Expedition of the Realms

What is a life well lived? For myself, a life of quality lies in the nomadic impetus to explore and to experience our world with the senses gifted to us by glorious evolution! It is this impetus that compels me to helm another expedition into the wilds. Hudson Gordon had but to mention the Desert Realms before I found myself accepting with unwise haste. Hudson desired to map the Desert Realms, but lacked the more tangible skills of Realmwalking. Knowing his own faults, he also enlisted the help of Eilish Ní Maotháin, botanist and seasoned Realm guide. Perhaps this trip will harden his soft heart, for Realmwalking is no flight of fancy. Excitement builds in my breast at the thought of the Realms. Truly, one could not imagine a worse fate than being shackled to a desk in the Diogenes Club.

Eilish was tasked with preparations for our foray into the perilous deserts: sufficient victuals, gear to weather the harsh sun and, of course, bedrolls. I reviewed the manifest and found it to be complete, but as our cargo was being prepared, Eilish spied an incompetent Company man packing swamp waders. Thankfully, she was paying attention; the right gear is paramount to our survival. Musing on our potential mishap, I rallied my companions to a singular question: What great truth can the feeble mind of man hope to learn from the exploration of the Desert Realms? Each answered in kind to their passion. Though not entirely wrong in their approach, I goaded them to pursue a higher line of thought and instead ponder the purpose of the human spirit. Here, perhaps, they could not quite fathom my grand vision, but I am confident that days in the Realms will clarify the Hope of humanity.

The journey to a Desert Realm through New Kernow was…disappointing. St Augustine is exactly rural England, a twee pastiche down to the Tudor housing and cottage gardens. Shamefully, the verdant Forest Realms were plastered over. If someone had asked me, I would have told them that recreating England holds little value over the original life of the land. However, to pass through the intangible surface of a Portal and arrive in a yet unexplored Realm—what divine intoxication! It is here we may transcend the limits of society and experience humanity as nature intended. Hudson immediately took to his craft, whereupon he stumbled across a curious glabrous creature. The alien nature of it compelled Hudson to stop charting and draw the curiosity. Eilish found a suitable spot for camp and proceeded to survey for any foodstuffs to bolster our provisions. Eilish knows the value of preparation, and her efforts will stave off future mishaps.

At the nomadic impetus’ beckoning, we ventured to another Desert Realm. Hudson immediately set to comparing the results to his previous map and found this Realm to be differently shaped. It was at this time when we encountered our first real danger of the Realms, with Hudson attracting the fancy of a rather large insect. As he fumbled for his weapon amidst his papers, I sighed, sighted and shot. My second round went through the creature’s multi-prismed eye, and it fell, dead. Hudson sheepishly thanked me for saving his life and appeared to be shaken up by the experience. A brush with death is enough to make any man reconsider his fortune in the Realms. Careful preparation can, of course, aid one’s fortune, but one must also have one’s wits about them.

Again, we found ourselves in a Desert Realm, where the cool stillness of night overtook us. We rested by the fire, each of us lost in the natural beauty of the sky above. Though no one spoke, I knew that the others had come to understand my earlier proposition. What is the purpose of our feeble crying in the awful silences of space? Can our dim intelligence read the secrets of that star-strewn sky? Does any answer come out of it? Never any at all, nothing but echoes and fantastic visions! And yet we believe that there is an answer, and that, upon a time, a new Dawn will come blushing down the ways of our enduring night. We believe it, for its reflected beauty even now shines up continually in our hearts from beneath the horizon of the grave, and we call it Hope.