Irish Tulips

PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE
Composed by Ren Kobo, Master of Commerce, Ninth Skiff of Sunray Flotilla. Spring, 4441 CR

I write, my dear sunfish, to tell you of the Valley in the hopes that you may be tempted to join me in my pilgrimage next season.

The Valley isn’t a valley so much as a lot of valleys, and fields, and forests, encircled by mountains. It stretches from these highland meadows in the north, all the way down to the edge of the southern range where the mouth of the Valley opens to the Verdessa. There’s a waterfall there so tall and beautiful it’ll take your breath away. The Valley’s sheltered by mountains on three sides and the widest and deepest jungle you’ll ever see on the fourth.

The ancestors of the Valley Dwellers found their way here by way of the Bitter Pass. They journeyed west to White Sky Lake, then followed the Silverfin River down until they came to a mounded, green island. They were drawn there by the biggest spike of nanoforged carbon I’ve ever seen, so tall it can scrape the clouds on a stormy day. The people decided to settle there, or rather, the land invited them to settle there, so they did. They call the village Spire.

In the last hundred years they’ve spread out and welcomed more than a few travelers (such as myself) from afar. Spire’s the center of civilization in the Valley, but there’s also White Sky, the fishing village perched in the middle of the water on the southern end of the lake. The fresh, seared lake fish they serve there every waning gibbous is amazing.

Farther south, the Valley opens up into grassland and forest. You’ll find more settlements down there if you stick to the path. Meadow is a herding community, mostly rearing ironwool sheep and stilt horses. Branch is tucked into the deeper woodlands; in fact, their homes are built into the canopy and around the trunks of the dolewood trees. You could walk through the forest for days and never realize there were people above your head. It’s something else. The shapers who bent the fiber of the trees there are true luminaries.

At the far southern end of the Valley, the land drops off in a series of cliffs down to the Great Basin and the Verdessa beyond. There are people who live at the edge of the falls. Tumbledown, they call it. The people there stand watch over the Verdessa, while the Verdessians, I’m told, stand watch over them.

And, of course, there’s the monastery, way up in the mountains to the east. I have yet to travel there, and I may never will. The Floating Tower is for those who want to follow the shaper’s path, and they prefer a certain amount of solitude for their studies.

The crown jewel, though, is Lone Tree Station, where the Valley’s Rangers live and work—a tree that is nearly the size of a mountain, festooned with domiciles, research facilities, meditation chambers, and more. The Rangers keep the Valley safe, looking out for trouble and helping people wherever they can. They are wonderful human beings.

I truly love the Valley, which is why I travel here after every thaw. The trading is also quite good, as you know. I will see you when I return to the flotilla. I can’t wait to show you what I’ve bartered for this season.

–Yours, R.K.

Taken from the Rule book of Earthborne Rangers: https://earthbornegames.com/