Chapter 8: Maps, moos and motherly menace.
The morning sun shines through trees that line the cobbled path running beside the apothecary. Long shadows criss-cross the road as it weaves through the misty wood ahead.
Pip stands at the road's edge, gleaming under the sunlight the twin suns like a properly polished piston. Vuvi kneels down beside him, carefully unfolding a massive sheet of parchment, revealing a detailed geographical map.
"This is it, Pip. The road to redemption! The pathway to paradise!" she declares before slapping a finger onto the map like a general planning a siege. "This is the route we're gonna take to save the kingdom! Wait... was it... this way?"
She twists and turns the map, eyes narrowing as she tries to make sense of her own directions.
"Well... that's not important. Fate is flexible. We'll figure it out as we go."
Pip leans over her shoulders, peeking at the parchment that is filled with wild scribblings like "Dragonkin here?" and "Beware the snake ladies!!!". A crude drawing of a stick figure being roasted over a fire sits below the words "Orcs!!! Bring food!"
"Oh, right, we're here!" Vuvi exclaims as she points to the centre of the map. "The Green Vale, pretty much in the middle of the continent. We'll start our journey in Market Town, it's a day's walk north, from there we follow the Forest Vein west, pop into all the villages along the way, then we cut south and make our way through the Beastkin Tribelands. They've got cat-girls, bunny-folk, wolfkins, you name it. Ooooh... maybe we'll even see a Sand Sprite! Better bring lots of lube."
Pip beeps nervously as he gives a hesitant thumbs up.
"Then we move East." Vuvi says as she drags her finger across the map. "We cross the Zenirith Plains, hit the lakeside towns around the Solemn Sea and then the elven settlements that line the Dragontail Mountains."
He nods slowly.
"And theeeen, we reach the port city Solsene, follow the drow villages along the shore northwards, swing back west through the noble lands and finally, we reach the royal capital. We plead our case with King Thorobrin and hopefully he'll allow us into the Demon Lands."