One of these days, we’ll reach the end of this valley. We probably still have a month to go since it’s a very long valley and the stone at Zitua Ashluk provided a distance that we’ve only half traveled, but it can’t continue forever. The river is noticeably narrower than farther down the valley. The land is becoming more rugged. Instead of the rolling hills covered with trees and grassy clearings that we’ve been traveling through for the past few months, the land here is rockier. Trees and grass continue to grow, but they grow around the rocks. I think the land is also somewhat more arid, but it’s difficult to determine since it still rains regularly.
Kellon commented today that he is wondering if the throne of the Great King has passed on to Prince Nomolo yet. When he left for Etnyben, there were rumors that Great King Derkias was suffering from health problems, no doubt exacerbated by the scandal resulting from the first portion of my journal to return to Atalan. Tora’Sor said there were things I wrote down that I should have kept private, but it was too late to change anything. Personally, I expect the Great King to survive several years yet since he’s only fifty years old. Still, we’re far from civilization so we won’t hear any news from Atalan until we reach a coastal city or return there ourselves.
Tora’Sor surprised us today. She’s been slowly carving something from a branch the past few days, and during a period of rest today showed us the result of her efforts. It was a crude musical instrument, a pipe capable of producing enough notes for her to play a variety of songs. Apparently, music was one of the things she studied during her childhood in Vernon. She didn’t have much time to pursue this interest after she joined the Sisterhood of Jadela’Mar, but she rekindled the interest during her captivity underground. It seems the people living down there are just as fond of music as anyone up here is. The common interest in music helped Tora’Sor make friends during her captivity. Today she played one of the underground lullabies for us.