So it is with trepidation I begin this chronicle. Perhaps this record will be merely a fond memory for myself to look back on as the fancy of youth and naivete.

Morning arrived far too swiftly for one and right on time for the other. Jacedi was returning to the room fully clothed while Hadrian was still struggling to emerge from the sheets.

“The bathhouses out here are better than I expected, to be honest. Are you sure you do not want to visit? This is our last taste of civilization for quite some time.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll use a spell.” came back groggily as Hadrian sat up and slunk out of bed.

“Very well. I will go acquire a mule, I will meet you to pick up the rest of the supplies?”

“Sounds good.”

A few hours later the town was fading into the scenery, a lone edifice of wood and brick on the horizon behind them as they set out into the wilderness. Before them lay a vast swathe of open land, sandy dirt generously speckled with dense green shrubs and occasional solitary trees. 

Walking alongside their rented mule, the wizards made good time. As the sun rose higher in the sky, they stopped to rest under the shade of one of the occasional trees.

“We should wait a few hours before we continue.” Jacedi took off his coat and sat down against the smooth bark of the wide tree trunk. 

“Fine by me.” 

Hadrian raised his hands and conjured a soft breeze as he sat down beside his friend. The beast of burden carrying their extra supplies let out an appreciative sound as the cool air drifted over the party. 

“I will be better able to check once night has fallen, but we should be on the right heading.”

“Don’t worry, I trust your navigational skills. Much more than mine, at least.” Hadrian sighed.

Jacedi let out a short chuckle. “Well, my abilities are rather stellar, after all. There are few who would be worthy of comparison.”

The wind around the elf began to turn unpleasantly humid and warm. “Augh! The world is cruel to those who dare to speak the truth!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Hadrian looked at his friend innocently. 

At this point Jacedi began to fan himself with one hand, the other arm plastered across his forehead in an exaggerated gesture of suffering. The breeze returned to its original refreshing state as Hadrian shook his head, a smirk playing across his features. 

The sun crawled across the sky over the next few hours as they passed the time with banter and discussion. It didn’t feel too long to either of them before it seemed appropriate to begin walking once more. 

More miles disappeared behind the pair as they trekked further into the empty landscape. As night fell, they set up a simple camp. Jacedi removed their packs from the mule and set up simple pads for them to sleep on as Hadrian started a small fire. 

The young wizard knelt down and made a spreading motion with both hands above the sandy soil. A shallow pit opened up in response as if it had been waiting for his request. He dropped in a small pile of tinder and wood he had gathered, before pointing a single finger at the setup. A small flame leapt into existence on his fingertip, which he then touched to the fire pit’s waiting arms. It greedily swallowed the spark, rapidly developing into a modest campfire. 

Jacedi brought over a small metal pot, which they set to hang over the fire on a metal rod that was supported at both ends by wooden frames. Hadrian placed a hand over the empty pot and it smoothly filled with water conjured from the ether. They tossed in a few pieces of salted meat and waited for the water to boil. 

“Don’t think I’ll be getting used to travel rations anytime soon.” Hadrian murmured. 

“It is much like what we eat when on long sea voyages. At least for the next few days we can eat fresh bread from the last village. After that it is only biscuits and the other dried goods.”

“Ugh.” Hadrian shivered. “I really hate those things.”

“It is too bad neither of us learned effective food preservation spells.”

“Yeah, magical provisions were so much cheaper around the University, I never thought to learn it then. A spellbook is probably out of our price range. Maybe we can find someone to teach us. At any rate, add it to the list of utility spells I wish we’d studied.”

“I will file it beside your complaints about the post-graduate options the other departments received.” 

“Hey, our expedition was an unmitigated disaster. And no one tells you when you’re enrolling how miserable city-state military service is. Transmutation and Runecraft had some really cushy gigs set up for them.”

“I know, you were furious about how they got to assist that famous architect with a museum project, your dreams of archeological adventures dashed.” 

“Remind me again why we majored in Evocation?”

“As always, your words, the very day I met you, were ‘who would not want to throw fireballs and lightning.’ Besides, your dreams may come true yet.” the elf tapped his jacket pocket. 

“Don’t get so confident yet. We might still have to sell it to make up for this trip if we come back empty-handed.”

“Have faith my friend, it will not be long before we are telling the tale of a decade, full of excitement and intrigue, journeying to the edge of the map to recover long lost artifacts like the greatest of adventurers.” 

“It’s hardly the edge of the map. The shroud is more than a thousand leagues east.” 

“Maps do not only have edges at the outside. All sailors know the ocean is full of the unknown even in the center of the map, which we like to think we have conquered.”

“I don’t think we’ve ever been this far southeast before.” he took off his hat to brush dust off of the brim.

“Mm. Not much out here but empty arid land until you reach the mountains, just a few scattered villages. I think we have been lucky to travel on roads up until this point.”

“It really is desolate enough for me to hope.”

“Ah, you are beginning to take heart in this venture?”

“Look, I’ll be happy if we find anything, let alone strike it rich. Dreaming about how glamorous a life of adventuring is hasn’t exactly worked out well so far.” 

Jacedi’s convivial demeanor drooped for a moment as their eyes met. Memories of the last few years hung in the air between them. The smell of filth, lodged deep in your clothes after hunting down overgrown sewer rats for a meager bounty. The grisly sights that accompanied the cleanup of minor undead appearances. Living from one quest’s paycheck to the next, moving from town to town looking for odd jobs. 

“It is not quite what we imagined the life of a wizard would be like when we were younger, is it?”

“I feel old, Jacedi. It’s been what, five years since we graduated? Maybe we should have just stuck with mercenary work. There’s always room for more combat wizards. At least the pay’s regular.”

“I think if we had stayed in that world, we would simply be experiencing a different sort of misery now.” 

“Yeah.”

A brief moment of silence.

“I know how you feel, my friend. It has been a long time since I last visited my home. But if I cannot believe in an opportunity such as this one, I would not have any hope at all.”

He reached into his jacket pocket and removed a book-sized object wrapped carefully in canvas. 

“Our ticket to great things awaits.”