Chapter 5: Ecstasy

Dear Esca'ele,

First of all I want to get back to my last letter. I mentioned travelers who encountered the Master Trader, the gate to Bytopia, near Excelsior. My journey to Ecstacy took me eleven days. The Master Trader crossed my path during these days. At that time I was, as it turned out, only two days away from Ecstacy. This affirms my thoughts about gate-towns. But enough said about the town of the traders and on to the next.

Ecstacy, gate-town to Elysium, city of plinths, is in reality one big village. When walking through the large fields, one encounters only groups of buildings and manors around more important sites. This open style of building masks the fact that Ecstacy houses approximately twenty-five thousand souls. Although Ecstacy has so many inhabitants, it is a town where one can come to rest. The town is filled with monoliths, mostly made of stone or iron. Everybody is allowed to climb a free monolith and ponder about whatever needs to be pondered. You know that thinking is one of my biggest hobbies, so I searched for a plinth close to a nice inn and joined the masses. My plinth was a low, broad, weathered beech-wood monolith close to "Suzie's restaurant". A little jink made sure that Suzie brought wine and food once in a while. [At this point, Erg starts to tell some of his stray thoughts, ergo, I removed them. Ed.]

Something has to be said about the locals. Petitioners from Elysium occupy many of the filled plinths. They are the quietest people I have ever met. Sometimes I want to stir them just to make sure that they are not statues. The other residents are a different story. They are so impulsive that one has to be prepared. If you have something in your hand that interests them, they will grab it to take a closer look. Most of the time you will get it back before you realize that someone took something from you. This made me ponder which people are more impulsive, the Kenders I encountered on Krynn or the locals of Ecstacy. The answer was Zeer Vervelend, a Kender who settled down in Ecstacy when his wanderlust subsided and he had joined the Ciphers. This little man gets on your nerves when he stays in your neighborhood for too long. Luckily he is easily bored and wanders off to accompany someone else. If Zeer has shared some time with you, it is advisable to go to the Solrise Tower at the end of the day. Here stands a very low plinth the size of a round table, of the type found in many inns. This is the place where Zeer checks his pouches for goods he found during the day. He will give your items back as easily as he took them. Warning for those who have never had the adventure of meeting a Kender - he does not take your items on purpose, it is just a racial habit they can not suppress.

The rulers of Ecstacy, Sun Master Regialia Tonn during the day and Dark Hunter Karo Jantar during the night, have a strange view on laws. I found out that basically everything is allowed as long as your intentions are good. But if they bring you to court, justice is swift. My advice is to try to make a good first impression on law enforcers, because your life can depend on it.

Erg Nieuwsgierig

[I want to mention the Bone Plinth. This plinth holds a pool of quicksilver on top, which acts as gate to Elysium. It really surprised me that Erg did not mention this site which makes Ecstacy a gate-town. His reasons are unknown, but knowing Erg, probably valid. Ed.]