About a Map

About a Map

Dytja stroked her beard as she inspected the map closely.

She didn’t actually have a beard – she was wearing one to fit in with the locals. All of them – men, women, and even children wore beards as part of their manner of dress; and this particular town was annoyingly concerned with how one dressed. Dytja usually gave such places a miss, but the museum she was in held many objects she had desired to see, which included the map she was now viewing.

It wasn’t a disguise – her manner of speech and the ill-fitting nature of her jacket and kilt marked her as an outsider – but rather a concession to the locals’ customs. She was enjoying the beard, though; it made her sad that she couldn’t grow one. Not that the local women could, either…

“I see you’re quite interested in the map from the middle of the portal-period,” came a voice from behind her.

Unwilling to admit that she had (at least temporarily) just been thinking about her beard, Dytja said, “Uh, hm, yes. I’ve been exploring around here of late and the differences are quite interesting.”

“There were a lot of great calamities in those days. They scarred the land quite badly. You can even see some places that were obviously damaged just from the lay of the land in this map – and it’s the oldest in our possession,” said the museum-uniform clad woman who had wandered up. She was a middle-aged, rotund woman with a friendly demeanour and a long red beard stuck on her face. Strangely to Dytja, the beard didn’t look slightly out of place.

“I’ve been comparing it to what I’ve seen and the modern maps. Lots of damage was dealt to the land, and the mountains, but not much of an enduring effect on the fertility of the land – these lands are pretty lucky,” replied Dytja.

“We are indeed,” the woman replied, “I’ve seen drawings of the far continents – some of them are scarcely habitable and plagued by monsters. Here… Here we just deal with the torn earth and the occasional creature that has wandered in from afar.”

“Even in this region?” Dytja asked, pointing to a strangely angular section of the map – a long rectangular strip of land that seemed to have been marked as a desert, despite the green plains surrounding it. It extended in the sea in the same straight manner, ending abruptly.

“Yes. Actually, it was quite lucky – that region was cast here by a portal, but it consisted merely of desert and nothing else.”

“It’s very rare that a portal that sharp-edged is not deliberate. You’re right about it being lucky.”

“Well, it was searched a few thousand years ago in case something terrible slept within it, but nothing was found. My name is Rislin, by the way.”

“I am Dytja.”

“Not the famous blue-blooded heroine? Savi-“

“Yes, that Dytja. It’s good that you’ve heard of me – the gate guards hadn’t and insisted I dress in accordance with local custom.” Dytja indicated her beard and ill-fitting jacket with a wave of her hand.

Rislin giggled. “Nonsense, I couldn’t – snerk – even tell!” Rislin managed to say amidst bursts of chuckling.

“Thanks,” replied Dytja, intense sarcasm in her tone. “That aside, I’ve seen a map from before damage was dealt during the ‘portal-period’. Deep in one of the facilities of those who were once the sole inhabitants of this world. The difference from that, to this map, and then to the current terrain is quite intriguing. Some regions experienced complete rearrangement at least twice, I think.”

“Really? Would you be able to make a drawing of this map?” asked Rislin, curious.

“A poor one. I remember it clearly, but the best I can likely do is mark out differences on a modern map,” responded Dytja. “I’d be happy to do so, in fact, if you can bring me a tool for marking and a map.”

“As a member of the staff here I don’t believe I can turn down that offer. Don’t wander too far – I’ll be back in a matter of minutes,” said Rislin with a big smile. Even a vague map of the original state of the land would be a great addition to the museum.

“I’ll stay put,” said Dytja, prompting Rislin to hurry off. Well, this is a nice little kindness, Dytja thought to herself.

With Rislin gone Dytja returned to poring over the map. The differences in the land held clues about what kind of power was required to cause them – and could possibly indicate the presence or even current location of beings and objects that were… Unsafe. Dytja had a habit of investigating such things, and if necessary destroying or removing them. There were enough terrible things left in the world without some fool finding and detonating a bomb capable of destroying an entire continent.

There didn’t seem to be anything particularly unusual about the region Dytja was in, beyond a greater than usual number of rogue portals. That usually meant that a ‘window facility’ – a research structure used by the former inhabitants to peer into other universe – had once been in the region. Dytja had only explored one before, which had been hidden deep within a mountain. The rest had been, at best, reduced to rubble. At worst, there was no sign they had ever existed. Even if she could figure out where the facility might be, investigating would probably be pointless.

Rislin returned fifteen minutes after she left, just as she said she would. She held a rough copy of a current map, and a charcoal pencil. “Will this do?” she asked, holding up the pencil.

“That will be fine,” replied Dytja. The pair moved over to a nearby bench (fortuitously empty of maps) and Rislin laid out the map.

“I’ll hover and watch, feel free to get started!” said Rislin excitedly.

Dytja smiled slightly, and started scribbling. She marked the old coastlines, and wrote notes about the former terrain that had been present. She also added in educated guesses as to what caused certain geological damage, and marked the former locations the inhabitants had had facilities (at least, those that had been public enough to be marked on the map she had seen).

About an hour later, she had finished. The original map was hidden beneath a mass of scribbles and notes – the land had changed almost completely following the advent of the portals, although broad similarities were present.

“And that’s that,” said Dytja, putting the pencil down. “Feel free to do whatever you want with it. Although, ah, maybe get someone to draw a neater version, looking at it again it’s even messier than I thought.”

Rislin grinned, and said, “We’ll keep this in the back and I’ll get someone to make a neat version for the display. Thank you.”

“My pleasure. I’ll get back to looking through the exhibits now, if you don’t mind,” said Dytja.

“Of course! Enjoy your visit,” replied Rislin. She picked up the map and pencil, and headed off again.

“I will,” said Dytja. It’s nice to be visiting a museum, Dytja thought to herself, stroking her beard again. They’re so rare in this battered world.