Today I started my journey. It took me a long time to buy my freedom, but now I'm really looking forward to what I'm about to experience. I was barely outside the door when a white rabbit ran into me. It seemed a bit strange, so I followed him immediately.

It quickly disappeared into the bushes, but I was at least able to follow its trail. It felt like it took me through the whole country; I had to cross meadows and stones, through forests and the river. This was the first time I almost lost the rabbit's trail; the second time was because of the traveling merchants I encountered. It was rare to find so many clothes at the market, but the rabbit was of course more important and unfortunately, I didn't have the time to look at the goods and hear one or two stories from the merchants' homeland.

But luckily, I finally found the burrow into which the animal must have hatched.

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

Something so strange had never happened to me before. After jumping down the rabbit hole, I fell into an endless depth and was swept into a kind of vortex. Colors and shapes swirled around, it was simply magical. The magic swirling around me reminded me of what I was missing in the world above. There are so many beautiful events in Faeo right now about love and friendship. It wasn't easy to gather all the information about it to share the knowledge with all warriors so that they can take part in the festivities.

Luckily the spinning stopped at some point, I started to feel a bit strange. But I still fell down without feeling like I was falling. At first the tunnel was narrow, but then it got wider and wider like a real cave . The walls and the air were full of indescribable odds and ends, some of them things I had never seen before. It was all terribly interesting!

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take any of it with me and examine it. Whenever I reached for something, it seemed to move away. Sadly I couldn't look at the things for a long time because of a light from below that was getting more and more intense. Things around me became uninteresting as the light grew brighter and brighter, blinding me until it finally swallowed me whole. I don't know how long it took me to wake up. I found myself on a lush green meadow. In front of me was a wide, cobbled street.

THE PATH
 

The road was really odd. It stretched endlessly, like everything else in this twisted world. Perfectly paved with yellow bricks, I had never seen anything like it. In the distance I saw a small building, like some kind of toll house. My curiosity immediately got the better of me, so I set off. When I stepped onto the street, I instantly felt uneasy. It felt strangely soft, like walking on rubber and winding like a snake. Doing my best to ignore all that, it was a relaxed walk to the toll house. Here sat a grim creature blocking the way. It was small with old, bony fingers and a deep voice. I couldn't see its face because it had a hood pulled low over it. It explained to me that only the wisest of the wise were allowed to enter their city, therefore I had to solve a riddle to go any further.

As I loved puzzles, the whole thing was of course no problem for me. That over I thought it would be a relaxed journey, but it wasn't the last toll house. One after the other blocked my way and I had to solve many puzzles. The creatures inside somehow all looked the same. You could almost have thought it was the same and that the road was looping somehow to return me to the same toll house. The strange stones didn't make it any easier, and after a relatively short time I had difficulty concentrating. At some point I had also stopped counting how many of the various puzzles I had already solved. 

Marching this path of wisdom, as I had come to call it, I approached a toll house that was just like the previous ones and I was greeted by an incredible sight.
 

 

MORE WHITE RABBITS
 

I finally found myself past the last tollbooth, but instead of relief I found yet another challenge. I was in the middle of a huge tangled intersection with countless paths, roads and trails leading off it. It looked like the root system of a massive tree. Two questions troubled me now: Firstly - which way was the right way, if there even was  a right way? Secondly - What did my rabbit look like? I asked this because the intersection was swarming with white rabbits! All hopping around aimlessly and endlessly, at least that was how it seemed at first glance. When I looked closely I could see small differences; some wore little bows or ties or had odd coloured eyes. That did not help me however because 'my' rabbit was completely lost in the hustle and bustle. Finally I gave  up trying to identify him and plopped myself down on the ground with no idea how to continue.

It was then that I heard a noise and went to investigate and this was when I saw a short way off a strange archway and....people! There were actually people there! Not many though and they totally ignored me calling out to them. They were in line and focused on moving through the archway. As I moved closer I discovered to my astonishment that they came out the other side as, you have guessed it, white rabbits! Well, I thought to myself, that explains all the rabbits. By the time I reached the arch everyone had gone through, all that was left was a basket with just a few rabbit ears in it. 

I quickly decided not to touch these. I did not fancy life as a rabbit, it seemed a far cry from that of a warrior and who knew if I would ever be able to change back.

All of a sudden I felt like I was being watched. I looked around and most of the rabbits were gone, but one sat on one of the many paths and stared at me. That was definitely my rabbit!

I didn't hesitate and ran towards the animal. Naturally it didn't wait for me, it scampered off and of course I followed.
 

THE MAP
 

Once again I found myself chasing after that white rabbit. It occurred to me that it could be a transformed a human. After stumbling over another pothole I hoped all this would be worth it in the end. Of course, the new path I was on was strange. Every hundred paces or so some sort of stone altar had been erected. Unfortunately, I couldn't see exactly what was depicted on it because my rabbit was hopping along at a decent pace. I could only ever make out a few squiggly lines, but they didn't make any sense to me. In fact, I was so busy trying to catch glimpses of the altars that I wasn't paying attention to the path itself. That was until a dark shadow loomed in front of me. I was a little frightened to find myself in front of a dense forest. I could just see the tail of the white rabbit disappearing between two trees.

When I arrived at the point where he had disappeared, I could see a narrow path, almost completely swallowed up by the trees and plants of the forest. A light-colored leather bag had also been hung on a branch there. I looked around, but there was no one in sight. Naturally, I reached for the bag, there was a crumpled piece of paper inside. Unfolding it I felt that it was a map, but it didn't make any sense. I started to have a suspicion about the lines on the stones! I ran back to the last stone altar, only part of the map was shown there. I went further back, another part of the map. The stones were too heavy to carry, so how could I get the full picture?! Finally, after the fourth altar, I understood: the map pieces shown showed me the way! All I had to do was fold my paper the way the individual parts dictated. Now I was a little annoyed about having to walk all the way back.

But what wouldn't you do to satisfy your curiosity and for a white rabbit.