Traveling
While long distance travel in Kahara is reasonably common, it is not without its risks. While most major roads are reasonably safe, there are risks when traveling, such as monsters, bandits, unofficial 'tollbooths', and in some areas corruption of the land.
Advice on Traveling
Those who travel are often advised to do so in groups, as this gives one more resources and people to call on should there be a threat while traveling.
It is also common for those with a valuable skill to sign on with caravans for the duration of a trip in the direction of one's final destination. Similar arrangements exist for ship travel. Occasionally, a noble may hire additional people to serve as local guides and protection, though this is a much rarer contract. Many of these options are able to provide sustenance, payment, or both.
Nobles or those with access to a patron will normally have access to a mount. Nobles will often own at least one, while those with access to a patron may be able to borrow one for the duration of a journey.
Tollbooths
At some points, such as borders or along major trade routes, governments may choose to set up tollbooths to tax those passing through with goods. While a singular person, or a small group of people passing through are unlikely to incur a fee in most cases, tollbooths can also sometimes double as inspection points for those passing from one country into another.
Travelers should be careful, and have their maps updated as often as possible, as official tollbooths will be marked on maps made by diligent map makers. Otherwise they may fall prey to 'tollbooths' run by brigands and thieves, which may simply charge an unreasonable fee, or lead to worse fates such as being abducted and sold into slavery. While many of the major routes have patrols to keep such illicit 'tollbooths' from cropping up, the regularity and quality of such patrols may vary from place to place, and in some areas are not present at all.
Corrupted Lands
Sagcoln's Lament
Once a verdant expanse that partially served as farmland for Ellischester, and also claimed a portion of the town, Sagcoln's Lament now remains as nothing more than a wasteland of corruption partially reclaimed by jungle, that reflects the corruption of Sagcoln himself. It is impossible to traverse it relatively safely without the employ of someone who knows purification magic, and can purify an area around themselves to ease the dangers of travel. For more information on the effects of corruption, please see Homdraüth
Wilindea's Terror
The corrupted territory of the Syatzver Wilindea, the region is a combination of low hills and valleys into more lofty mountainous ranges. Difficult enough terrain were it not for the constant, white-out type blizzard that rages over the entire territory, obscuring the view of any who venture in. In addition to that, the cold is unbearable, settling deep into the bones and refusing to leave without purification treatment, and even then taking several days or weeks for those affected to recover from the chill. While a rope-guided path has been hammered out to allow the ambitious or foolhardy to travel through to venture directly between Kleab and Moriquende, without an experienced guide and the services of one skilled in purification magic, the expedition is sure to end in failure.
Travel accommodations
Camping
Long stretches between towns and villages mean that travelers often need to set up camp for the night. Most of the time this means bedrolls on the ground around a campfire, with sleeping done in shifts in order to avoid being ambushed by bandits or roaming monsters. Tents are often only used by those with more delicate sensibilities and the financial wealth to support the extra comfort afforded by a tent set up.
Barns
Not all villages are large enough, or on a major enough route, to support the upkeep of an Inn. However, small groups may be able to pay a farmer enough in coin or labour to allow them to spend a night in the hay loft.
Wayhouses and Hunting Cabins
In more out of the way places, sometimes a traveler may come across simple, single room buildings with a hearth that can be claimed by anyone passing by to use for a night. These buildings are not secure, and may be in various states of repair from passable to quite derelict. They may also be known to bandits in the area.
Coach Houses and Inns
Inns can be found in any settlement large enough to support the business, where travelers are likely to pass through. On major trade routes and those that see a lot of traffic for one reason or another, they can also be found as stand-alone, walled in facilities dotting the landscape, though most facilities to be found in the wilderness will be Coach Houses. Rather than just being a singular building that houses travelers looking to sleep, Inns also have small stables, and a secure storehouse for valuables. Most commonly travelers should expect to share a large room with anyone else who has paid for shelter for the night, though depending on the size of the Inn, sometimes one or two private rooms may be available for a higher cost than the common rooms. For an additional fee, patrons can also acquire food and drink. The cost of care for any animals may also incur an extra fee.
Outside of flagship cities and capitals, most cities and sizeable villages will only have one inn available.
Coach Houses on the other hand are found all along well traveled routes, out in the wilderness and may merge with an Inn at the gates of particularly large cities. These places are always well guarded, with large stables and a well oiled rotation of staff, as coach lines tend to run on well timed schedules, and even independent travelers will want to leave early in order to travel when the light and weather is best. Coach Houses expect daily turn around, where an inn may expect someone to stay several days and nights. Food is included in the fee for the night per person, with an extra fee for the care of animals and coach hardware. Coach houses will almost always be situated along well known routes, with some servicing more remote areas where coaches still have enough customers to run.
Methods
Foot
For most in Kahara, this will be the primary option. Animals are expensive and beyond the reach of many, or they are livestock or working animals, ploughing fields or powering machines such as flour mills. Generally speaking, this is done in groups which travel from dawn to dusk and spend nights alternating watches when an inn is not nearby.
The average Kaharan can travel 40 miles or 65 kilometres a day on foot.
Mount
Most nobility in Kahara, as well as those who have acquired some level of wealth (usually Wealth 8 or higher) via their own efforts or through a patron, will have access to mounts. Generally speaking, mounted travel is only as fast as the slowest member of the group, so to get the most out of this method the entire group needs to be mounted. For many the most available mount will be a donkey or mule, while horses are a much more highly valued mount.
Similar to on foot, travel is done during daylight and watches are at night if no inn is available.
Most mounted groups on horse can travel 80 miles or 129 kilometers per day, while mules and donkeys can travel up to 50 miles or 80 kilometers per day.
Coaches
For a set fee, either a single or small group of travelers can pay to share a coach with others traveling to various destinations, or a large enough group can charter a coach to take them the entire length of their journey. Coaches come with the security of traveling well known, guarded roads, staying at Coach Houses along the way, a reliable schedule, and a decent degree of comfort. In trade the cost of traveling can become quite expensive if the journey spans more than a few days.
Most coaches can travel 60 miles or 96.5km per day. This may vary by more or less given approximately 10 miles or 16 kilometers per day depending on if the coach network in question is well maintained.
Caravan
Caravans are often larger groups of people with a mix of mounted people, those on foot, carriages and other animal-drawn methods of conveyance. These often have the goal of transporting bulky goods from one place to another. While caravans are slower than even individuals on foot, they have the advantage of having more people and being less vulnerable to the various hazards of travel in Kahara.
Most caravans travel at the rate of 30 miles or 48 kilometres per day.
Ship
In some areas, ships can transport goods and people via water. This is a highly efficient method of travel and affordable to most Kaharans. While this avoids the hazards of traveling on land, there are also many dangers associated with this method of travel, from hazardous weather to deep sea creatures.
A ship, in ideal conditions, can travel up to 100 miles or 160 kilometres per day.
Teleportation Circle
Teleportation Circles are large, arcane artifacts which were placed long ago. While understanding of their operation has not been wholly lost, it is considered obscure knowledge which has many missing aspects. Additionally, many teleportation circles are damaged. Using this method, when available, travel from any functioning circle to any other functioning circle is relatively quick and easy, however, for particularly long journeys multiple jumps between teleportation circles may need to be used. Both the ritual, and the rare, expensive reagents needed are local to the region in which the teleportation circle is located, and the casting takes approximately ten minutes to complete. While it can be expensive to buy the reagents outright, given enough time, they can often be foraged by someone with enough experience and knowledge of the local area. While this method of transportation is fast, its limitations make it better suited to a small group traveling a long distance than attempting to transport any significant amount of goods. A single set of reagents is usually enough to allow a group of 5, along with their travel supplies and a few personal belongings, or alternatively 2 people along with 2 mounts, to make the trip from one circle to another. To the best knowledge available the teleportation circles seem able to transport people and what they are carrying far better than cargo. Attempts to transport cargo in significant amounts have either failed or required excessive ritual components that conventional caravans are lower risk and less expensive, even with the hazards of the trade routes.
OOC Note: Where active teleportation circles exist, PCs are generally assumed to be able to use them to travel. This not only allows players to go to where roleplay is happening quickly, but it allows an explanation for why a character is seen in one place one day and a thousand miles away from there the next. The general intent of teleportation circles is to allow PCs a method to easily access roleplay most places where it's happening, but not to invalidate things such as trade caravans, shipping, and larger group based activities. Keep this in mind when portraying the use of teleportation circles in game. In character the general reasons large overland activities are still needed mostly amount to a handwave of, "the magic just doesn't work for that." So while Kahara can have easier communication and individual transportation than Renaissance era Europe for example, and this can be useful, it doesn't have easier bulk transportation of trade goods or armies.
