“Hey Meni, wake up. We’re almost there.”

  Felix shook the monkey’s hammock, eliciting a few angry chirps from him.

  “C’mon, I know you want to see it too. If I let you sleep past it, you’re not going to forgive me later.”

  Felix slowly coaxed Menium out of his hammock, but he still needed to carry the sleepy monkey up to the deck. Felix manoeuvred the tight corridors that led through the specialized growing chambers below deck. He’d grown intimately familiar with them over the past weeks, having offered his expertise on many of the plants that grew there.

  Now his stint on the ship was about to come to an end. They were about to make a stop to drop off its cargo with an arcology ship.

  It would be Felix and Menium’s first time seeing one from up close. The ships were simply far too massive to approach any port. If one tried it would plunge the world below into shadow for weeks as its hulking mass blotted out the sky. Simply flying overhead would plunge the world below into darkness for long enough that crops would die before in the time it took for it to pass. Instead, arcology ships relied on a fleet of cargo ships for supply and trade.

  Having squeezed through the narrow passages below deck, doing his best not to jostle the groggy Menium too much, Felix finally made it to the deck. As he’d been doing for weeks, his eyes immediately drifted to the arcology ship. Even staring directly at it, he had trouble grasping its size.

  Instead of being built like any regular ship, it more closely resembled an enormous swimming creature. Massive arrays of sails looked like fins stretching from the colossal hull. Even this close, Felix couldn’t tell what the hull was made of. The entire exterior was covered in terraces and hanging gardens. Multiple waterfalls cascaded from the upper deck, scattering into a fine mist that brought moisture to the plants growing lower on the enormous structure.

  Fleets of ships flew in and out of the many ports dotted across the arcology, looking from a distance like countless ants bringing supplies to sustain the gargantuan ship. So enormous was it that Felix had no difficulty imagining that someone born on the stern might spend a lifetime on the ship and never see the bow.

  Felix carried his sleeping simian to the banister and used it to support Menium’s weight. It freed up his hand, letting him scratch the soft fur on the top of his head.

  “Hey, sleepy head, look over there.”

  Menium looked over groggily and froze. The sleep slowly faded from his eyes as they approached a port on the arcology's side. They soon joined a line of ships waiting to enter the port. They’d gotten close enough that Felix couldn’t see the edges of the arcology anymore, while the port came into focus.

  A grid of seven hexagons, each edge large enough to birth three capital-class cargo ships, drilled holes into the side of the arcology. Each hole wasn’t empty but was filled with a sprawling city that supported the intake of goods and provided lodging and entertainment for Travellers stopping by.

  Felix initially looked forward to exploring the arcology during the week he’d need to wait for his next ship. At first, he didn’t believe the other passengers when they told him it would be a four-day journey to travel from the southeastern hex to the northern hex, where his next ship would depart from. After they’d spent a week slowly approaching the dock, he’d come to believe it.

  It took several hours for their ship to slowly make its way into port. Menium, now fully awake, spent the time it took to unload their cargo running up and down the ship, stopping by Felix to report every exciting thing he saw.

  Felix had to make do with Menium’s descriptions while restraining his curiosity. Part of his agreement for passage required him to ensure none of the cargo was damaged while they offloaded the ship, and that they offloaded everything on the manifest.

  To Felix, the job felt uncomfortably close to bookkeeping, but considering he didn’t have to pay for the next leg of their journey either, he’d decided to endure.

  When they finally got to disembark, Felix was incredibly happy that he didn’t have to worry about transferring their cart from this ship to the next one. The streets were so crowded that navigating them would have been tricky, so he was grateful the port would handle the transfer.

  While Felix slowly pushed his way through the throng, Menium kept climbing onto him to get a better view of their surroundings. By the time they’d made it to the train station, Felix was absolutely exhausted. Fortunately, the station was relatively quiet, and he didn’t have to wait in line very long to get a ticket.

  Trying to convince Menium that he’d need to wait until they got to the next station to visit the pens was far more difficult. Still, Felix didn’t have the energy to rush back and forth, so he did his best to keep the monkey in place for the half an hour they’d have to wait for a train.

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  Between arguments with Menium, Felix took the time to discreetly examine his fellow passengers. While the majority were still elves, the arcology was far more diverse than any other place he’d been to. Humans of all shapes, sizes, colours and styles, dwarves and elves, gnomes and halflings, beast kin with varying levels of beast-like qualities, and those were just the more familiar sorts.

  Stranger people like pixies, river folk, and intelligent beasts, especially flying creatures like birds, rays, bats, and insectoids, filled the platforms. Some were travelling alone, while others were clearly parties of explorers.

  Felix was so enamoured with his people-watching that he almost missed the rhythmic thudding of feet that indicated the approaching train. If it weren’t for Menium suddenly dashing towards the tracks and forcing Felix to catch him, he wouldn’t have noticed until the train stopped in front of him.

  Following the rapid thudding sound down the track, he spotted an enormous creature barreling its way down the track. Thick, leathery grey hide wrapped a squat, hulking frame of bulging muscles. The creature’s rather squat face was framed by two large curving horns. When it passed Felix, he could see its three pairs of legs ended in flat feet that made the ground tremble when they slammed into it.

  When it came to a stop, its breathing was so violent that it blew dust from the tracks. Staff quickly freed the creature and led it off the rail to recuperate while a fresh beast took its place. While they switched the beast, the conductors organized the boarding of the train. Few carts looked alike, as they were adjusted to cater to the rail line's diverse clientele.

  Felix watched as a school of fish, surrounded by a bubble of water that followed them through the air as they swam, entered a cart that was little more than a bowl. They dropped to the bottom and let the water settle before they started swimming freely. Before he could observe more, he was ushered into his own car. An open-topped cart with wooden benches near the front of the train. It was one of a few similar carts that catered to standard humanoids, though the bench sizes varied from cart to cart to accommodate different-sized passengers.

  With a new mount attached to the front of the train and all the passengers aboard, the train soon set off. For the first time since arriving at the arcology, Felix had time to really take it all in. He let the rhythmic thud of the beast’s feet lull him into a sense of calm as he appreciated the wind rushing through his hair.

  The rail line followed the outer edge of the hexagon cluster all around the port. It was the fastest way for them to get to their next ship, and the ride gave them a great opportunity to see this part of the arcology. Something Felix came to appreciate once the train had made it out of the heart of the city and to the edge.

  He finally got a clear view of the city he’d just walked through. It was in one of the hexagonal holes of the port, built along the edges with little regard for gravity. He suddenly had the urge to walk along one of the inner edges of the hexagons to experience it for himself. Perhaps if they didn’t stop too often, he’d reach the port with time enough to explore.

  The more experienced travellers were the first to stop gawking at the sight. Knowing they’d be in for a long journey, they soon started making conversation and swapping stories. By the time Felix managed to break out of his awe-inspired stupor, a man had started playing the flute. Looking over Felix had to hold back an exclamation as the man looked like some cyclopean horror from the darkest depths of an alien ocean.

  Felix later learned that his name was Gerald and he was really quite nice. He learned a lot about aquatic plants from deeper in the Feywild by speaking with him. Felix, in turn, gave Gerald a bunch of his dessert recipes after learning that the horror was an avid baker. It was honestly a delightful journey, and while some passengers preferred to keep to themselves, most were happy to spend it in good company.

  At every station, some passengers would leave while new ones would board, ensuring that the stories on offer never grew familiar. When Menium and Felix would disembark to take a break or stock up on snacks, they’d board a new train and find an entirely new host of travellers to help pass the time on their journey.

  By the time they reached their destination five days later, Felix was seriously considering coming back to ride the train again just to speak to even more people. He’d learned a surprising amount just from talking to strangers. Who knows what he might learn if he travelled the rest of the arcology? He even ran into a Traveller who was doing exactly that. She invited him to a club, should he ever return.

  The woman was such a font of knowledge when it came to making his time on the rail more comfortable that Felix had a hard time not lamenting the fact that he met her on the last train before they reached their berth.

  He was relieved to learn that their next ship had reached port ahead of schedule and that they were allowed to board whenever they were ready. They elected to spend the last couple of nights in an inn near the ship instead of in their cramped cabin. Felix didn’t want to waste coin, but after weeks of non-stop travel the bit of comfort was irresistible.

  Felix took advantage of the quiet comfort to write Lara and Aster a letter about his trip. He wanted to get it out of the way while the experience was still fresh. He wouldn’t forget anything about it, of course. His constant use of Inner World wouldn’t let him, but in time, the excitement would fade. He’d figured out years ago that if he waited to share his experiences, his letters would sound less enthused by the time he eventually penned them.

  There was no nearby branch of the Explorer’s guild through which to send the letter, so he’d hold on to it for the time being. Perhaps there would be a place to send it from near the first stop on their long journey to pick up Grandma’s mysterious package.

  After a relaxing couple of weeks aboard their new ship, they finally approached the formation. Even from the air, Felix could feel a difference in the mana when they drew near. If Felix’s only goal was studying formations, he’d have tried to find small ones to start with. Ones that would be easier to understand.

  That wasn’t the only reason for his travels, however, and he doubted anyone would find it suspicious that he’d visit one of the most famous natural formations as the first stop on his new journey.

  The fact that it brought him much closer to Caelwyn, now just looked like a happy little coincidence. Now he could come to the ‘sudden realization’ that he should start small instead. Making the next part of his journey look far less suspicious. He could plan a route between natural formations that just so happened to pass Caelwyn.

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