Genin Trail

is a the main route used by travelers between and  in eastern. It is named after the semi-legendary mage, although the connection with him is obscure.

Overview
, a mystical i, is the namesake of one of ’s major s. Although tales tie Genin to many strange events in eastern Hârn, the route predates the mage and his connection to it is obscure.

The trail traverses three kingdoms (,, and ) and s of barbarian-infested wilderness to connect the cities of and. Travelers cross highland forests and open grasslands, all the while watching for ambushes by tribesmen or bandits. The unpaved trail is rough,, and often muddy, even within the civilized lands of Káldôr and Mèlderýn.

Traffic on the Genin Trail is heaviest in spring and autumn, when annual trade caravans travel between Thay and Tashál’s Great Summer Fair. Traders from the Mèlderýni port city bring carts and wagons loaded with preserved fish, minerals, and pottery, as well as wines and exotic luxury goods from the n continent. At, Chybísan mercantylers join the northward flow with metal ingots, horses and hides, and  glasswares. After almost two months, the caravans reach Tashál, where mercantylers sell their wares and buy anew for their return trip.

A has no set size or composition. Although a small caravan may use mules and carts in hopes of moving quickly, the speed of most trains is set by the plodding place of -drawn wagons. The disparity of speed between the various draft animals and conveyances jostling for space makes the caravan masters’ job very difficult.

Not everyone travels the Genin Trail for trade. an and an s and make pilgrimages to Thay to visit the temples of the Hârnic s of their faiths. Scholars from Káldôr and western Hârn use the trail to reach the famed of  or to study the ancient monuments and barrows left by the early  tribes or.

Much of the route crosses land claimed by the, , and barbarians. The borderlands are protected to some degree by the Chybísan Royal Guard and the armies of Káldôr’s and Mèlderýn’s, aided by the s and  of the. Nonetheless, trade caravans and wealthy travelers employ mercenary guards of their own, as do the larger bands of pilgrims.

History
Travelers have crossed this part of Hârn by one route or another for millennia, at least since the days of the Codominium. Some scholars claim the Genin Trail follows the route used by the Khuzdul and their Jarin allies to reach Meyvinel (now Tashal) as they retreated northward in the decades following the Battle of Sorrows.

In the “Seven Kingdoms” period (c. 170 TR), the trail carried trade and information from Melderyn and Elorinar through Chybisa and Pagostra and on to Kephria, Serelind, and Nurelia. During the Migration Wars that wracked eastern Hârn, trade and travel were disrupted by tribal migration and sporadic fighting.

Genin’s connection to the trail may be due to the role he played in the founding of Thay. In 573, it is said, the mage guided Aleathian refugees to the Horka River estuary. The city they established there quickly became the dominant economic force in mainland Melderyn. In 575, as communication and trade increased, efforts were made to improve the trail between Laket in Melderyn and Kobing in Kaldor. Genin may have been part of this effort, as it is recorded that he arrived in Kobing around 579 to study the area’s ancient barrows and search for Khuzan and Sindarin ruins.

When King Torastra of Kaldor declared war on Chybisa in 675 over the stolen Sword of Calsten, his forces swept down the Genin Trail to lay siege to Burzyn. Torastra was wise enough to let trade between Melderyn and Kaldor continue largely unmolested during the three-year siege, but contact with the caravans was tightly controlled to prevent supplies or information reaching the defenders within the caer walls.

After surrendering to Torastra, King Balesir traveled the Genin Trail into exile in Melderyn. It carried Balesir north again in 687, this time at the head of the army that would regain him the Chybisan throne. Revenue from the Genin Trail remains the foundation of the kingdom’s stability.

Current situation
For most of the year, travel on the Genin Trail is light but steady in both directions. Although the grand caravans to and from the Great Summer Fair are by far the largest to move along the trail, smaller groups are common throughout the year.

Since 715, knights and men-at-arms of the Order of the Lady of Paladins have marched each spring from the order’s chapterhouse at Nebulan in Kaldor to its headquarters at Cundras. After a summer campaigning against the tribesmen on Melderyn’s Solora frontier, they travel north, their return home slowed by the carts carrying the casualties back to Kaldor.

The Bujoc tribes observe travelers in their range. They may seek to trade but usually take no action. Most contact with the Bujoc occurs around the time of their spring moot, when many of the tribes are in the region.

Hodiri attacks on caravans on the Genin Trail are uncommon. The horseclans are more likely to trade with those traveling through their range, although attacks have happened. The Warden of Melderyn’s Dyriamarch has sent expeditions against the Hodiri. His forces are inadequate to secure the region but their activity agitates the tribes and threatens the peace.

The Pagaelin are as likely to ignore travelers as they are to attack, although small or obviously weak parties will draw their attention. They seldom attack a superior or equal force unless driven by extraordinary hunger or led by a strong chieftain. The tribesmen may try to extort “tolls” or seek to trade, sometimes even honestly. Chybisa’s Royal Guard seeks to avoid confrontation with the Pagaelin but Kaldoric troops skirmish with them frequently. The tribesmen are often near the crossing at Oselbridge except when Baron Firith, Warden of Oselmarch, sends a patrol south.

Thay to Lakét
The assembly and departure of the caravans headed for the Great Summer Fair is marked with a festival of commerce and merriment. Merchants make last-minute deals while laborers, teamsters, and ostlers say goodbye to their families and make things ready for the journey.

The annual “Grand Caravan” is actually a series of smaller caravans, each carrying the goods of one or more traders and travelers banding together for safety or convenience. Although the caravans get under way within a few days of each other, they often get spread out considerably over the long road to Tashal. Some cargo travels by boat up the Horka River to Laket but most goes overland by wagon, cart, or mule-back, with the beasts of burden setting a steady, but often slow, pace.

Thay is the closest port on the Hârnic mainland to Lythia, but all foreign ships are required to call first at Cherafir for inspection and payment of import duties. The annual arrival there of the Larun of Cherafir from Livelis is met with chaos, as mercantylers race to purchase exotic Lythian wares and get them shipped to Thay. Sea travel is highly unpredictable and the caravans of Lythian goods are usually the last to leave Thay, in some years not reaching Tashal until the Fair is well under way.

To encourage trade, royal decree forbids landholders along this part of the trail from collecting tolls from the seasonal caravans, although the restriction doesn’t apply to the Sheriff of Elorin. Although tolls do not fund the upkeep of the road, it is nonetheless better here than in most places.

Towns along the trail welcome traders and travelers and the coin they spend for meals and supplies. Caravans are joined by traders carting loads of local goods, including pottery from Menio and minerals from Ramere, Parios, and Laket. Bujoc tribespeople come to Parios to trade crafts, herbs, and pelts for cloth, alcohol, and other artifacts of civilized life.

At Laket, the Miners’ Guild sponsors a festival that coincides with the caravans traveling from Thay. The Westbound Fair is the scene of public drunkenness, raucous contests such as mine cart pulls and mule races, and the occasional spontaneous wedding. Local guildsmen profit by provisioning travelers and Anadel miners. The fair attracts mercenaries hoping to hire on as last-minute caravan guards or looking for work clearing gargun from the mines. At the end of the two-day fair, the caravans continue on to Tashal and the miners disperse to open their mines after the winter.

Lakét to Bûrzyn
Traveling from Laket to Geda takes 22 days, although those on foot and not held back by wagons and oxen can make it in less than a tenday. After leaving Laket, the road soon becomes a muddy track through the hilly woodland. The rough track is an early test for travelers, as boots, hooves, and wheels churn the spring mud into a thick, sucking paste.

The Bujoc will attempt to sabotage or discourage miners headed to or from the Anadel mines but tend to ignore travelers on the Genin Trail. The same cannot be said of the Gargu-hyeka of the Chindra tribe, whose hunting parties will shadow caravans, hoping to ambush broken down or slow-moving wagons and feast on the oxen.

After traversing the pass through the Anadels, the Genin Trail bends north to follow the Ulmerien River. Travelers may encounter Hodiri tribesmen here as they drive their herds to markets in Geda and Burzyn. The Hodiri carts known as gurs share the trail with caravan wagons. Excitement erupts on the rare occasion the tribesmen sight a herd of wisent and race pell-mell after the gigantic bovines, returning with thick hides and lean meat still bloody from the hunt.

Although the trail is not actively patrolled by the army of Dyriamarch, its warden, Sir Barryn Alaga, will occasionally assign a unit to accompany a caravan, especially when Hodiri tribesmen are known to be in the area. The escorts are a mixed blessing, as their presence can antagonize the Hodiri. The guards invariably turn back when the trail turns north and reaches Melderyn’s vague border with Chybisa.

Some caravans pause for a day in Geda to resupply while others push on for Burzyn and its spring fair. At Burzyn, local craftsmen provide repairs and provisions for the travelers, while traders exchange Sindarin glass and local goods for Melderyni goods and Lythian luxuries. The “Grand Caravan” can easily take the full tenday of the fair to pass through Burzyn but its component units seldom tarry more than two or three days. The northbound traffic to Tashal is joined at Burzyn by carts and wagons carrying metals from Geda and goods sent upriver from Lerenil and Onden.

Bûrzyn to Kóbing
The journey through the Upper Osel region between the Ulmerien River at Burzyn and the Osel River at Oselbridge takes 11 days by wagon or half that by foot. The hilly, forested topography poses few problems, as even the many streams that cross the trail can usually be forded with little trouble for experienced travelers. Nonetheless, this is widely considered the most dangerous segment of the Genin Trail.

Although the region is claimed by both Kaldor and Chybisa, its true masters are the Pagaelin tribesmen. The Pagaelin have little interest in trade or peace and observe traffic on the Genin Trail with an eye toward opportunity. Encounters with them are unpredictable. Although they commonly try to extort tolls, the Pagaelin are as likely to ignore travelers as they are to attack.

The land between the Ulmerien and Osel is littered with the remnants of civilization dating back centuries. Barrow mounds can be found clustered where Jarin settlements stood before the Atani Wars. Ruins mark where Chybisan manors were overrun by barbarians during the Migration Wars of the 2nd century or left empty by the depredations of the Red Death. Bandits often shelter within the remaining walls of these ruins, emerging to wreak havoc on unprepared wayfarers.

Travelers may find some protection at either end of this segment. The Chybisan Royal Guard seeks to protect the Genin Trail within a day or so of Burzyn, while Kaldor’s Oselmarch army watches the road between Oselbridge and Kobing. The Order of the Lady of Paladins chapters at Ulmstane and Nebulan run patrols of their own.

Oselbridge is a welcome sight after days of tense travel. A small outpost run by the Mercantylers’ Guild sits at the north end of the only crossing over the Osel River. It provides travelers with a brief respite before the trail crosses the rough Remil Forest. The rolling plains here are carpeted with waist-high grass that easily hides the Pagaelin and bandits.

Mercantylers who have made good time to Kobing often tarry a few days to rest and sell their goods to the people of southern Kaldor. Those who have seen delays will move on quickly and travel the few remaining days to Tashal to ready their wares before the opening of the Summer Fair.

Kóbing to Tashál
The road north of Kobing is unpaved and can be rutted and muddy but is nonetheless an improvement over the rougher track that travelers have followed since Burzyn. By wagon, Tashal is typically a five-day journey, but the traffic of others headed to the Fair often delays the caravans. At Qualdris, wagons from the south are joined by carts carrying metals from Hutop and goods of all sorts from Minarsas and other eastern towns. The problem is magnified at Ternua, where an ancient bridge spans the Nephen River. The line creeps forward while enterprising villagers earn coin bringing water, food, and ale to those waiting. Despite the efforts of the baron’s guards to keep order, altercations between teamsters, travelers, and townspeople are common.

Lythian goods such as spices, wine, and silk are coveted by nobles and wealthy guildsmen from Kaldor and western Hârn. The limited supplies of such items carried by the caravans from Thay are in great demand. Caravans may encounter merchants’ agents seeking advantage over their competitors by getting an early look at what they carry. At the urging of the Mangai, the sheriff ’s men strictly enforce the restriction on impromptu highway sales. Traders who ignore the ban face heavy fines and confiscation of their wares.

No longer under the threat of barbarian attacks, caravan guards must turn their attention inward, as the crowded nightly camps are a target for thieves. Pilferage is a problem and Lia-Kavair spies seek to infiltrate camps to identify potential targets to hit during the chaos of the Fair.

Upon reaching Tashal, the caravan masters purchase permits and establish wagon sites on the East Common. Genin Trail traders are usually assigned stalls along the Ternua Road north of Haldan Square. Sale of goods from the commons is punishable by heavy fines. Mercantylers must transport goods into the city using teamsters contracted from the Mangai and pay hawking tax as they are inspected at the city gate.

Inside Tashal’s walls, the frenzy and frivolity of the month-long Fair pass quickly. Mercantylers sell what they brought and purchase goods to take back to Chybisa and Melderyn, including Thardic perfumes, brasswares from Rethem, fine cloth and vellum from Kanday and Kaldor, Orbaalese amber and furs, and Khuzan metal goods. Caravan masters ensure they have guards, staff, and supplies lined up and equipment in good repair for the return trip. The wagons of the Grand Caravan start to head south a tenday or so after the Fair closes.

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