ok cause the books brought in were all up until the newest series, The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara. But thanks anyway and glad somebody cares about the books to point that out.
