Land travel in the Empire may be by foot, by horse, or in some sort of carriage (from a private, fast buggy to a lumbering public stagecoach). In some places, such as the city of Dal Shang with its many steep streets--some of them frankly staircases ascending the cliff--foot traffic is the most common, although the wealthy or invalidish may make use of sedan chairs toted by a pair of muscular porters. Even out in the country, foot traffic is not unusual. A man in good health with no particular load to carry might consider thirty-five or forty miles a reasonable goal in a day, fifty in a pinch, and it's easier to find lodging for himself alone than for himself and a horse. At forty miles a day, it would take a man who met with no distractions thirty days to walk from Dal Shang on the eastern edge of the Empire to Simtakka on the west, a distance of about 1,200 miles, and probably a few days longer, since a good part of that distance is through the rugged Han Torra range. This assumes, of course, that the man in question is used to long days of walking...

Horse travel, which is commoner in the broad valley of the An-Kiu than on the hilly coast or in the mountains and commonest of all in the western provinces at the edge of the plains, will carry a man about as fast--forty miles a day for a ridden horse is considered a likely goal, although the horse won't be able to keep it up for days on end. An exceptional horse might do fifty. A man who wanted to spare his horse and conserve its energy might hold his speed down to thirty miles per day. To travel by horseback is considered a more high-class mode than walking. A horse can go faster than a man afoot over a short distance, of course, but on long distances, with the weight of the rider to tire his mount, a horseman does little better than a walker. Horse travel is more expensive than foot travel, since the horse must be fed as well as the man, but then, the horse can eat grass... Still, even a peasant can afford a horse, or at least a mule or donkey, though he is more likely to load the animal with a pack and walk, leading it, than to ride. The horseman, too, will take four to five weeks to cross the width of the Empire.

An exception to the forty-miles-a-day on horseback is the Imperial Courier, for the couriers may pick up fresh horses at way stations maintained along all the major roads; they are expected to average ten miles per hour and ride night and day, being relieved in the saddle as the circumstances permit. A courier makes that east-west ride in five exhausting days.

A public stagecoach, such as the wagons of the Great Western Coach Line which runs between Dal Shang and Simtakka, with stations every fifteen miles or so to change horses, makes considerably better time than a horseman (except a courier)--over the route as a whole; a horseman may easily overtake a coach on a short stretch. The Great Western Line figures on an average speed of six miles an hour over the entire route and travels night and day--they claim eight to nine days for the trip and seldom run late, though the ride is a jouncing, jolting, uncomfortable one. The main cities of the Empire are all connected by public coach lines--usually more than one over any given stretch of road; most don't travel at night and so, though they still make six miles per hour, they only do about seventy miles per day. Freight wagons only average four miles per hour (sometimes lower), and they don't run at night, usually; if they change horses regularly, they take about three weeks to cross the Empire from east to west.

Private coaches and carriages, unless they have relays of horses available, can't make the speed of a stagecoach over long distances, although they may do much better on short runs. A private coach, with horses enough for the load being hauled, might make fifty miles in a day, even sixty if the horses and the road were good ones, but they can't keep up that speed for day after day. The highest speed generally expected of a private coach is sixteen miles per hour, and the horses are not expected to maintain this rate for even a complete day, much less longer periods.

From north to south, the Empire measures nearly twice the east-west distance, about 2,200 miles, and land travel from end to end would be a matter of eight weeks or so. However, the traveler going south has one option not available to others: he can take to the water and float down the An-Kiu River at very little effort on his own part. Speed on the river is a question of the speed of the current, for who would row for 2,000 miles? Generally, the river moves at a little more than walking speed, so that the journey, though more comfortable (if you don't get seasick), is no faster. Of course, the river runs night and day. During flood season, the river flows more swiftly, but it is then very dangerous, and few knowledgeable people choose to use that route in the spring.

Of course, illness, injury, bad weather, distractions, bandits--all these possibilities can make travel a more time consuming (and potentially more entertaining) business...

This information is provided as a public service for those managers who are considering the writing of spotlights involving travel through the Empire. I have made the average speeds of travel by different methods as plausible as I could (the couriers' average of ten miles an hour is the same speed expected of Pony Express riders, for example). People with the old Handbook might note that I have lowered the average distance to be covered by the foot traveler and the horseman, further research having convinced me that the original figures given could not be sustained over long periods by believable living creatures.

Note: The one primary exception to the modes and times of travel mentioned here is the manager of a gladiatorial team. Managers seem to be able to dash from arena to arena--over distances measured in hundreds of miles (at least in Lirith Kai)--in a matter, not of weeks, but of days or even hours. I have concluded that the Lady Greywand has installed a system of teleportals in the arenas, for the use of Commission personnel and managers, and perhaps a few favored Lord Protectors ONLY.

This system has now been shut down. Managers may make use of privately owned and operated magical transport, but they are strongly advised to use it with extreme discretion, as it is, after all, illegal.