The Great Outdoors

My word, what a world this is.  As we emerged from the underground yesterday morning the world was bathed in a grey light, it turned out that clouds covered the sky and there had been some rain.  This seemed incredibly bright, though – the whole sky seems to glow.  As the morning passed the cloud broke up, and behind it was revealed the most amazing of sights.  The sky.  During the daytime up here it is so incredibly blue - more than I ever remember it.  And the sun itself is painfully bright.  It hurts my eyes.  Perhaps as we move further down the slopes the light will become weaker and burn less, but for now I'll just have to live with it.

The biggest surprise came as the day drew to a close.  The sun set away beyond the valleys and the mountains to the west, and as it did so the sky became darker and darker, and one by one pinpoints of light appeared in the darkening sky.  These, Gallanarre explained, are the stars.  I'll be honest – I do remember these from my last visit here when I was young, but I do not remember them being this vivid.  The stars go on for ever.  You can lay back on the ground in the night and just gaze up at them and be lost.  I must admit to being in awe of them.

During the evenings, I've been wandering off from the gatherings (where we've been made very welcome, I should add) and just sat and stared at them.  The light they give is so clear and precise but so tiny.  They are hard and unmoving – but of course they do move.  It was Gallanarre who pointed out to me their slow trail across the sky as night passes.  The stars track across the sky during the night much like the sun does during the day.  You can use them, he explained, to help find your way across distances in the darkness.  He pointed out the stars that track across the north, of patterns of stars and how they can keep you on course if you're lost.  While I found it fascinating, I didn't pay too much attention to the detail.  I'll be back safely underground in a few days, and none of it will be needed.

The night time here isn't even all that dark – I'm used to the dark of the under-land, where there are no stars.  Out here I can see for a long way in the night with all the starlight.  Another contrast I've noticed here is that the water on the surface tastes so pure and so fresh, and, compared to the steady temperature found underground, it's so cold.  As it trickles over rocks the land and the cold air seem to pull any heat it might have had out of it.

We journeyed to several settlements yesterday and today.  I find it odd that the Gnaeblin are not not just our underground neighbours, but that so many of them live in quaint little villages with houses built from wooden planking and sealed with a mixture of tar and mud.  It all fits together so well – it is very pleasant.  They do not have to dig out their living areas from the surrounding rock, and there is so much space in the settlements, they can create homes as large as they need (although some have complained a little about the lack of good wood – they seemed jealous of Dzarraf underground homes).  I think I quite like the outdoors, but I do have one gripe.

It's sodding freezing.

Not that I'm letting that interfere with my work.  I wrapped up on several layers of the woollen clothes I brought along with me, and that helps a little, at least until the wind blows.  Gallanarre's plan is to visit only one or two of these outposts every day, now.  The collective nature of them, the small town and outlying villages, make them easy to help and organise, but bring different challenges, and they seem spread out so far from each other.

It is curious that they live so far apart - it's much further than villages would be spaced underground, and I've found the distances, especially with the natural rising and falling of the ground, quite tiring to walk.  I'm astounded that the Gnaeblin here don't even consider the villages to be a long way apart.  Mind you, they seem to have plenty of space in which to build their villages out here.  They even grow their food and livestock in the large open spaces between the villages and towns.  It's quite unusual.