A Sense of Departure

Please note: This story is a continuous, multi-chapter narrative. You can find the correct order in the right sidebar. All texts were originally written in German and translated into English using AI. I asked the AI to preserve the original stylistic flair wherever possible.   I’ve been studying the history of this city for many years. At first, I had only read about it – the ruined city in the midst of a beautiful forest. As a historian, ruins always awaken a certain urge in me, and I’m not the only one. Many of my colleagues report similar feelings: curiosity, a sense of departure, butterflies in the stomach like a first kiss – and other kinds of yearning to uncover the secrets of a place, an artifact, or a person.   The name of the city in the forest has long been lost, as has its history. That’s partly because the forest is very dense and vast. Getting excavation equipment through it is an immense administrative effort for any research institution and a logistical money pit – not to mention food and accommodation.   Of course, there are pioneers who push through the forest like heroic lone fighters, armed with nothing but their courage and a backpack with the bare essentials. Interestingly, very few of these heroes have returned. What’s even more interesting: of those who did come back, half never found the city, and the other half more or less refuse to speak of what they experienced.   But one dared to speak – on his deathbed. A chronicler was summoned to record his words. The small tract that resulted is the first and only written testimony of the city in the forest – and it reads as if the dying man had fever dreams.   The core statement, however, is that the city is about 3–4 km in diameter. In the center, there is a ring-shaped wall that, unlike the rest of the city, has remained astonishingly well preserved. The buildings around this wall have decayed and been reclaimed by the forest. There are remnants of a civilization that resembles our own today: they knew fire, gears, and could harness steam. However, their culture was much more primitive. They apparently believed in magic, godlike beings, and other supernatural things, as there are many temple structures and places for ritual practices.   The little book describes the outer city quite vividly – including the paintings that have survived, the tools that were found, the illegible symbols on walls or ceramics. The interior, that is, what lies behind the wall, is not described at all – only warnings not to enter the place. It doesn’t even say whether there is an entrance at all.   This very vague description, the warnings, the allure of being the first to explore the inner ring… all of this has driven nearly two generations of researchers before me into that forest – some of whom never returned. I don’t mean to sound presumptuous, but technology has advanced, and so have research methods. Nowadays, launching an expensive expedition is no great problem if you have a sponsor – such as the railway tycoon Tergun Balei. He is an outstanding businessman, an enthusiastic amateur researcher, and lives not far from the forest in question. He knows the stories, including the aforementioned tract, and is also interested in the forest’s timber.   If you’re persuasive, charismatic, and shine with profound expertise, anything is possible. It took me eight years of hard persuasion – with the royal forestry office, the university, the mogul, and various other minor parties. But it paid off: there will be an expedition – and I will be its leader.