Ambientia
March 17, 2006

My journey to the East.  A journey indeed.  What, at my best guess, was to be a 6 day journey to the land to the East, has ended in frustration today.  6 days ago, I set off along the path leading from the Shell into the East.  The path seemed simple enough, as though it was constructed with such a journey in mind.  On the morning that I set off on my trek, it was like no other.  The air was crisper than usual, the light brighter than ever.  Ambientia knew that I was exploring and it wanted to be sure that I found what I was looking for.  Or so I thought.

After the first day's travel and an uneventful night of rest, I continued on my way to the Eastern Land Mass in search of what could be changing Ambientia.  The morning was slightly cooler, but after an hour or so, it turned damp and miserable.  The sky darkened as I continued on and the wind picked up.  There are only 2 cycles of bad weather on Ambientia, and this time of year is not one of those cycles.  As the morning wore on, the skies got darker and the rain began.  Not a warm rain, mind you, but a cold, windy, dismal rain - steady falling, and bone chilling.  This continued on for days.  I tired to sleep but that it hard to do when you fear that at any moment you could be swept away by the high winds.

Early this morning, I stopped and took a short break.  The storm had worsened.  I continued on my way in hopes that this storm, or whatever it was, would lift.  It did not, it got even worse.  In fact, it seemed to get worse as I travelled closer to the land mass.  The path became more obscure and hard to follow as the rain made it muddy.  In the darkness it started to blend into the lack of light.  I could have been off the path and not even have know it.

I lifted my rain soaked head and peered into the darkness towards the land in the East.  My eye caught a faint glow a ways off into the distance.  It seemed that it was a steady glow, a beacon perhaps, coming from the land mass.  I pressed on down the path and was able to breath a sigh of relief.  After such a long journey with no change of scenery, the sight before me was most welcome.  I had come upon a gate that was dimly lit by two lanterns.  How they remained lit in this storm I do not know.  With high hopes I approached the opening of the gate, expecting to find a bridge and stopped myself suddenly.

The bridge was gone.  Where I expected a bridge to be to tie this wet land to the large mountain now facing me, there was not.  Only a huge deep cavern that lay before me making passage impossible.  In this dimly lit storm, I could not see and end to its depths.  My heart sank.  I had come all of this way and endured this horrible weather, only to find that I cannot get to the East land.  I had not come all this way for nothing, however.  I have learned that if one explores Ambientia closely enough, and with patience, it will reveal itself to you.
I decided to inspect the entrance to this bridge more closely.  I wanted to know how these lanterns kept burning even in this weather.  In my exploration, I came upon a control panel of sorts.  It had a small display and an array of knobs.  "Finally", I thought, "another piece to the puzzle".  However, there did not seem to be any life in this device at all.  It was mounted on a pedestal in such a way as to suggest that it controls something.  Perhaps it controls the bridge in some way?

For the past few hours I have been trying to figure out how to operate this device.  I do know that it creates a small portal just like the Synthitone.  This is how this letter finds you now, thankfully.  My first attempt was a cause for panic because when I finally found out how to power the device, the lanterns went out.  Fumbling around in the dark, I managed to figure out that by turning the various dials on the device, it produces tones.  So, I dialed in the same tonal sequence that I use on the Synthitone.  The lanterns re-lit and the communications portal opened. 

I am still here at the gate in this horrible weather.  I am going to try other code-tunes that I know of in an attempt to activate the bridge.  This device seems portable, so I may be able to use it to open transportation portals.  Before I sent this letter, I entered in another code-tune that I wrote with the Synthitone.  The lanterns went out, but a large blue portal opened to the left of me.  It is still open now.  I am going to enter this portal but thought it best to send this letter first, in the event that I am unable to send more letters for quite some time.

I feel that I will be safe in entering this portal, as I have always felt safe on Ambientia.  I will write when I have the opportunity next. 

- The Traveler