(002) To the Ruins!
Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 8:40 am
waysoftheearth wrote:
With packs and weaponry stowed, Victor, Rodrick, Anwyn, Mads, Ulric, Olaf, Caine and Dieter depart Ket as unobtrusively as any armed party is able. Little doubt remains that numerous eyes noted your passing, not least among them the guards stationed at the side gate, who granted you a gruff "Godspeed.".
You begin your march southward in the early afternoon. The sky is thatched with dark clouds running ahead of a pushy breeze, only intermittently revealing glimpses of blue air and sunshine.
The terrain about is mostly good going; an undulating plain of coarse but sparse bristles and grasses whipping about in the wind. There is naught but the gentle swell of low ridges and shallow gullies for cover, and you spot few signs of any game. Looking back toward Ket, it is apparent that the ground is rising gradually as you progress. On the far horizon out to your left you glipse the craggy haze of the Hinterlands, while to your right looms the everpresent shadow of the Elderbough Forest.
You are almost an hour gone out of Ket when Anwyn, with her sharp Elvish eyes, declares, "Those must be the ruins, ahead,", and Olaf is soon in agreement. Half an hour more is behind you before the rest of are certain you can make out the destination, but as the day's light is beginning to wain in the west, you can clearly see a crumbling fortification atop a raised hillock. It seems almost aglow as golden shafts of light catch its walls while the lands about it begin to recede into evening shadow.
Dusk is probably an hour or so away, and the air is beginning to chill. You suspect the night will be cool if not cold, and there is an even chance of drizzle or rain. There is nothing in particular to recommend your present location -- nor any you have seen all afternoon -- as a campsite.
Gentlemen, I require a marching order, and your plans for the remainder of the day.
Caine, you are fatigued and footsore. You will not be able to maintain this pace tomorrow unless you lighten your load.
With packs and weaponry stowed, Victor, Rodrick, Anwyn, Mads, Ulric, Olaf, Caine and Dieter depart Ket as unobtrusively as any armed party is able. Little doubt remains that numerous eyes noted your passing, not least among them the guards stationed at the side gate, who granted you a gruff "Godspeed.".
You begin your march southward in the early afternoon. The sky is thatched with dark clouds running ahead of a pushy breeze, only intermittently revealing glimpses of blue air and sunshine.
The terrain about is mostly good going; an undulating plain of coarse but sparse bristles and grasses whipping about in the wind. There is naught but the gentle swell of low ridges and shallow gullies for cover, and you spot few signs of any game. Looking back toward Ket, it is apparent that the ground is rising gradually as you progress. On the far horizon out to your left you glipse the craggy haze of the Hinterlands, while to your right looms the everpresent shadow of the Elderbough Forest.
You are almost an hour gone out of Ket when Anwyn, with her sharp Elvish eyes, declares, "Those must be the ruins, ahead,", and Olaf is soon in agreement. Half an hour more is behind you before the rest of are certain you can make out the destination, but as the day's light is beginning to wain in the west, you can clearly see a crumbling fortification atop a raised hillock. It seems almost aglow as golden shafts of light catch its walls while the lands about it begin to recede into evening shadow.
Dusk is probably an hour or so away, and the air is beginning to chill. You suspect the night will be cool if not cold, and there is an even chance of drizzle or rain. There is nothing in particular to recommend your present location -- nor any you have seen all afternoon -- as a campsite.
Gentlemen, I require a marching order, and your plans for the remainder of the day.
Caine, you are fatigued and footsore. You will not be able to maintain this pace tomorrow unless you lighten your load.