Crowlight Cartography

The High Pass Bridge

Climbing the Jade Mountains is the easy part. Finding a place to call home is where difficulties arise. These temperate spires are a beautiful sight on their own, speckled with smooth stones of green, white and black. Whilst not entirely formed from jade, it is easy to see why the first wanderers mistook it as such. But these mountains as a whole are not the focus for today’s story. That’s a story later.

Today’s is about a simple bridge. One of many found across these peaks and a good way to showcase the people who call them home. It may not sound too interesting but bear with me. I’ll show you that even the mundane can tell a great story.

The Story of the Nephrii

To start us off. Let’s address an important factor to any and all stories set within the Jade Mountains. Where they are. The mountains sit in the centre of the Nephrii (Neh Fur Eye) Empire, the Lands of Jade. The people of this region are known simply as the Nephrii and are deeply connected to the earth around them. Their bodies are protected by an organically grown shell of jade that acts in the same way as the skin of other creatures. Whilst they are bipedal humanoids, each Nephrii resembles an animal statue. Each one is either a Qilin, a Turtle, a Dragon, or a Phoenix. Although these differences hold significant cultural relevance to the Nephrii, there is no biological difference between the animals. Each of them is as much of a Nephrii as those beside them.

The ancestors of the current Nephrii people were masters of earth magic. Creatures beyond mortal comprehension who were as old as sediment itself. They saw the world not as a collection of inanimate material but as a living, breathing organism. Each wave of their hand caused more hills to roll. Each word they spoke brought new grooves to detail the earth. When left alone, those grooves dried up and sank, becoming the valleys that cut between the mountains. When the ancestors saw potential, those grooves became the rivers that fed the life that was soon to take root. Everything about the ancestors went into this world. They imbued their passions, personalities, desires, hopes, fears and dreams into every speck of dust until nothing was left untouched. As a final act before vanishing from this world. The ancestors created the Nephrii, designed to serve as sentinels of the world that had been formed and to take residence in the homes that had been built. For you see, the ancestors did not just create the natural world. They sculpted the beginnings of the artificial world to grant inspiration to all of their creations.

The People of Nephrii were not always unified as the Empire of Jade. They began as tribes separated by the central mountains. To the west was the tribe of the Qilin, happily settling along the coast in the shadow of the Jade Mountains. To the east was the tribe of the Dragon, open to the wider world and its dangers but steadfast with the knowledge that the Jade Mountains were always at their back. To the north was the tribe of the Turtle, who sat quietly as they observed their kin and waited for the day that the Jade Mountains were to be crossed. Finally, in the South, was the tribe of the Phoenix. The jungles found along the southern border were filled with mystery and monsters, but the ever-burning passion of those tribes sought to take their place among it. The Jade Mountains would shake with the songs of their people.

It was for many centuries that the Nephrii lived like this, separated by the Jade Mountains but giving thanks to all the bounties it had to offer. But at a certain point in their history, a point that all of them shared despite their separation, a rumour was spread. To this day, no-one is sure who started the rumour, and many believe that it was the ancestors whispering to their people along the flow of the breeze. It spoke of people that needed help. Those that inhabit the Jade Mountains were under threat, and only the Nephrii could help them. Each tribe were already suffering their own problems, facing natural disasters, foreign invaders and monstrous beasts. But each tribe still chose some of its own to save the people of the Jade Mountains. It’s impossible to know the truth of why they chose to help, as different groups write their own reasons for it. What is for certain is that the tribes made the decision to help despite their own troubles.

The First Expedition

Each of the tribes tells a similar story of this expedition, so I will tell a collective one here. The tribes found themselves in a world similar to their own. There were villages missing their people, mines waiting to be dug, fields of crops that had not been planted and shrines dotting the mountainside. The architecture was familiar, the same villages that the Nephrii had constructed themselves. The Jade Mountains appeared to be inhabited by the very same people who had only now stepped foot there.

But what caught their attention at first was the ruined bridges that dotted the mountain range. They were the only things left damaged, the only things untouched with any sign of wear. Crossing to the villages would be near impossible if the bridges were left broken; many of the Nephrii feared that whatever had taken the people from their homes was something that should not be let back out. Each group carefully made their way across the chasms; they had to see what was at the root of this issue so that it could be defeated before it happened again. As they found themselves at the highest peak of the Jade Mountains, they found four distinct statues as well as one another. Tensions were high at first, as each group believed that the others were responsible for what had happened.

It was not until a brave soul from one group called attention back to those statues. There was one for each tribal group. A Qilin, a Dragon, a Turtle and a Phoenix. A statue in this familiar place that shone with a familiar warmth. The groups chose to share their information peacefully, still suspicious of each other but slowly growing closer as the day turned to night. The tribes learnt of each other’s beliefs, learnt that they worshipped the same ancestors and, by that fact, were from the same family. Each group had their own ideas on why the ancestors had built this place, but each of them knew one thing. The tribes had been led to the Jade Mountains to learn the truth of their people. That they are a varied and numerous people that have spent far too long apart.

The bridges were given a sentimental role among all this. The new Nephrii rebuilt them with the help of each other and declared them the sacred connection between their people. Somewhere, in all the dust and rock, the ancestors were smiling. A simple mistake, forgetting to finish their project, had brought their beloved creations together at last.

Stories to be Told

It is through stories like this that the ancestors are remembered by the Nephrii. The fruits of their labour dotting the landscape, still providing support to the Nephrii all these years later. It is why such a simple bridge like this one has a story to tell. Every brick was formed for a reason, put in place by someone who wanted to help those who would come next. It is just an old bridge used for years by those that live here. It was through this nondescript bridge that I had the time and motivation to tell the story of the Nephrii People, and it is that idea which I wanted to share today. Even the smallest of details can help tell the greatest of stories. You never really know what you’ll find in this wide, wide world.

Or maybe… I’m just rambling about a collection of brick and mortar. A bridge on the outskirts of a village used by a handful of people. Telling a vaguely connected story like a grandparent does about the “olden days” to their curious grandkids.

That’s up to you to decide if you’ve read this far into a story about a bridge. The fun part of stories is that we can take away any meaning we want from them. Big or small, important or irrelevant, a brief distraction or a heart-warming message.

… I also just like rambling, okay.

Next up?

That’s a good question as i am little bit behind on my schedule. But i will figure that out for next week. There’s a few possibilities, stories i could tell. A ritual to pull heroes from other worlds, a portal unleashing chaos upon the coast or a cosy camp hidden by the trees.

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If you’ve read this far, thank you so very much and get ready for plenty more.
– Jakko