After a few hours, the party stands just outside of the large cave entrance. The captured horses are harnessed to the two carts filled with loot.
Manzanita lights a torch, and tosses it over the snake pit into the cave. Flames spread across the floor as the oil burns, burning the crates and travelling deep into the tunnels. Soon the place is a roaring inferno. Wind whips Manzanita's hair as air is sucked into the caverns to feed the flames, and black smoke billows from the hidden hilltop lookout.
The captured half-orc looks on fearfully as the party hands him some survival gear and sets him loose. He dashes off, pauses for a moment, then turns around and calls out "Be careful, Hextor's Church brought ghouls here, the Prin River Valley is filled with them, to keep the raiders from Rogan out." Then, darting his eyes about and clutching his axe, he darts off into the woods and disappears. Remembering the strange sounds you've been hearing in the darkness of night or in the mist, you wonder. But the sun is shining down into the valley now, and the mists have all dissipated.
Manzanita spurs Busephelous, and leaves the burning dungeon behind. Verbatim scouts ahead. Filbert and Mirena drive the first cart, with Braveheart sitting next to them, while Zanock drives the second cart, glad to be on something a little more solid than Piece of Meat.
With the carts it will be difficult to pass the mountainous terrain to the east, the party instead heads south down the valley. The horses occasionally have trouble pulling the carts, as there are no roads in this area, but good time is made. As the western mountains cast long shadows over the valley, the party continues on in the dusk, wanting to leave the valley behind and reach the Duchy of Rogan. Dusk darkens into night, and the mist starts to fill the valley, but the party continues on, torches and lanterns lit. The horses, especially those pulling the carts or carrying heavy burdens, start to strain in the darkness.
Then, in the distance, you see a light in the night sky. Approaching, you see one of the heavily fortified watchtowers the Duchy of Rogan has placed along the border to the wilderness. As you near the tower you are spotted, and are approached by mounted guards. They are quite suspicious of you, and question you at length. You convince them that you are not bandits, or worse, and are let through. They give you directions to a nearby town with an inn.
The rest of the night's journey, on a roughly paved dirt road, is delightful. You know that Rogan has been overrun by bandits and other dangers, but the night seems peaceful, calm, and free of dangers. There are no mists here, and the sky is clear and full of sparkling stars, while gentle summer breezes calm the spirits of both you and your mounts. You feel greatly at home here, as you pass the scattered lights of farmhouses. Mirena, Alyssa, and Devan are reminded of the farms they grew up in. Rowyn recalls singing songs for the people of her village, gathered around a fire in the summer night. Manzanita remembers studying in the city of Masar, not far to the south, staring out the library window at the night sky. Zanock, Dunathar, Filbert and Adromon have walked through the Duchy on nights such as this, their hearts filled with hope and expectations for the future.
After a restful night in the small country inn, you set off in the morning for Carodan.
[300 xp each, Mirena half.]
