1.1 Leaving Home
Edward nervously fidgeted with his train ticket. He stood in the grand hall of Ochre Light Station, which served his area of the city.
The arched ceilings of what must have been specially formulated stone stood above his head, glistening in a beautiful yellow-orange[1] streaked through with striations of blue veins and patterns like a sunset on an alien planet—and he had heard plenty enough about material formulation from his friends studying industrial alchemy to know what a rarity something like that was. The floor was done in textured green panels, shades of verdant color in subtle peaks and valleys that made one feel as if they were a giant walking on a untouched wilderness landscape.
It wasn't that he didn't expect the trip, or wasn't prepared for it. No, he had his rolling suitcase of clothes, and his suitcase of ritual materials too—and he was sure he had packed everything. It was more of.. a yawning sensation in his gut. Like everything was just about to fall away from him. Or maybe even drifting as he stood there now.
It wasn't fear of a new place either. He'd been to so many wilderness preserves with his parents, and if Getschund Brille[3] wasn't an unfamiliar city than what was?
No matter. It would pass, and he knew at least intellectually that he was doing everything he should. The ticket- he glanced downward to read it one more time- yes, the ticket definitely read Bilgeton, and that was where the N3 Bilgeton[2] ruins he was set to investigate were.
The sound of wind startled him out of his thoughts, the train appearing through the far windows, slowing down as it reached the station. Edward put the ticket back into his pocket, and rolled his bags up to the line already forming in front of the closet car's doors.
Fewer people seemed to be traveling than he thought there would be, only an older man, one couple, and a group of other kids his age. Bilgeton wasn't exactly a tourist destination, but surely one of the other towns on the line had something of note, right? Eh, maybe not. He certainly hadn't heard of anything.
The interior of the car was spacious, decorated in clean white metal and sky-blue highlights, similar to the outside. He quickly found his was to a free table near the end of the car, and rolled his bags underneath. Comfortable seat, too—surprisingly nice fabric for what had to be alchemically generated material[4].
Edward sat curled up in the chair, looking over his todo list for the first couple of weeks in Bilgeton. It was evening now, the sun dappling rectangles of soft pink over the metal of the car, light shining from small tubes of lux now ignited above.
Check out the furniture situation- couldn't do that yet. Mailbox, Get building supplies, setup Cyrral's Homely Domain—ooh, that one was important—, actually find the ruins, get some groceries- all on wait till he got to Bilgeton. At least he was nearly halfway there, with the train arriving early morning at fifth bell tomorrow. Read History of Northern Inland Kevland Ruins? Uh, no thank you. He was here to test the magic of ruins, not figure out who built them. Check out the Bilgeton pamphlet thingy- yes, that was it.
He'd gotten the pamphlet from a guy at the post office, funnily enough. 'Tourist's Guide to Bilgeton, Raskia', with a funny little picture of a mossy rock and fog, and a guy hanging off a wall in a harness.
Fog Gulch
Bilgeton's most famous landmark, fog gulch is a mist valley only a couple miles outside the center of town. Visit the top of Mt. Verdine for a spectacular view of the entire mist cloud, which lingers perpetually over the area.
Dive into the mists below! Strap on a harness and rappel 150 meters down the cliff. Stand on the platform constructed just 20 years ago, and immerse yourself in the droplets of water which give Bilgeton its constant cool temperature, even in the summer passes.
That could be neat. Maybe he could check that out after he did the home definition ritual, could be nice to see the fog up close. There didn't seem to be anything about the bottom of the valley, but maybe it was all river or something?
A Rich Past
Bilgeton is one of the most important exporters of Vitae in the greater Lumis area. The special moss that grows in the humid atmosphere of the forest and valley contains a nearly pure mix of Vitae and Tin elements. Bilgeton residents export more than 70 metric tons of moss a year.
The first settlers used to grow moss by actually watering it with mechanical spouts, leading to today's affectionate term of 'Daubers' for those who grow moss. Although much of the towns moss is grown in greenhouses for export now, residents today still use the term to celebrate the settler's work.
Interesting stuff, though it was probably nothing very special magically[5]. He would still check it out, of course, but better not to get hopes up. Especially, on second thought, given that they apparently exported this stuff in mass quantity to Lumis and nobody had ever mentioned it at LPC[6].
There was more on the back of the pamphlet, but it seemed to be just be a list of local representatives, and maker's mark[7].
No real revelations there, he had already known about the fog from the grant position, but it was nice to know you could see it up close. It did spark some ideas for art projects. He'd have to get Sylis back at the college to mail him a copy of gas containment rituals, but maybe he could do some sort of interactive sculpture.. something where you could go in and out of the fog, full mist to no mist in a single demarcating line? He penned it in at the bottom of the todo list, something to look into later.
As the sun was at last fully subsumed by the horizon, Edward folded up his notepad, stretched a little, and settled in to sleep the rest of the train ride.