**Pandora is a vast world, and traveling across it on foot takes many years. Most who undertake such a journey choose the Floating Road as their route--for it is the only trail on Pandora that truly stretches from one end of the known world to the other.
With its starting point at the Sacred Naotora Forest on the border of Eboshi Sphere, the Floating Road starts out as a series of small footholds that stretch out into the distance. Eventually, after dipping down to connect to several docks for Turtle Towns and skirting around the edges of the infamous Gondola City, the footholds reach the edge of Nezumi Sphere, the war-ruined home of the Daikoku. Relatively straightforward here, the road takes the traveler across vast plains and past the tatters of the conquered Daikoku Empire. Shin'en Sphere, home to most of the Bushidon Empire, is next, and the path is much more difficult. Checkpoints and barely-justified tithes greet the traveler here, who is able to rest on some of the Sphere's larger sky meadows before the path again becomes narrow. At this point, the road cuts through the wild territory of the Tuskgor, a dangerous area for those not prepared for combat. Exiting Shin'en, the traveler finally reaches the farthest Sphere of Pandora--Kefuka. It is in this gigantic Sphere that the Floating Road threads through some of the most dangerous terrain in the entire world--at first the mountains of the hermit-like Aries, and then the Kefuka Desert, where the road abruptly stops at the trading village on the very edge of the wastes.
Far beyond a mere trade route, the Floating Road has been a cultural bastion for centuries. Silks and gems are not the only things transmitted along the road--the ideas carried on it from one end of the world to the other are much more important. It is on this route that the religion of the Sharai spread to the other races, that the art of the Hanumen became assimilated into Bushidon sword designs. And it is on this road that news is carried, bringing word of wars and treaties, technological advancements and failures, and even simple gossip. It is the true heart of Pandora, a world where the journey is far more prized than the destination, and the only institution that will clearly outlive the petty conflicts and Empires that surround it.**
Having recently joined the Explorer's Guild, Dayan decides now to ignore The Baron's advice. Setting out, he forgets all about Exploring the Naotora Forest and instead heads to more civilized Lands - The Bushidon Empire. Having never been there himself, it would seem like a whole new place, and the Great Library should have information on every known location in the world. Hopefully, he would be able to find out what places AREN'T known - and become acquainted with those more personally himself.
Treading onto the Floating Road, Dashin had a decision to make. Where to go from here. He could head for Kefuka, though he had been told it was little more than a piddling outpost and a world of harsh deserts, that left the option of heading for one of the other Empires.
After a few moments weighing his options, Dashin decided to risk it and head for Kefuka.
With its starting point at the Sacred Naotora Forest on the border of Eboshi Sphere, the Floating Road starts out as a series of small footholds that stretch out into the distance. Eventually, after dipping down to connect to several docks for Turtle Towns and skirting around the edges of the infamous Gondola City, the footholds reach the edge of Nezumi Sphere, the war-ruined home of the Daikoku. Relatively straightforward here, the road takes the traveler across vast plains and past the tatters of the conquered Daikoku Empire. Shin'en Sphere, home to most of the Bushidon Empire, is next, and the path is much more difficult. Checkpoints and barely-justified tithes greet the traveler here, who is able to rest on some of the Sphere's larger sky meadows before the path again becomes narrow. At this point, the road cuts through the wild territory of the Tuskgor, a dangerous area for those not prepared for combat. Exiting Shin'en, the traveler finally reaches the farthest Sphere of Pandora--Kefuka. It is in this gigantic Sphere that the Floating Road threads through some of the most dangerous terrain in the entire world--at first the mountains of the hermit-like Aries, and then the Kefuka Desert, where the road abruptly stops at the trading village on the very edge of the wastes.
Far beyond a mere trade route, the Floating Road has been a cultural bastion for centuries. Silks and gems are not the only things transmitted along the road--the ideas carried on it from one end of the world to the other are much more important. It is on this route that the religion of the Sharai spread to the other races, that the art of the Hanumen became assimilated into Bushidon sword designs. And it is on this road that news is carried, bringing word of wars and treaties, technological advancements and failures, and even simple gossip. It is the true heart of Pandora, a world where the journey is far more prized than the destination, and the only institution that will clearly outlive the petty conflicts and Empires that surround it.**
After a few moments weighing his options, Dashin decided to risk it and head for Kefuka.