Philly

The road from Columbus, Ohio into Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was quite a long one, but also quite wonderful to its own degree. I was in the car for 12 hours, the longest stretch thus far, but I dropped by the Ohio Valley Mall for a bit to stretch my legs and then pressed on into the place where West Virginia touches the edge of Pennsylvania and the end of the Appalacians bleed into the north. As I rolled into PA, some dark weather rolled in as well, and I found myself off the turnpike and up into the hills driving through 3-foot visibility fog on winding roads about the summits. There is an old magic up there in the hills, one I’ve felt before and no doubt will feel again before this part of the journey ends. Now, if this sounds hokey or outlandish to you, that’s alright. I’ll have a whole feature soon talking about the nature of magic in game, but this is not that type of magic. There is magic in this world, dear friends, indeed there is. The great problem is that this New World has managed to forget about almost all of it. If you look for it, if you believe and find that glimmer you will always see it again. You will never see any dancing fireballs or cause lightning to strike with this magic, but you may find something more deeply powerful. It’s something the neo-pagans of this world often have no belief or respect in (at least not correctly), but the ancients did…and magic that the children still see. I think being Old World, not as in the book but truly Old World, has a lot to do with recognizing that magic and that balance within the world. I suppose I’ve said my peace on religion for the moment though. Suffice to say it was a nice drive.

Philidelphia was a pretty cool, but I must say severely overpriced for accomodations. I rather enjoyed the day though. I met up with Shaun Healey and Alex Eckman-Lawn, two of those responsible for the reason the art in the book looks o phenomenal. Alex had class here and there for the day, but Shaun and I spent a good amount of time walking about South street and talking about this and that. It was a very cool day, in more than just the company. The weather is excellent up here, particualrly in New Haven, Connecticut, where I am now, finally in New England. Just finishing up the audio of Stone of Tears, the Sword of Truth book 2 (by Terry Goodkind, this will be the second time reading it for me and I recommend the city) is where I leave you for the evening. I will eventually get some pictures up, but I’m not sure if it may take the time to get back before I am able to do so. I’ll send word soon from Boston, and then finally Maine. Until next time, look for that magic, friends. As it says in the book…look deeper.

From New England,
- Ashe