Traveling east from Masyaf in the mid-late 13th century.

[ingriam]

The scenario: Escaping from the threat of the Mongols' increasingly frequent raids, Maria Thorpe - now pushing ninety and hence accompanied by a group of six elite Assassins - departs east across Syria. I'd like to know what would be the best methods of travel over that kind of terrain, and about where she and her group would reasonably end up

Comments

[orange_fell]

Leaving aside the question of why this group would choose to travel east if they're trying to avoid the Mongols, have you tried researching any other medieval travelers? The Travels of Marco Polo could be a great source for you--even if it may not be a 100% accurate travelogue, you'll learn their travel methods, trade routes, and which cities were major stops for travelers. Next check out Ibn Battuta--he was a bit later, in the 14th century, but he also traveled through the the fragments of the Mongol Empire and China. From a quick scan of Wikipedia (not recommended for serious research), it may have taken the Polo party only three and half years to get from Venice to Acre to the summer court of Kublai Khan in Shangdu

[hyarrowen]

Seconding the confusion about going east to escape the Mongols. However, Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta are very good places to start, and indeed anything on the Silk Roads of the era, particularly the southern branches.

Fordham University's Medieval Sourcebook has plenty of first-hand accounts. http://legacy.fordham.edu/Halsall/sbook.asp

Also, if you have access to a good library, the Hakulyt Society produces the kind of books you're after. http://www.hakluyt.com/index.htm

As for roads and cities, anything that was there in Roman times and is still there today is likely to be a good bet. Borders, not so much.

[hyarrowen]

"Storm from the East" is a 1990s series (which seems to be up on Youtube.) It gives an overview of the rise and spread of the Mongol Empire. The book, by Robert Marshall, covers the same ground.

[anonymous]

Most travelers trekked northeast, through the Orontes River Valley, which is meadows, etc. to Halab, or Alep, as it would be known to Europeans, and then towards Raqqa near the Euphrates. It's not hard travel through the valleys, and those roads were heavily trafficked. Halab was a trading center on the way to Mosul and Iraq. After four years, they could be in China, depending on their speed and destination, but that is, again, heading towards the Mongols, who attacked Halab not many years later.