With the wall in place, it took some time to construct a boat, and longer to stock it with supplies. I also carefully prepared a map and a compass to avoid getting lost, and wound up sailing for the better part of five days.

It seems Tuzin sited the settlement on an old alluvial fan, which accounts for the richness of the soil. Following the water in the direction of the water gate I’ve been trying to build leads to a lazily flowing inland river that I followed as far as I dared northward, up to the edge of a particularly stark desert. A fork to the east ended in a large lake, and in both cases the water was so shallow in some places that I had to portage.

To the south, what I have been calling a sea rapidly opens up. Though I could see distant islands, I avoided going too far out, mindful of my small and fragile craft. Through it all, I was relentlessly hunted by the sodden abominations, and when they caught me in mid-portage I was savagely wounded once again.

There was no sign that I could see of Tuzin or any of the settlers. If there truly were any survivors of the settlement, they have gone further than my means can, at present, safely bear me.

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