Soldes 3, 5680

The land in this pass is rugged, but the riverside consists of soft grasses and shrubs and a flat enough area for carts and wagons to travel. Even better, there is plenty of food, which is strangely surprising considering these mountains have the barren Kiremo Desert somewhere north of them. It’s too bad Etnyben isn’t better explored. I’ve seen plenty of maps depicting the existence of this and other range of mountains, but I’ve never seen a map showing names of ranges west of the Red Mountains. If Prince Nomolo ever takes an interest in this land, I recommend naming the various mountain ranges throughout this land.

A species of goat with an oddly shaped head thrives in this region. Most of the animal looks unremarkably similar to any other species of goat, but the snout is wide instead of long. I observed several of these grazing on lichens growing on rocks. The wide mouth allows it to eat as much lichen as a normal goat eats grass in each bite. Dawn managed to find an old skeleton of a goat, and Tora’Sor suggested the wide head attached to the narrow spine almost looks like a hammer. I’ve seen numerous strange animals on this expedition, but I’d say hammerhead goats are the strangest thus far.

Our current direction is northeast. I think this goes to show the old rumors were wrong about a direct passage from east to west or north to south. It might also be the reason why the passage wasn’t discovered previously. I expect this passage will snake through these mountains, with the other end probably at the mouth of one of the rivers along the western coast of Etnyben. I used to wonder why that coast was unexplored since I’d expect it easier to find the passage from that side, but I heard the land was too rugged with too many lawless towns and villages. My experience with the Sisterhood of Jadela’Mar makes me wonder if their organization is the cause of all previous expeditions starting from the east. If my suspicions are correct, I doubt Tora’Sor or Niahla’Sen would admit it, although it’s possible that such information might only be privy to the highest leaders within their organization.