by Matt » Sun Feb 12, 2006 11:52 am
The warband awakes on the 16th better rested than they had been in days. The warmth of the hearth had ensured restful sleep - the hot meal hadn't hurt either. With renewed vigor, the group left Huls and set off down the road.
Sometime during the night, the rain stopped, and the day dawned clear and bright with the crispness only a perfect autumn day can bring. Without a cloud in the sky, it promised to stay that way. The road, however, was still somewhat muddy, but even so, it had mostly hardened in the cold and now the sun added its heft to the task. Within the hour, the mud had been reduced to spots, and by the time the warband reached Beden an hour later, the road was amazingly dry. A quick scouting of Beden revealed it to be as deserted as Huls, and the warband did not tarry, Leriel being only a short distance away. Thw warband marveled at the clarity of the day - appreciating the full splendor of the Jahl Mountains behind them, and the Rayeshas ahead of them. They could easily see the three highest peaks at the top of the range.
"That one all the way to the left is called Fomenien," said Erdrick. "And will be our companion for much of the Fur Road."
By midday, the warband reached Leriel. It was bittersweet for those who had been here last as part of King Alegar's army. They could see the large temple of Ilvir, closed before the siege and untouched by both sides. The lower Jarin village had been deserted before, and remained so. As with the other villages, the fields lay untilled and unsown. The warband made its way through the village, the small lake to the north. As they approach the lower gates of the castle, a sentinel calls outfrom the gatehouse.
"Halt in the name of Hunris Hammarkel, Lord of Shien and Keeper of Leriel! Who are you, and what is your business here?"
[GM: I'm assuming everyone has access to the Leriel map - let me know if that's not the case. Obviously, I can't post it for copyright reasons. On a side note, I've always found this map a little odd, as the larger maps imply the town is on the river, whereas that's clearly not the case in the local map, plus there's this anomalous lake. I've assumed that the river is a few hundred yards to the east, and becoming a bit marshy on the other side of the field. The lake stretches a bit to the north and west, and is about four times as large as the portion on the map (and thus much too small to appear on the kingdom map).]