Hemelgate

The Hemelites endearingly call the apes “the little guardians” because they like to hang out around the Pilgrim’s Path near the entrance to the crystal city, harassing the odd traveler for some food or trinkets. Dica wasn’t having any of it.

It’s called the Pilgrim’s Path because when the monks carved out the river steps centuries ago they believed the glacial water would wash away the sins and troubles of anyone who walked through it. That way when they entered into the holy city they would be pure and unburdened of the external world.

These days it’s still considered a holy place but its also just a touristy road into Hemelstad. Sometimes it’s easy to forget when you live in place how beautiful that place actually is. Sometimes it takes visitors to remind a person that not everyone has a glacial crevasse for a front door and the heart of a frozen mountain as a home.