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Message: <blockquote data-quote="narayan" data-source="post: 6694783" data-attributes="member: 6677509">BillanverthorneHiring yourself out as a caravan guard was a sensible way for an elven warrior like yourself to travel through Vulkh, so long as you choose the right merchant. Wrecked wagons and old bones on the roadsides of Vulkh are needful reminders of how dangerous the merchant trade can be. Thus you decided to travel with a larger mercantile organization, the Masoud Trading Company. This choice was also practical for another reason since you were looking to meet the little-known owner of their company, a half elf by the name of Jarahdrin. The merchant who agreed to hire you is named Khaled. You met him in the town of Mailal in the Elven Kingdom of Siellon. Khaled is a fine-tempered, well-mannered akhenaten man, well experienced in his work. Trade with elves has always been desirable to the merchants of Vulkh, but not all are invited and welcomed into their lands. Khaled is one of the lucky ones who acquired permission after years of effort establishing trust and goodwill. After you explained to him that you were looking to deliver news about your fathers death to Jarahdrin, a close friend of his, he was sympathetic and agreeable to your offer. He even offered to have you travel back with him as a guest, no strings attached, but being a soldier you naturally insisted to help defend yourselves as a guard. However, even with his experience and knowledge your journey through Vulkh was not without its troubles. During your passage through the Summaran hills you were attacked by a Gnoll warparty that cost the life of two guards and one of the pack horses. After burying them you moved on through several trade stops. On the way Khaled spoke with you about any number of things you had questions about, including your destination as you draw near it just now after nightfall... the town of Cabarda that Jarahdrin dwells in.Hundreds of torches burn along Cabarda's twelve foot outer wall surrounding strings of glowing lamps along its streets, giving bright definition to the bulk and shape of the town from a great distance in the dark. It is a much larger town than you are used to back home, with a population close to six thousand. The main trade road passes through its center with two large gates at the east and west ends. Kahaled explained that Cabarda is a fairly rich stopover on the trade route west of Masaeus, even more significant than its size and population would otherwise indicate because the headquarters of the Masoud Trade Company is also located here. A town of this importance requires greater fortifications and additional guards than other towns you visited. Khaled also discussed some of the laws of the town, such as how no caravan, not even one operated by the Masoud Trading Company, is allowed to pass through the gates after dark. As a result it is not uncommon for camps of travelers to form outside outside the gates if they do not reach them before sundown. Indeed you find yourself approaching such a camp before the western gates. There are at least a dozen tents, wagons and campfires here. Voices and laughter can be heard as are the snores and complaints of those attempting to slumber. Khaled: Speaks to you after his trio of wagons slows to a halt beside the camp upon the gravely soil. "A word of caution Bill, camps like these are not as safe as you might think. Thieves hereabouts often profit from presumptions of safety so close to the walls. I intend to sleep with one eye open!"[Billanverthrone: What do you do?]</blockquote>

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