Chapter 194: Chapter 177 – Volcanic Springs

"The Al-Hassid citadel has long been considered one of the wonders of the world. Built by dwarves in search of a new home, many would have thought the choice of a patch of sandy desert in the middle of more abundant soil strange.

 

The choices made by the dwarves were far more pragmatic in nature, reserving the abundant soil for agricultural purposes, while making the most use of the sandy, barren desert by building their citadel there instead." - Gudrid Ingwesdotter, Historian from the Hassid Caliphate, formerly from Jötunberg, circa 523 FP.

Cal did not stay in Caracan for long, only for a few days, before they moved on in a route towards the south-west. This time they headed straight for the great citadel of Al-Hassid itself, where the Caliph reigned and also where the gate to Paradise in the region was situated.

 

Their route was very direct, a very linear route with no detours, crossing several areas most travelers would normally have avoided. For Cal those areas just served as opportunities to temper her nieces, or to have some stress relief instead.

 

The first such area they crossed was the northwestern corner of Cerilan, which was still in the hands of the dwindling rebel faction, which had decidedly chosen not to welcome her or her party for rather obvious reasons.

 

Cal just shrugged and forced her way through instead, the small border post they entered from nowhere near equipped enough to take her on, though she mostly allowed her nieces and Ying Xiao to take the opportunity to practice while she just kept a lookout for them.

 

The path they carved through Cerilan as they made their way was marked with blood and corpses, as the local forces that still supported the rebel cause tried to stop them to no avail. Given how haphazard and disordered their responses were though, Cal thought that the rebel side must be on the verge of defeat already.

 

Sure enough, when they reached the western border of Cerilan they found that the border post there had recently changed hands instead. Apparently most of the remaining rebels had been pushed away towards the western corners of the province, with many more having either died or fled elsewhere instead.

 

The loyalist forces that occupied the post did not make things hard for her party, as one of them had remembered her from when she went to claim bounties, Cal being a tall half elf with albinism making her figure an easy one to recall for most.

 

From Cerilan they crossed through Usgreb, another breadbasket province that relied on the fertility of its volcanic soil. The presence of two active and multiple dormant volcanoes turned the otherwise hilly province into a producer of food of the surrounding area.

 

The route Cal chose for the party took them towards one of the two active volcanoes, that the locals called Lahar-I-Sabah, and they actually climbed atop the mountain after Cal had Leila check to make sure that it is safe for them to do so. Her being of Magma affinity allowed her to get a feel of the flow of magma within and under the volcano to an extent, and she could tell that the volcano was stable for the time being.

 

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Midway up the mountain, Cal had Leila check again, this time with more specific instructions on what to look for, and they headed sideways according to the direction she pointed out. They soon found their destination, a secluded natural spring, yet one where the water bubbled with steam rising from below, naturally created by the volcanic environment itself.

 

"Why look for a natural spring, Aunt Celeysria?" Elaina asked as she saw Cal test the waters with her hand and give it a little sip to taste. "Isn't the portable bath you have plenty for us all to use?"

 

"It's not the same, girls. Then again, I think none of you had ever been to a natural volcanic spring before, have you?" Cal asked back as she stood up and smiled. She started to shed her clothing right there, keeping them in her storage, before she lowered herself to the volcanic spring with a pleased sigh. "Natural springs like these used to be common where I was raised, though in recent years the volcano had gone dormant and the springs stopped being hot springs."

 

"I'm not sure if it was true or not, but most everyone on the island believed that bathing in them benefits your health," explained Cal from the spring. Kino and Ying Xiao had already joined her by then, and so did Dan who politely went a bit further from where she was. Their half-goblin guide had gotten used to how nonchalant his clients this time around were about being naked in the presence of another. "I can't explain it either, but bathing in them does tend to invigorate people somewhat. Why don't you girls join us and try it out for yourselves?"

 

Although her nieces threw questioning looks at one another, they eventually shrugged their shoulders and joined Cal in the spring, laying back on the warm stones and allowing their bodies to relax as the heat from the waters seeped in. There was a slight sulphuric stench in the area due to the volcanic activity, but it did not bother them or diminish their experience much.

 

A few hours later, as they left the spring and continued on their journey, Cal's nieces were convinced, as they walked while sporting satisfied looks on their faces. Their skin had gone a bit reddish and wrinkly from having soaked in the waters for a bit too long, which elicited some teasing laughs from Cal.

 

The rest of their trip through the province was rather uneventful, and by the middle of autumn, they had reached the border to Al-Hassid itself.

 

Due to the geography of the region, the wind usually blows from the sea to the north towards the south for most of the year. This meant the northern regions of Al-Hassid would frequently receive a dusting of volcanic dust, carried by the wind when a volcanic eruption happened further north.

 

Because of that, the northern regions were mostly focused on hardy crops and horned lizard ranches, hardy beasts that would not even care about ashes on their food and just devour it along instead.

 

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