On the Road
You get all your last minute stuff done & meet back at the keep for lunch.
King Arion joins you, & you feast on roast turkey, vension, a whole roasted
pig, braised apples, potatoes, veggies, bread, cheesem puddings, ALL the
trimmings of a 5 course lunch.Conversation centers around the future. If
they're really gone we could... type of thing. Everyone is in good spirits.
Real excited. After lunch you are presented with 3 pack horses loaded down
with medical supplies, & seedlings, & some rations, as well as fresh water
& fruit. You get all your gear together, you are provided with partially
dried left overs from lunch as well as several other items of foodstuff.
You head out the city gates amidst cheers & celebration.
Athos prepares his horse and supplies and turns to rest of the group
outside the city, "Well, any direction seems fine from here. I stand where
ever you all decide."
Sitting astride his horse, Jayar says to the party, "Let's take a look at that map
the king gave us." After looking at it for a few minutes he says, "I may have an
idea or two as to how we should go about mapping the surrounding
countryside. One way would be to follow any road we come across to see
where it goes. Another, more thorough way would be too start here at the city
and start going around in ever increasing circles, slowly but completely
mapping everything. And another thorough way to do it would be to divide this
map into sectors or quadrants and then crisscross each sector until that entire
portion of the map was covered. What do you suggest, Cole, since you are the
mapmaker?"
After the fine meal Kendra thanks the king once again and then turns to the
group "Let us go due north to Port Ikishpo and then turn a bit west to Port
capri then head back down south to Heron. Doing this we will have covered
the northern most boundries of this country. After Heron, we could either
return to Meyr to report or findings or continue on from there. What do ye
say?"
Studying the map for a bit I look around at the others "
"Imustagreewithkendra" (inhale)
"Weshouldheadforthecoastandseeifthesetownsareeventherestill" {inhale)
"Ithasbeenthirtyyearssinceanyonehasheardfromthesetowns." (inhale)
"Ifanyonedisagreestheyneedtospeaknowsowecandiscussthis." (inhale)
pointing to these places on the map as I speak to help get my point across.
"I suggest the opposite route of Cole and Kendra. We should Go through
Landry, Heron, Port Capri, and Port Ikishpo; in that order. From there we
could go to Bosin if need be. This way we hit all of the major towns in the
least amount of time," says Malinia.
Cole responds to Malinia "Iamfarfromanexperttraveler"(inhale)
"sincemytravelshavebeenlimitedtotheforestandsurroundingareas." (inhale)
"ButIamgoodmapperandeithertravelroutesoundslikeitwouldwork."(inhale)
"Wedoneedtogetstartedthoughbecause"(inhale)
"eachrouteisequallygreatindistance"(inhale)
"Andwearealreadystartedonthisroaditseemsoddtobacktrackthroughtown" (inhale)
"justtogotheotherway."
Looking to the others for their opinion Cole finally exhales.
"Uhmmm, I agree with Cole... I think." says Jarryd, scratching his head.
**How can anyone talk so fast?** he wonders.
"Perhaps we should also consider a moveing order. I am familiar with the
surrounding area and would volenteer to scout ahead. We should also have a
pair of flankers and someone a little behind the party watching for trouble.
They should check in on some sort of rotating schedule so the main body
knows there is nothing wrong but an observer could not guess the schedule
easily."
"Well, maybe it's a little late to say this, but the routes are not the same
distance. (Meyr to Landry to Heron to Port Capri to Port Ikishpo to Bosin)
is quite a bit shorter than (Port Ikishpo to Port Capri to Heron to Landry
to Meyr to Bosin)," says Malinia. "I don't really care which way we go."
*she smiles* "Just thought I'd point that out."
"Some of us have briefly traveled the lands before," says Malissin.
"Perhaps we know of other, smaller towns not on the main maps? I do.
One small town, Sonet, is a few days to the south-southeast, just
off the main road from Meyr. It is the closest town that I know of
to Meyr."
"Plus, when planning our travels, remember, there are other groups
out there. We should not travel where they have already been," he
points out. "Also, we should pay attention to places where it makes
sense to have a town-- near water, and fertile growing regions like
plains."
"It does not matter to me which way we go. Both ways touch all the
major towns, yet if we decide to check on Sonet, that would put us on
the path Malinia suggested."
"I just came from Landry about two weeks ago, so I can safely say that all
was fine when I left." Kendra states.
Jayar looks at Kendra, and, somewhat ashamedly, he says, "No offense,
Kendra, but we are now emissaries of the King. It does not matter what the
situation was when you came through Landry. Part of our mission is to check
in with each village and to render aid as needed."
The townsfolk on the other side of the gate are beginning to look at your
group strangely. Maybe we should move the direction debate/argument alittle
further away from the gate? (which is about 10-15 feet away at the moment)
Jayar says, "Let's at least get out of sight of the city before we have our first disagreement. I don't know the exact distance, but while traveling here it took me about four days to get here from Heron. I really don't care which direction we go but we should go somewhere. At this rate we will wind up camping within sight of the city walls!" Spurring his horse, a striking bay gelding to
follow Athos, he urges, "C'mon Rebel, let's get moving."
Athos lets out a sigh..." Well, have we decided on a course of action?...i do
not care which..but there are many people here waiting for our actions and
our safe return...and many a person to avenge!!!" Athos takes the reigns of
his brown mare, "Giddyap, Swiftwood!!" He begins to ride a bit from the city
gates where he will wait for the others.
Kendra begins to move further away from the gate and towards the road. Her
sweet voice breaks the tension "Since we are already headed north and not too
many people have a preference, let us continue this way. Besides, I have my
reasons for wanting to head north, so if no one cares it would please me
greatly. Thank you."
On the Road (finally)