Decemeber 23, 2011

I am so excited today! The train that was to come to Menewsha is finely here! I left for the train in the morning, I couldn’t help but be mesmerized a bit by the new falling snow as I walked to the train station and I stopped for a moment to frolic in it, but alas I knew I must continue on. I did not want to miss the train after all!
I arrived at the Menewsha Central Station after about an hours walk. It was amazing! I could hear the sounds of trains coming and going, no doubt heading to fun places among the Island. People were about all over the station in their traveling clothes, the station was busy and bustling with people. I finely made my way to the booth to get my ticket, and walked to my destination, the thing all of Menewsha has been excited about, the new train! I gasped in aww of it, finely at the train, “The Sprit of Calesco”. Oh it was magnificent, fine black steel, golden trim, I could see the steam rise from the engine car, like the train could not wait to leave too! I eagerly made my way on to the train, the inside was even more wonderful then the outside! Beautiful rugs along the walking areas, plush comfortable seating, and fine linens among the windows. The dinning car looked positively wonderful! I must try some of the food later. I attempted to make my way to my cabin, I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere though, as I seem to have ended up in the Mayor’s car! Not that I thought he would mind my being there. The Mayor had already invited people to join him for marshmallows a few moments before. I could not help my self but watch him for a moment, he was very handsome indeed. Beautiful sparkling eyes, long smooth blonde hair, that was usually pulled back in a red tie and a personality that was quite pleasant indeed. I admittedly have had a slight attraction to him for about a year now. But regardless, my thoughts shifted back on how to get to my cabin. I looked over the map of the train, I still could not quite figure out how to get there. I was always an adventurous Elf, and usually very skilled at following maps. However I had never been on a train before. I know that must seem rather odd after living in Menewsha for almost two years, but I usually walked where I needed to go. I sat down at the bar and ordered a mild drink and a bit of food, which was quite delicious. I guess between the excitement of the day and being unable to find my cabin, it all became to much for me. I could feel myself starting to cry a bit, not hard I had thought, but I guess I was loud enough attract attention. The next thing I knew the Mayor himself was standing by me! He offered a tissue and preceded to ask what was wrong. I explained my predicament, and he helped me to find my cabin and gave me some tips on navigating the train, which I found most helpful. It really was not as hard as I had first thought. I cast the tissue in to the wastebasket of my cabin and looked out the window. It was night now and not much could be seen, I looked up at the sky and saw a bright star. I think this is going to be an exciting trip. I suppose I should lay down, but don’t worry, I promise to write more.

December 24, 2011

We have arrived at our first stop of the tour, in Garland! I have heard many a tale of this place, but never been before. Ahh Garland, wedding capital of Menewsha. I ventured out to explore it a bit. It is a pretty lakeside town, not the biggest place in Menewsha, but lovely none the less. The Garland Chapel rests on a little island in the middle of the lake. There is a legend that tells of a couple who were to be married there, the children of two prominent families. The day of their wedding, while the groom awaited his soon to be bride, tragedy struck, the barge that the bride was on, capsized and she drowned. The groom, heartbroken, died shortly after from a broken heart. They were laid to rest next to each other in a tomb near the Chapel. It’s now considered lucky to visit the grave of the two lovers, make a wish, and leave a bit of of a token for good fortune. Which is what I went to do. I decided to leave two red roses between the two graves. And made a wish for the trip to fair well as we traveled.
As I walked around Garland looking at all the sights, I came upon some people playing a dice game and decided to play for a bit. It was quite fun and I ended up spending a couple hours playing the game. After which I decided to browse through the shops awhile. I always did have a fancy for shopping. I found some beautiful muslin in one shop, a lovely light blue shaded calico, that I think shall make a wonderfully splendid day gown. Then off to one of the local taverns for a hopefully delightful meal. I decided to have some roasted beef with potatoes, some candied fruits, and warm chocolate to drink. It was quite wonderful, very pleasant indeed. I suddenly realized, I needed to get back to the train! I ran all the way back, nothing like a vigorous run to exhilarate me I suppose! I was making good time, when I was startled by a dog barking loudly, I tripped and tore the hem of my dress on a fence nail. I told the dog to go bark at someone else and picked my packages up of the ground and continued back to the train. I made it back to the train just in time! I walked back to my cabin and on my way in, noticed a wrapped package by my cabin door. I picked it up and went inside. First I went about mending my hem, I could not been seen about the train with a torn hem! I tied a small knot in the thread to hold my mend in place, and went about seeing what the package was. There was a small note on the package, I opened it to read, and my word if it wasn’t written like a riddle! I sat down to see if I could figure it out, just as I was about to give up, I solved it! It was from my sister Gwena, she always did have a playful nature about her. I guess this was her way of keeping me entertained. I unwrapped the package, to find a fresh poinsettia plant in a lovely brown porcelain pot. I placed the pot on a table by the window and went to mingle about the car. After having some fun for a bit, I returned to my cabin for bed.
What an interesting day.

Hello, EirianHikari. :)

As a penalty for editing your posts, these are what you are required to add on to the other requirements for Stop 2.

Words: - caper, effable

December 26, 2011

Today we set out for Reinsend. As I dressed myself for the day, I couldn’t help but peer out my cabin window every so often to look at the surrounding woodlands. I decided on my sage green frock today, I think it will reflect the wooded areas well, oh yes indeed. Since my sister Gwena had not done any work in the car we rented for our tavern business, I decided I must open it for a bit. It doesn’t do us much good to attract people to our tavern if it is never open! I opened the bar for a few hours and made sure things were clean and people were happy. I think I nearly wore my pencil to a nub! I got all kinds of orders for drinks, snacks, meals, I even had someone ask me to bake a cake! That, I was happy to do, I’ve always had a fondness for baking. I made a delicious layer cream cake, vanilla cake with a light chocolate cream filling, And the perfect finishing touch, a chocolate glaze with some berries in the center and fresh sprigs of mint. After closing the tavern car for the day, I set out to explore Reinsend. The sights here were beautiful! There were amazing forests all around, gorgeous evergreens, that looked lovely in the snow. I went about with my camera taking pictures of all the scenery, and I just could not resist taking a picture of a cute little bunny I saw hopping at the forest’s edge. As I walked through the town, I saw all sorts of festivities. Bonfires were all aglow, the little embers from them made me think of a volcano, and there were people dancing, I myself could not help but caper around a bit with them. As I continued to walk around the town, I could hear the happy trot of a reindeer pulling a carriage across the way, and again I found myself peering through the shops, I really must correct this shopping habit of mine, I laughed a bit to myself. I found a lovely hat trimmed in light blue ribbons, this shall match the calico muslin I had bought a couple days ago, just wonderfully. I decided to return to my cabin a bit to warm up and have some lunch before continuing to explore. I picked up a plate of food from the dinning car and made my way to my cabin. Laying the hat box on my bed and the food on the table, I pulled out my supplies and made my Christmas cards as I ate. As I came to the last card, I took extra care not to put to much glue on to ribbon as I applied it. This was a special card, it was for the Mayor. I made my way through the cars, delivering each card by hand. I was finely to the Mayor’s car. I gave a knock at the door, “Mr. Mayor, are you here?” I asked, I barely found the words effable. But sadly, no answer. Mr. Mayor, no doubt, was also out exploring Reinsend. I slipped the card under the door and continued exploring myself. Almost immediately upon stepping off the train, I was rundown by a stampeding group of reindeer. I was a little sore after that, but thank goodness, they were just baby reindeer in training, and I was not seriously hurt. They had cleverly escaped their handler, I couldn’t help but giggle a bit. I brushed myself off and continued. Looking at all the festivities was so much fun! It was quite pleasant when all of the sudden, I ran in to something. As I tried to figure out what I had run into, I was startled by a loud noise, It almost sounded like….mooing. No I surely must have heard that wrong, but there it was again! After examining a bit, I found the answer, the cows were invisible! I wasn’t sure how they got that way, or why they were here in the middle of the path, but I decided it best to leave them be and continue on.
On second thought, after being trampled and running in to weird cows, I decided to return to my cabin. I took some time before laying down, to rake the coals in the fire, as it was a little chilly in the cabin. I put on my night dress and laid down for the night. What fun it was today

December 28, 2011

Today we venture up the mountains to reach our next destination, Icy Peaks.
I got myself dressed for the day, as usual, I think the day shall call for my cream calico day dress. I decide to stay away form the window this time, because though the frigid, icy mountain scenery is beautiful, it is also very high up, and I am terrified of heights! I made the mistake of looking out that window when I first awoke, I shall not be doing that again! I made my way to the dinning car to have a spot of breakfast. I had some delicious golden French toast with cream on top, some candied pears and oranges, and some warm lavender tea. A truly lovely meal it was, I loved the crunch to the crust of the toast, and I hoped that the tea would help calm my apprehensions of the heights out the windows before me. My only displeasure of the meal was someone unknown to me dinning a few seats away, who kept going on about all the cold and ice in the area.....over and over, loudly, I might add. After awhile, his comments and loud tones became so banal to me, that I almost got up and left my table, thank goodness after twenty minutes or so, he got up and followed a few others to another spot on the train. My meal was much more pleasant after that. Finely after about two and a half to three hours, we arrived in Icy Peaks. I set out to explore the town, first I decided to take look at a ice sculpture that I saw as I first approached the town, no doubt portraying the Queen, who in legend, had long ago saved the town. I rented a small manageable carriage and set out to see if I could spot a dragon. I have long heard of their existence here, but no one had ever spotted one in this area. The ride was going quite splendid, the icy, snow covered scenery was lovely, it reminded me of a marvelous painting. All the sudden the horse went haywire! I looked around the carriage a bit and noticed that part of the harness had come apart, being a little clever, I pulled some duct tape from my travel pack and secured it back together. By this time I was getting rather hungry, and still not a dragon to be seen. I tied my carriage to a nearby tree and sat to have a bit of lunch. I pulled a sandwich from my pack and some homemade trail mix, I was about to eat, when I noticed my bread was moldy, I suppose I should not have made it so far in advanced, but I was so excited last week! And I thought being spiced bread it would keep a bit longer! Despite lacking my sandwich, I found the hot chocolate drink and trail mix I had packed to be enough. Good thing I made that trail mix healthy, I had put all my favorites in it, dried and candied papaya and pears, walnuts, sliced almonds, diced hazelnuts and oats. It was quite delicious. I decided to get a better look at the mountains hoping to increase my chances of seeing a dragon. I took a hike up near the outer edge of the rocks when suddenly, I saw it! A dragon! It was very high up in the air but I could see it clearly enough to make a bright sky blue color with amazing wingspan. Although I had my camera with me, I decided against taking a picture, they have lived in peace for so long, I didn’t want to ruin that. I rode my carriage back to the train and made way to the Mayor’s car. I was in such a rush I ran into Nalin! I had knocked over the plants he was carrying. He scolded me a little bit, though not harshly, I must admit, I offered some of my tip money from my tavern car as a solatium. By now it was rather late, I stopped by the Mayor’s car for a brief visit, then decided to return to the isolation of my cabin for the night. It was certainly an exciting day!

December 30, 2011

Ahh, Saint’s Pole, at last! The village looked so pretty all covered in snow and ice, it was even snowing a bit now! A light and fluffy dust, it looked as though dusting powder was being blown on to the village, so pretty. I decided to venture out and explore again, after all, why take a tour if you stay in your cabin the whole trip. No sir, not me, I was going to explore! First however, I needed to find my hat, it would be very silly to go out in such cold without it. I looked around my cabin and after a little searching, I finely found it. I put my hat on and went to see the village. As I was touring the village I came upon a workshop teaching people how to make toys, at first I thought, no I wouldn’t be good enough to try that, but then I saw one of the toys to pick from. It was a small cherry wood box with a little dancing couple in it, it was so detailed! I could even make out the beautiful ball clothes they were wearing, it even played music! I couldn’t help but whistle along, it was Fur Elise. My thoughts immediately went to the Mayor, it would make a lovely present for him! I just hoped he didn’t think it to forward of me, but it was perfect, I couldn’t resist! I went in, and they helped me make it up. I then wrapped it up in powder blue paper, with white snowflakes stamped on it, and covered with silver glitter. As I was leaving the workshop, I saw a tavern across the way. I was a bit hungry, so I stopped in for a snack. I ordered some muffins with pear jelly and peppermint tea, as I was eating my food, a few people asked if they could share my table, I looked around, a saw everything fairly full, so I said sure. Then they asked me if I wanted to play cards with them for a bit, I welcome the game after their incorrigible persistence, and ended up winning the jackpot! I was very happy I played indeed. As I was leaving, I grabbed my calculator from my bag, and added up the winnings, 3..4..500 gold! Suddenly I felt something cold hit me in the side, some children were having a snowball fight. They must have thought they were in trouble, because a scared look came upon their faces. I motioned for them to come over, and preceded to tell them a story about a living snowman. I had just finished the story, when I saw a lachrymose woman over by one of the shops. I went over and asked her what was wrong, she told me how she didn’t have enough money to buy her children gifts, I remembered my card winnings. I told her to take them, that I make more then enough money from my tavern, she thanked me joyfully and went to go get her gifts before the shop closed. As it was starting to get dark, I decided to head back to the train, so I went to hale a carriage. I was rather glad to be back near the train, as I had a rather irascible carriage driver today it seemed, yelling at other carriages and complaining about the cold. As I was boarding the train, I must have lost my balance, for I fell back and twisted my ankle. I heard a voice ask if I could use some help, as I answered yes please, I turned to see my Good Samaritan. It was the Mayor! I hadn’t even realized he was behind me. He put his arm around me carefully and preceded to carry me to my cabin! He set me down on the bed and asked an attendant on the train to get some ice for my ankle. Oh, my ankle, I was so happy that I had forgotten all about it by this point! I could have cart wheeled around the train! As the ice was placed on to my ankle, the Mayor excused himself from the cabin so I could rest, as he was leaving, I stopped him briefly and gave him my gift. He thanked me and gave a friendly smile, before leaving. I was so happy, I’ll have no problem sleeping tonight! I thought to myself as I laid down to sleep. I think this has been my favorite day of our whole trip.

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January 1, 2012

The train made it in to Rochelle Harbor today, unfortunately I haven’t been able to see many of the sights out the window, for I have been sick with the Elfin disease, Yugulla, for the last couple days. Fortunately it’s not a severe disease, and can be treated and cured easily in the length of 2-4 days, with a potion, and thank goodness it helps ameliorate the symptoms greatly, I was tired of shaking. Abel was kind enough to make it for me. I told him to have a human bring it in, since they couldn’t catch it, I did not want him to get sick, but he assured me not to worry about him. He told me, taking the potion before symptoms started to show could take care of it before it had a chance to present it’s self. He also informed me he had given some to Gwena too, so I need not worry about her. Since Abel had told me I was no longer contagious, and I was feeling slightly better, though still a bit tired and weak, I decided I was not going waste anymore time here just sitting around. I set out to tour the Harbor a bit, but not before Abel insisted upon going with me, Abel is a good friend, so I didn’t mind. I hadn’t seen much of Rochelle Harbor, but I knew most of the train track leading up to the Harbor was elevated due to marshes that inundate the ground below. I could sometimes smell it from my car. Safely at the Harbor, I jumped off the edge of the train to the ground, which was perhaps not the best idea, as still a bit weak, it winded me a bit. Abel came over to me and asked if I was alright, I told him yes and we continued. As we neared the town, I realized everyone in town was staring at me. Abel said it was because we were elves, apparently the locals here don’t see them very often. Abel didn’t seem to mind so much, but I didn’t like the feeling of being watched so closely. I asked Abel if he could pin my ears back so I could hide them under my hair, he told me it would hurt a bit, but if I really wanted him to, he could do it. I told him I was sure, and that he could unpin them when we got back home. Now feeling a bit less watched, Abel and I made our way over to a place to eat. Not wanting something heavy, I just had some toast with honey, it was very good, it tasted like it was fresh from the hive, we visited The Sugarplum Village for a bit, which was fun! Not really feeling like exploring more, we headed back to the train. I must admit, I wasn’t paying much attention, and ran in to a older man, I apologized, but he just muttered some acerbic comments as he walked off. Back at the train, but not really wanting to go back to my room just yet, I decided to visit the Mayor’s car a bit. I seated myself on a sofa and just took it easy for awhile. After a bit, the Mayor came in to the car, he noticed me sitting there and waved to me, I waved back, trying not to look to eager. He came over to me with a drink in his hand, he told me he had heard I’d been sick and offered me a fancy looking hot apple cider toped with fresh syllabub. It was very good, we sat and talked for a bit, it was just a little small talk, but I was happy none the less. Afterward, I returned to my cabin. Alas, the finale of our trip, in a couple days we would be back at Menewsha Central Station. It has been an interesting trip for sure. Seeing the train for the first time, run over by reindeer, oh and the dragon, that was so much fun! And I’ll never forget the Mayor carrying me back to my car, after I twisted my ankle! It will be good to be back home though. Traveling is fun, but there is no place better then home.