The Great Road is an ancient route, said to have been a broad paved highway constructed by the Wanderers before the Time of Chaos. It exists today in various forms, depending on location.
The Great Road has its eastern terminus in the City of Dumah and ends, across the continent, in the sacred City of Mulhola.
Within the lands of the Keshdumah it starts in the City of Dumah and runs to the ancient crossing of the Vari River, a distance of 1400 km.
The portion of the road withinCore Zone stretches from Dumah to the Barkov River. It is a highway; straight, well maintained and wide, with well engineered bridges over waterways and gullies; and suitable for motor vehicles of all sorts. This section of the road ends at the steel and concrete bridge over the Barkov River at the City of Anorah, capital of Great Road Councilate.
As it passes into the Transition Zone at Anorah the Great Road becomes a narrow macadam strip, usable by light motor vehicles. Still mostly straight, it follows the contours of the land, no longer bridging deep gullies, although remnants of ancient bridges can occasionally still be seen. Bridges over watercourses are sturdy, narrow stone affairs. Customarily heavy trucks are offloaded at Anorah for transport by lighter vehicles.
At the City of Melanbac the Great Road enters the Tumosura River valley which it follows for 170 km before striking out cross country to the military base in the City of Nagrepec, on the east bank of the Vari River. The Transition Zone ends a few kilometers west of Melanbac and the road changes character again to a hard packed gravel, although occasional patches of the more sturdy, ancient surface still remain in use .
The bridges over the Moray River and Parduva River are sturdy wooden structures resting on well maintained stone piers. The passages over smaller watercourses are made by ford, ferry and the occasional small wooden or stone bridge.
The ancient bridge across the Vari River is long gone, although remnants of its approaches can still be seen in Nagrepec and across the river in the Rapani City of Selka. In peaceful times, ferries connect Nagrepec to Selka.
From the Vari River, the Great Road passes through the Rapani lands of the Elirapa, connecting the City of Selka to the Free City of Korslik, the great commercial city that dominates the Brissa Gap. From Selka the road quality ranges from hard packed gravel to well trod dirt. It makes its way across the hills and valleys of the Doberai Hills, following closely the contours of the land. Although likely still following the route of the ancient road, long centuries of use by foot traffic and keskun drawn wagons have changed the path of the road to one that is more easily maintained and traversed. The distance from Selka to Korslik is 611 km.
Although the Brissa Gap is still Rapani territory all the way to the Dikou River, few other than L'npei travel the road west of the City of Korslik. The Korslik March officially ends where the Serava River joins the Dikou, about 381 km from the City of Korslik. There is a ferry crossing to the west bank of the Dikou.
From there the Great Road follows the Dikou for 1373 km, across the grasslands of the Kempelani Plain to the shores of Lake Koros and the fabled L’npei City of Kempelani. The Hospodar School is journey’s end for most Rapani travelers, who only venture to Kempelani to train there.
Heading further west from Kempelani, the Great Road crosses the Doube River at a ferry point just north of where the Doube empties into Lake Koros. From there, the road makes its way across the grasslands to the ferry crossing at the Huani River and into the other great L'npei City of Vempelani. From Kempelani to Vempelani is a disctance of 1873 km.
Leaving Vempelani the Great Road heads in a northwesternly direction to skirt the northern reaches of the Czarni Mountains, following the coast until the mountains recede . The road then leaves the coast and heads south through foothills and rolling landscapes to the City of Mulhola, seat of the Cult of E'lani and the temple compound. From Vempelani, a traveler hardy enough to travel all the way to Mulhola still has almost half of the distance of the Great Road ahead.
Distances between major waypoints:
- Dumah to Anorah – 517 km
- Anorah to Melanbac – 312 km
- Melanbac to the Tumosura River -176 km
- Tumosura River to the Vari River/Nagrepec/Selka – 408 km
- Selka to Korslik – 611 km
- Korslik to the Dikou River ferry – 381 km
- Dikou ferry to Kempelani – 1373 km
- Kempelani to Vempelani – 1873 km
- Vempelani to the Czarni Mountain foothills – 1591 km
- Around the Czarzi Mountains – 937 km
- Czarni Mountains western foothills to Mulhola – 3062 km
