Visit Camouraska!
Camouraska may look imposing, ugly, and deathly from the outside, but it’s a vibrant community on the inside! That’s what counts, right?!
Monday, 6/12/23
Welcome, readers!!
Twenty-four hours in Camouraska is nowhere near enough to appreciate the people and the community, but if that’s all the time you’ve got, we’ve got a designed itinerary designed to help you make the most of your Camouraskan experience.
Morning
8am – Start your day just to the left of the Great Hall in the Mess Hall. Grab breakfast with specials that can include wilted greens, Pristine fruit, and some grains, depending on the day. Eat in the spacious dining hall and discuss the goings-on in the community with some of the knowledgeable residents.
Ask for Shopnil when you go to the Mess Hall in Camouraska. He knows the best way to prepare the Pristine fruit!
8:30am – Stroll over to the artists’ corner near the exit to the outside and listen to their tunes and dance to their drumming. No one can come or go through the exit to the outside except some of the leaders, but you can step into the cavern just beyond the door and watch the red-light display play off the walls and ceiling. It’s worth your time.
9:30am – Make your way to the elevator or ramp leading to the upper levels of Camouraska. Be sure to pack some water from the Mess Hall because it’s a long climb to the top if you choose to take the ramp! Make sure to stop along the way to admire the etchings describing the history of the Camouraskan people. No one knows who made them!
10:00am – Make a stop at the council chamber about 1/3 up the ramp and say hi to the councilors in there. They are a peaceful group that will love to tell you more about the community.
10:30am – Follow the ramp up some more and arrive at the Throne Room. Admire the the carved doors, which are generally open to view the pedestal where the Light of the Stars will activate the Truth. If the leader of Camouraska, Valdesha, is inside the Throne Room, make sure to say hello and that you mean no harm. She will (hopefully) be kind!
11:00am – Keep on going up the ramp to the top where you’ll find the stairs to the Sky Gardens. Take in the etchings along the wall, and watch your footing as you ascend the stairs! Go to the top and out onto the Sky Gardens. Take in the view and enjoy looking at the gardens. There is a group of Camouraskans that take care of the plants and protect them from storms and pests. Be careful if there’s a sandstorm coming because you could be killed!
Have you ever wondered how several thousand of people within a black rock are fed? Well, visit the Sky Gardens, and it STILL may be a mystery! :)
Afternoon
12:00pm – Take the elevator back down to the Great Hall if the ramp is too strenuous for you. You will need to find a user of the Energite to do this.
12:30pm – Enjoy lunch in the Mess Hall. Say hi to Shopnil from us!
1pm – Honor Guard training takes place in the Great Hall now. Enjoy watching them use the Energite, spar, and practice their battle formations.
2pm – Wander over to the Healing Chamber to see the Energite cots. They are a marvel of engineering and, like with the etchings, we don’t know who made them originally. If you’re lucky, you may be able to lay on a cot if the healers let you.
Some famous people that have used the Healing Chamber cots: Maccus, Valdesha, Illythia, Jabesh, and Fortuna.
4pm – Find Jabesh in his apartment down the side corridor. He should be available, and you can ask him questions about the prophecy, the community, and the world on the outside.
5pm – If you’re in the community on the right day, there may be a meeting in the Great Hall for all the community members. It is definitely a sight to see!
Evening
6pm – Amble to the Mess Hall to have dinner. This meal is the highlight of the day in Camouraska, so we’re sure you’ll enjoy it! Jabesh may even be there to talk to again.
7:00pm – There are occasional performances in the Great Hall on the stage by instrumentalists or singers. Fermented fruit beverages can be found at those performances.
9pm – Make your way to the apartment where you are staying. If you’re from outside Camouraska, make sure to check in with the council the next morning so they don’t hunt for you. Outsiders are rarely let in, so this is your chance to show that you mean no harm. Enjoy!
Late Night
12:30am – Still awake? You can’t be out past lights out, but if you feel intrepid (and possibly stupid) enough to see a worship service with a cameo by Camouraska, head to the Great Hall. Just have a good excuse for being out (we’ve heard “sleep walking” works!)
This article was originally published in June 2023 for “The Best of Ralga 2023.”
The interior of Camouraska is full of gems waiting to be discovered. If you’re the lucky outsider to be let in, what will you find?
Disclaimer: the images of the settings were generated using the Adobe Firefly (Beta AI) software. They aren’t the final representation of the images found in “Dark Salvation” but, rather, visual representations so you can understand the settings better. Unlike like Canva and other AI-image-generating platforms, Adobe Firefly utilizes only data sources it owns (e.g. images found in its internal databases.) The hope is that Adobe’s Firefly doesn’t infringe on copyrights and pull information from all over the Internet in its algorithms. See the Adobe Firefly FAQ for more information: https://firefly.adobe.com/faq.