As soon as Columba passed the crest, he felt the distinct change in climate.
The colder lands to the north, where Scrollhaven sat, were legendary for their stately conifers and evergreens, while the more temperate regions, which included Swordshire and Stonevale, included primarily deciduous forests. Only in the bowl that he"d just left, the vast crescent of the Halfmoon Sea, bordered on three sides by outlands, were the lush jungles dense with fern, boab, and palm.
Columba glanced back once, and in the evening light he saw just a blot due south, the volcano called Warlock"s Mount.
Octans Tala Chert, Queen of the Southern Seas, had gestured only once toward the ominous black splotch on the horizon, shortly before provisioning him for his journey. “The ancient talismans of Sword, Scroll,
