World Travel & Gateways

“A toll is only the first price. Find out who needs the road kept open, and how long they can afford to wait. — The Edgewalker (as recorded by Dusana)

“Dusana wrote that down because he says it well, not because it is true. I have crossed forty of these gateways. Not one of them was a throat. Several were somebody’s whole life’s work, kept open in bad weather by people whose names he did not ask for.” — Mira of the Wandering Circle, in the margin of Dusana’s copy

Global Travel Procedures

The Known World: Bearings and Connections

The northern Amaranthine. From west to east the mainland sequence is Ecktoria, Acasia, Vhasia, and Viterra. The Violet Steppe lies north of Ecktoria. The Aelerian Mountains begin near the meeting of Ecktoria, the steppe, and Acasia, and run above Acasia, Vhasia, and Viterra. Ubral occupies the approaches north of Viterra, below the range. A coast journey and a northward mountain crossing are different routes.

The two southern seas. Viterra has the Dolmis to its east and the Amaranthine to its south. Thepyrgos projects from its southeastern corner; Hyaar lies east of that peninsula. The Astroegro Straits connect the Amaranthine and Dolmis under Thepyrgan control. The Theonan Isles lie in the Dolmis. The Black River belongs to the Viterran–Thepyrgan border country; it is not a river route from Dhahara or Akilan.

The northern waters and the forest. Zakov stands on the northern coast of the Dolmis. The Valewood begins northeast of it and extends far north, reaching east of the Aberderrin at its northern extreme. The Thin Coast, also called the Thin Shore, is the narrow strip between the forest’s southern margin and the Dolmis. Linn crews use this strip on the portage route between the two seas. The Linn homelands lie around and north of the Aberderrin, with the Yloka flowing down from the north into that sea. Reaching the Dolmis requires an overland haul and relaunch; there is no continuous Yloka channel or open-water strait between the seas.

The mountain’s northern side. The Mistlands lie north of the Aelerian Mountains and west of the Aberderrin, with the Direwood immediately west of them. Payden’s Port opens onto the Aberderrin. A vessel crossing from Linn waters to the Mistlands stays on that sea; one bound for Zakov must use the Dolmis portage. The Valewood’s northern shore and its southern Thin Coast approach are not interchangeable landings.

Akilan and the Way of Silk. Mbaro stands on Shoreless Bay on the southern Amaranthine shore. Its Oshiiran hinterland reaches deep into Akilan, meeting Ashaan to the east and Taharka’s highland country farther southeast. Fhara is the peninsula beyond the Ashaani approaches. The Pereshi highlands continue east toward northern Dhahara and the Himadri. Caravan routes through these lands involve successive lowland roads, wells, and high passes; a shared trade name does not make them one valley.

Dhahara and the eastern realms. Kahfagian maritime power holds Dhahara’s wet southern ports on the Bronze Coast; the Kahfagian homeland remains in the western Amaranthine. Himdal Aeler rule the northern highlands and approaches to the Himadri. Between these lie the Nine Kingdoms: eight present kingdoms and a ninth remembered as missing. Farther east, the Eastern Ykrul rule the great northern steppe and the eastern mainland territories; Sihai holds the remaining mainland realm. Nihori is an offshore archipelago, and Ayokha is the southeastern mainland and peninsular country. A Nihori crossing reaches the eastern mainland, not the inland Aberderrin. The New World is not commonly known and supplies no routine itinerary in these books.

Reading the routes. Arrows below show successive legs, not continuous waterways. Change vessel, haul, or hire pack animals where the mode changes. Travel timers measure complications within a leg, not fixed days or mileage. Green Gates and shadow corridors require their stated supernatural access; they do not shorten an ordinary map journey by default.

Route Tables

Rows with different starting points are alternatives; join only those whose endpoints match. A regional leg may contain several days of ordinary travel. Choose the destination deck for the encounter and the authority actually controlling that crossing for its papers.

The Amaranthine Coastway (West to East)

Kahfagia $\rightarrow$ Ecktoria $\rightarrow$ Acasia $\rightarrow$ Silkstrand $\rightarrow$ Vhasia $\rightarrow$ Viterra $\rightarrow$ Thepyrgos

The Dolmis Circuit (Circum-Dolmis)

Fairport $\rightarrow$ Theona $\rightarrow$ Zakov $\rightarrow$ Thin Coast $\rightarrow$ Aelinnel $\rightarrow$ Aelaerem $\rightarrow$ Fairport. The Valewood interior is a separate landward branch.

The Aelerian Passes (North-South Through the Mountains)

Acasia/Vhasia/Viterra/Ubral $\rightarrow$ Aeler Gates $\rightarrow$ Mistlands. A westward branch enters the Direwood; a northern branch reaches the steppe. The forest is not a compulsory stop on every northbound journey.

The Shadow Corridors (Valewood Approaches)

Thin Coast $\leftrightarrow$ Valewood edge; Payden’s Port $\leftrightarrow$ Thin Coast only by a usable shadow corridor or a separate overland journey. A supernatural crossing is not an Aberderrin–Dolmis sea lane.

The Linn Raid Routes (Portage)

Yloka / Linn Skerries $\rightarrow$ Aberderrin landing $\rightarrow$ overland portage via the Thin Coast $\rightarrow$ Dolmis. Unload the freight and haul the hull; a deep-draught ship must transship rather than follow a longship overland.

The Steppe Frontiers

Ykrul $\leftrightarrow$ Vilikari $\leftrightarrow$ Ecktoria/Acasia $\leftrightarrow$ Black Banner Territories

The River Roads

Belworth: Forms the boundary between Vhasia (west) and Viterra (east). The Black River forms most of the border between Viterra and Thepyrgos. The lower Belworth and Black River are separate waterways: transfer by road or coastal carrier where required; do not draw a continuous river between them.

The Green Gate Hops (Aelinnel)

Aelinnel (east Dolmis shore) $\leftrightarrow$ Aelaerem (south); Aelinnel $\leftrightarrow$ Valewood (north). The phasing gate is a conditional shortcut, not a relocation of either shore.

The Astroegro Straits (Thepyrgos Control)

Amaranthine $\leftrightarrow$ Astroegro Straits $\leftrightarrow$ Dolmis. Thepyrgos controls the western approach; Hyaar lies east of its peninsula.

Ubral Routes (North of Viterra, South of Aelerian Mountains)

Ubral $\leftrightarrow$ Viterra $\leftrightarrow$ Aeler (via passes)

Routes Beyond the Amaranthine

Shoreless Bay and the Akilan Interior

Amaranthine port $\rightarrow$ Mbaro (sea); Mbaro $\rightarrow$ Oshiiran interior (canal and caravan); Oshiiran eastern roads $\rightarrow$ Ashaan; southeastern roads $\rightarrow$ Taharkan approaches. The bay landing and inland carrying routes are separate legs. Use Oshiiran weights and barge priority in the canal country, Ashaani papers at the Brass Gate, and Taharkan pass-stones on the highland approach. Mbaro’s reach into Akilan does not make the entire hinterland navigable from the quay.

The Way of Silk: Peninsula to Highlands

Ashaan $\rightarrow$ Fharan approaches $\rightarrow$ Pereshi highlands $\rightarrow$ northern Dhahara / Himadri approaches. The Salt Road changes from lowland and oasis travel to highland roads; wells, border posts, and pass closures govern different legs. A caravan leaving Fhara for Oshiira travels west through the Ashaani approaches, not north directly to Mbaro. Sidhi and Tulkani communities occur along the network; they are not single intermediate countries that every journey crosses.

Dhahara: Coast, Courts, and High Passes

Bronze Coast port $\rightarrow$ a river landing / inland road $\rightarrow$ one of the eight present kingdoms $\rightarrow$ northern Aeler approaches. Kahfagian harbor papers do not grant an inland audience or a Himdal toll waiver. Monsoon shipping connects the southern ports to Ayokha and to Akilan’s eastern ports; onward passage to Mbaro or the Amaranthine is a separate journey. Thepyrgos is reached through the intervening maritime network, not by ascending the Black River from Dhahara. The missing ninth kingdom is not an ordinary scheduled destination. Himadri underways serve their own mountains; no routine tunnel joins them to the western Aelerian range.

The Eastern Mainland and Nihori

Kuvani roads $\rightarrow$ Eastern Ykrul territories $\rightarrow$ Sihai crossings and caravan towns; eastern mainland port $\rightarrow$ Nihori (sea). Ykrul authority extends into settled eastern mainland country as well as the northern grasslands. Name the ruler of a port before deciding whether a Sihai pass is valid there. A journey from Nihori to Linn waters requires a mainland landing, the long westward overland route, and embarkation on the Aberderrin. Kuvani remount stations are not one short sea crossing from Nihori.

Ayokha and the Monsoon Circuit

Ayokhan river port $\rightarrow$ coastal anchorage $\rightarrow$ Bronze Coast (seasonal sea passage). Ayokha occupies the southeastern mainland and peninsula. Routes north into Sihai change from river and upland roads to that realm’s inland network; passages to Nihori require the eastern sea lanes. The Salt Scar is an Akilan carrying route, not a land bridge from Ngomebe to Dhahara. Move cargo by sea between continents and begin a new caravan on the receiving shore.

Beyond the Charts

No ordinary gateway leads to the New World. A claim to have crossed the Great Sea is evidence to investigate, not common geographic knowledge or a dependable trading timetable.

Core Travel Procedure

For each leg of a journey, draw 3–4 cards using the decks for your destination and controlling authority.

• $\spadesuit$ from the destination deck: sets the scene (place).

• $\heartsuit$ from the destination deck: introduces the local actor or faction.

• $\clubsuit$ from the Wilds (general hazards) or destination (if strongly policed): brings pressure.

• $\diamondsuit$ from the authority that gates the route: papers, escorts, rights, or exceptions.

Set a travel timer by the highest rank:

• 2–5 $\Rightarrow$ 4 segments

• 6–10 $\Rightarrow$ 6 segments

• J/Q/K $\Rightarrow$ 8 segments

• A $\Rightarrow$ 10 segments

On success, advance to the next leg; on failure, mark delay, debt, or diversion and resolve a consequence in the fiction.

Mode Rules

Sea Legs

(Amaranthine, Dolmis, Aberderrin, Gulf of Oshiira, Inland Sea). When crossing international waters, the controlling authority is either the origin port’s navy or a neutral convoy league.

Mountain Passes & Underways

(Aeler, Himadri, Taharkan highlands). Any A may convert a surface route to an under-route. $\diamondsuit$ from Aeler always codifies outcomes — no roll — for sealed doors, breath time, and escorted segments.

Desert Legs

(Sahel, Red Desert, Fhara drylands). Water is the primary resource. A dry well hazard can end a journey.

River Legs

(Belworth, Ayokhan rivers, Oshiiran canals). Bridges, booms, and law in Vhasia/Viterra; reed-mazes and bell-lines in Mistlands; canal mothers and weigh-houses in Oshiira.

Steppe Legs

(Violet Steppe, Kuvani grazing lands). Remount stations and grazing compacts. The Ykrul and Kuvani both use story tolls.

Shadow Corridors

(Valewood, Ways Between, Thin Shore). Add a regional taboo: never count to nine, never speak the ninth name. A 9 in the seed triggers the Hollow’s attention.

Universal Travel Hazards (d18)

When drawing a Club from the Wilds deck or from a region’s own hazard table, you may roll on this expanded table for additional flavor. These hazards integrate elements from the Eastern Realms, Dhahara, and the Way of Silk expansions.

Gateways & Control Points

Edgewalker’s Notes on Leverage

A Diamond gives you an opportunity. To use it well, establish who recognizes it, what it permits, and why that matters now. A beautiful seal in the wrong jurisdiction is a heavy piece of wax.

Begin with the decision you need. Find the person able to make it. Learn what constrains them: supplies, time, witnesses, orders, a promise they intend to keep. Then secure a useful alternative to their cooperation. Until you can bear their refusal, they are negotiating with your need.

• Passage Tokens: Check the route, the holder and the expiry. Passage for an empty wagon may be worth little to you and a great deal to someone whose cargo is spoiling. Establish whether the permission can be transferred before offering it.

• Seals & Stamps: Learn who honors the mark and who can suspend it. Keep the supporting papers. A clerk who can defend an approval to a superior has a reason to issue it promptly.

• Story Debts: Find out what was promised and who witnessed it. Ask for something the obligation can actually support. An oath is useful because its keeper takes it seriously; inventing terms destroys the basis of your claim.

• Spirit Objects: Learn the custom before proposing an exchange. A spirit may want a duty performed, an intrusion ended, or an object returned. Possession alone gives you no assurance that it will bargain.

At one harbor I needed a detained pilot released before the tide turned. His employer had offered money. The harbor-master preferred to keep both the pilot and the possibility of a larger payment. I obtained the outbound masters’ signatures on a statement that they would remain at berth without their licensed pilot. Their contracts charged delay to the harbor. They signed because they needed him too.

I gave the harbor-master the statement, the first hour’s charge, and a release form requiring no admission of fault. He read the signatures twice. The pilot was outside in seven minutes. I had said fourteen words. The masters supplied the force; I had made it possible for them to apply it together. Had they been willing to sail without him, my paper would have been worthless.

Make the demand narrow. Show enough evidence to be believed. Give the other party a usable way to agree. If compliance will not end the pressure, expect resistance: you have given them nothing to buy. Honor the settlement. You may need people to fear your next demand, but you certainly need them to trust your receipt.

Keep a reserve when you can afford it. Spend it when it purchases the objective. A claim preserved while the grain rots is an expensive souvenir.

Playing the Uncharismatic Face

The Edgewalker can lead a social scene without winning affection. Show the preparation: a visit to the clerk, a verified obligation, an ally with a matching interest. At the negotiation, state the desired decision and the concrete reason someone might make it. Quiet precision can be more unsettling than a speech, especially when an apparently minor contact proves able to stop a powerful person’s business.

Give that preparation real weight under the existing core procedures. Establish what the leverage makes possible, then resolve uncertainty through the normal core loop and applicable rules. This portrayal grants no new skill, automatic success, free String, or power to dictate another character’s choices. A refusal can be sincere, affordable, or based on information the Edgewalker lacks. On success, let the gate actually open: resentment need not cancel a well-earned result. Later consequences should follow what the parties did and promised.

For a playable starting package, see Edgewalker — the uncharismatic Face in the Complete Guide to Subclasses.

Four Uses for an Open Gate

The four travelers were asked what they would do with passage through a closed gate. Their answers pursue different kinds of success.

The Edgewalker: Get the cargo through before negotiating anything else. Have the keeper acknowledge the delivery. Once our obligation is discharged, we can discuss the next one from a better position.

Mira of the Wandering Circle: Find the person who asked for us. Share a meal if they offer one. I would like our next visit to begin with someone recognizing our faces. I cannot demand that welcome in advance.

Ume Nineterrace, Rota-Keeper: Ask who opens it tomorrow. If we have used an exceptional permission, arrange an ordinary one for the next wagon. A successful crossing should leave a workable route behind it.

Naru of the Fourth Terrace: Count the people who came with us. Ask whether this is still where we meant to go. An open gate makes a choice possible; we are allowed to choose another road.