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Pathfinding

An art of training the eyes to sharply scrutinize their surroundings, pathfinding is the ability to find a passage where there seems to be none.

The Lok'Groton islands are positively littered with paths visible only to a pathfinder, though the difficulty of these paths varies tremendously. Many paths provide convenient shortcuts, but a number of areas can only be accessed by students with significant eye discipline or those following closely behind.


The only known pathfinding teachers are found on Puddleby Island.

Diggin, the dwarf, teaches the basics of pathfinding. He is a member of Und'rus' tunneling team, and can be found in the passages beneath Puddleby.

The Marsh Hermit will teach beginners as well, though he teaches a much more extensive set of exercises than Diggin. He is an eccentric fellow, and though his mind occasionally reaches a piercing clarity that rivals that of his eyes, he is often lost in the waking reveries of a man who has lived alone in the dank Marsh too long. Convincing the Hermit to accept one as his student is not as straightforward as with other mentors. His lessons do not require first acquiring Diggin's insights.

Other than the Marsh Hermit, there are two well-known advanced pathfinders, with their own followers and methods for teaching pathfinding.

Trillbane is the first, and he was found to live hidden deep inside the Orga Stronghold. Trillbane left several volumes of notes in the caverns beneath the Foothills from which an advanced student can learn. Trillbane himself will teach those students who have completed the study of his notes.

Giayl is the second, though she is sometimes referred to as Gaeyl. Giayl's whereabouts are also unknown, though a tome of her notes can also be found in the caves beneath the Foothills.


Of their notes, the first volume to read upon completing the Marsh Hermit's lessons is Giayl's Guide to Hidden Ways. It is a generalised treatise that offers three chapters of advanced pathfinding lessons, cloistered in a small library barely beyond the Malachite Caves.

The second is Trillbane's Commentary on Ways, which is the sole surviving book in what was once a carefully organised library deep in the Pitch Caves. It is considerably shorter, containing one full-length chapter and a brief note of insight.

The third and final volume of known pathfinding notes is The Tao of Trillbane, which is secreted in a cave near the Dredwood waterfall. It is of comparable length to Giayl's Guide.

The existence of paths that can be seen but not opened by the most advanced students of pathfinding books had convinced many that additional training must be available. Trillbane himself will teach additional pathfinding to advanced students, if they can reach his hidden library.

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Page last modified on March 12, 2009, at 10:35 AM