Selene - Tryggr - Whiteraven Rock - Crossstone - Ironwood city of Pinehill aka Willowhaven
I'm not much of a storyteller or writer especially in english, but here is my entry. Kypiqs FTW!
I used to think my hometown is the best place in Elyria. But after I grew up, packed my bags and bravely headed north from my home gate, I started to hear rumours about those mystical Kypiq Ironwood cities. The closer I came to Tryggr’s Kypiqlands the more I heard stories and the more interested I became. I even met a few Kypiqs on my travels. Cute little buggers. I wish I knew how to speak their language… Fortunately they spoke Neran so I was able to trade some news and information with them.
A Kypiq haven they said. A city between and above three rivers. That’s the beauty of Kypiq Ironwood cities, they are built laterally and horizontally around huge trees which reach for the sky, you can travel from treetop to another through extensive ziplines and rope bridges. But this city, Willowhaven they called it in Neran, it’s different from other Ironwood cities. Willowhaven is built around three rivers of which two flows towards the sea. It has a port in the middle of the city where cranes and elevators are used to handle trade goods from visiting ships. Wolf pelts from the north, spices from the south, Kypiq silk products from local artisans... Heh, there isn’t many ports where trade goods are raised from the ship over 50m straight up to a warehouse which is attached to a huge tree branch. Storages in Ironwood cities are situated horizontally instead of laterally like in Neran cities. I also heard that Willowhaven uses drawbridges at ground level in case there is a need to close roads and possibly even close the city. I’ve never seen a bridge to raise up… So far in my life they have been standing still! If all goes well, I’m going to see moving bridges!
Finally, after several weeks of travelling, I arrived to a port where I was able to buy a ticket on a coastal cutter, Seahawk, which took me all the way from Dore to Grimarch. There are several silk focused settlements to east from Willowhaven so I decided to travel through those and catch a ride to Willowhaven on a silk barge. I could have arrived from west as well or even from south through the land, but I decided to take the silk route since it’s said to be the most impressive route to arrive to Willowhaven. The Silk Route starts from Axewatch and takes you through a canyon before coming to Lake Nightwater. A sight on its own! You’ll see a Stormmist Waterall on your way from Lake Nightwater to Willowhaven and just before the lake narrows back to very narrow river where you can actually see and experience Kypiqs’ real brainchild, the “traffic lights”. They are some sort of mechanical lights which glow in different colors depending on is your turn to use the threadlike Broadside Narrow or do you have to wait. There is only room for one barge to go through the Narrow at a time. Therefore they give turns when one can sail from west and when from east. Only a Kypiq can invent something like that! After the Narrow you’ll go through Ironwood town of Broadside and then the river opens up. It becomes over 60m wide! And there it is. Willowhaven! One of the largest Kypiq settlements in Whiteraven Rock. The trade hub for so many traders and merchants. Many guilds have their branch offices here, Jörmundgandr Explorers, Druids of Faedin… Travellers come and go… You can even spot a group of spidercows herding at the canopy of an Ironwood tree!
“Dock A12!” shouted the port master once our barge arrived Willowhaven port. So this is how they keep things org... But but... what’s THAT! My jaw dropped to the floor… a huge willow glowing in the sunlight with golden and silver leafs, standing at least 60m above the river at the intersection of three big Ironwood branches. Willow’s 20-30m long branches hanging down and gently swaying in the breeze. Nobody told anything about this… I really need to learn Pyqsi… One of the boatmanns saw my amazed look and smiled. “Amazing, isn’t it. Unfortunately we can’t get much closer look than this.” “Why?” I asked. “The upper part of the city is blocked from non-Kypiqs due to defence reasons and mayor wanting to offer something special only for fellow Kypiqs - a Kypiq Haven.” “Shame...” I responded and slowly started to envy those little Kypiqs...
