The way up

Six steps from Fjellfoten's edge to Alveporten. One new sign per step; nothing elf-made before the bridge.

The elf village is not at the end of a road sign. She earns it. The way is a transition in six steps, with one new sign at each, and the same early-dusk light in every frame so that what changes between them is the place.

Step	Where	Along the way	To the well	The sign
0	Fjellstien and Alvestien's foot	-440 to 0 m		none by day; at night the aurora stands over Alvtinden only, with two warm pin-points on the shelf
1	Fjelltjernet	244 m		one knee-high mossy way stone with one faint blue rune, one clump of moon bells at its foot, beside an ordinary bench
2	The shoulder's six hairpins	370 to 830 m		a way stone at every second hairpin (three), each with a clump of bells; a silver ribbon with a leaf on the nearest birch; pale gravel for 5 m round each stone
3	Taubrua (the rope bridge)	830 to 864 m	286 m	the first elf-made thing: two carved silver posts with spiral tops at each rim, one warm lantern on the east pair; one pale moonstone vein in the gorge wall
4	Hengestien, eight hairpins beside Sildrefossen	864 to 1570 m	286 to 116 m	moonstone veins in the rock, one with three runes; a pair of bell clumps at each hairpin; from 577 m up, pale crowns over the cliff with small warm lights
5	Lyktestien	1570 to 1652 m	116 to 35 m	a lantern post every 11 m on alternating sides; snow ends and moss begins; the lilac-silver grade fades in from 130 m and is whole at 70 m
6	Alveporten (the seam)	1625 m	62 m	everything is whole at the arch; the well is dead ahead; Tinde or the guard stands at the left post

Rules of the seam, like the town gates': nothing fully elf-made (a building, a tree house, the well's glow) is nearer the bridge than the arch, and nothing of the mountain (snow, grey rock, heather) is inside the arch. The first elf-made thing is the bridge posts at Taubrua.

Step 1, Fjelltjernet: a mountain tarn at dusk, a spruce, a mossy way stone with one faint blue rune and a clump of blue bells beside an ordinary bench. — Step 1: one knee-high way stone, one rune, one clump of bells.

Step 2, the hairpins: a winding path with birches and heather, a way stone with a rune and bells at every second turn, a silver ribbon with a leaf tied on a birch. — Step 2: a way stone and a ribbon on a birch.

Step 3, Taubrua: a rope bridge over a misty gorge with two tall carved silver posts topped with spirals, one warm lantern on a post. — Step 3: Taubrua. The first elf-made thing.

Step 4, Hengestien: a switchback path beside a tall waterfall on a cliff, a way stone with a crescent notch, glowing runes in the rock, pale tree crowns over the cliff edge. — Step 4: moonstone veins and runes in the rock; pale crowns above.

Step 5, Lyktestien: a pale gravel path between lantern posts, snow giving way to moss, drifts of glowing bells, the giant trees ahead with the arch. — Step 5: Lyktestien. Snow ends and moss begins.

Step 6, the arrival: the arch at night with the guard and the princess stand-in. — Step 6: Alveporten, the seam.

The frames of steps 1 to 4 are painted more finely than the outside look calls for; they show staging, and the Eventyrland book owns the outside brush.

The way-5 attempt that became a cliff city with waterfalls, bridges and baobab trunks. — Rejected: the village became a cliff city with waterfalls and bridges.

Where the moonstone gravel starts, how knee-high way stones relate to the waystones she travels by, and where the arch sits are decisions listed in open questions.