The nine days in the saddle should, by all accounts, have been miserable. It rained off and on, despite the time of year. The nights were cold. Four of the nights were spent in the open, huddled around a campfire. On one of those nights the rain started up again .... it should have been miserable, but somehow it was fun. It was fun to be out and about again, on a mission, freed from the various ties that seemed to be trying to pull you into the quiet life. And the nights you did find a way-inn, those were really good fun. Drinking, story telling, cards and dice, enough food to kill a horse, and then a few snatched hours of sleep.
The territory grew progressively more wild, with the smattering of trees becoming thicker as the days wore on, and the towns more sporadic. This was proper wild-Magnimar area. Still not Shoanti territory, but goblins and other creatures called this place home, and although the trade route you followed was relatively safe, and relatively well dotted with inns, farms, and homesteads, even these started to thin out.
Then you hit Whistledown and the end of the Yondabakari River. Whistledown lay at the western tip of the Fenwall mountains, where Lake Syrantala becomes the Yondabakari River. It is the primary gnome settlement in Varisia, and the midway point of your journey. You spent your fifth night here, and then set off north-east along the banks of Lake Syrantula, and up to Ilsurian for the seventh night, and then the last push up the Skull River towards Turtleback Ferry.
You arrived late on the ninth day. Very late.
Turtleback Ferry is a small township perched on the rain drenched north shore of Claybottom Lake. Three distinctive ferries crafted from the shells of giant turtles slain by Autek Lavendy, one of the town's founders, make Turtleback Ferry the central trading town for the region. It is nearly 80 miles from Ilsurian, the next reasonable-sized town, and is nominally under Magnimarian rule. This rule provides Turtleback Ferry with protection from the ogres and ogrekin that dwell in this wild region, and in return Magnimar gets a vital trade-route north to the Storval Deep and Wyvern Mountains.
Te town is friendly enough, as Jovik and Jokad know from their previous visits here (a few times while working at Fort Rannick). There is a general store, an inn (The Turtle's Parlor), a tavery (Bottoms Up), and a smith. There was also a floating gambling hall that Jovik and Jokad visited once - a place possibly worth a revisit.
This is your base fo rthe night, before the final day of travel north to Fort Rannick, some 25 miles along a rather dangerous forest route.
