rix_scaedu

She's definitely not going to a labor camp; the embroidered bedding pretty much ties it, along with the prime accommodations and the excellent food. (Also, given the skipped stops, this might be an express train.) Further, I suspect that her assignment/posting/whatever this actually is will be considered "exile" only if she wants it to be.

I had not realized that there were brindle sheep. Neat!

I like her note-taking about the various stops. Does this world have cameras, or was that in the "frivolities" category? Either way, the notes will work to jog memories, much as photos can.

That exercise of "put power neatly in drawers" would likely fail if there's too much power for anything resembling an ordinary drawer set. I still suspect that she's too powerful for ordinary exercises to have worked. Dear Saylie: try envisioning a stack of 12-meter shipping containers instead. (Or whatever the appropriate equivalent is in this world.)

The furry cows are likely the equivalent of Highland cattle. I have no idea if the fur from Highland cows gets used for anything other than keeping the cows warm. (Somebody's probably tried spinning it...)

I have to wonder what that woman was trying to achieve. First thought is kidnapping for ransom, but I suspect there are less (and possibly more) pleasant options.

"taller, long-necked animals", perhaps llamas, alpacas, or similar camelids?

I'm puzzled by the sudden rain forest in the rail cuttings. With the land as inhospitable as it is, that's either a sign of water hidden in whatever the cutting is through (and the shade around helping keep it wet), or deliberate maintenance. I've seen one former train depot where the railroad kept a patch of grass in the desert (Kelso Depot in the Mojave Desert in California), but that was because they had to have water there anyhow for watering the engines. Maintaining something like that otherwise. Dunno, and hope to find out!