AIM-54 said:
Kennon, what is the terrain like around the city? Is there some sort of significan forest or some such from which such a resistance could be run or are we going to have to wait and find someone to talk to about this? That kind of becomes a key issue in our decision making.
The city of Oceanus (notice the spelling) is built upon a cliffs edge in the southeastern corner of Prydein. The cliffs stretch for about 50 miles to either side fo the docks, before the elevation generally lowers.
Directly north of the city, approximately 1 days ride at an average pace is the village of Hyrwl, the birthplace of the Woodshadow, standing at the southernmost tip of the Alder's Forest. The Alder's forest is lightly populated, but may be too far away for your purposes.
2-3 days West-Northwest of the city is the area known as the Southern Hills. Beneath the hills lies an Ancient Dwarven Clanhold. Khaz Modan is one of the oldest holdings of the dwarves, and it may be that you will find some aid there. On the hills (rather than under them) You'll find a rough mixture of lands settled by humans and elves and untamed bogs ruled by Trolls and Black Orcs.
Crisoth, another major port, is about 9 days northwest of the city. It's on the northeastern coast of the island, and may be able to send some aid. It's the closest city with a noticeable military presence.
Avalach is directly west of Oceanus, and because of a major road connecting Avalach and Oceanus, you can make the trip in around 2 weeks. There are villages and roadside inns along the way, but nothing capable of supporting a large number of refugees until you get to the western edge of the Goblin Mountains, to Avalach.
There are, of course, small villages in the surrounding areas, but little able to hide you beyond the options above.
Those are probably the closest possible sanctuaries over land. The other option is to try to harry the enemy (if that's what you choose to do) across the sea. Unfortunately, the only place where you could hope to hide effectively from the reptilian hordes is Mordred's Isle (Now also known as the Isle of Mourning) a few hours by ship south of Oceanus. It's canyons and rivers are at best partially explored, in no small part because mapping expeditions rarely return to tell their tales.
All of the times above assume you've got a large amount of people on foot with you. If it's refugees, it assumes that you're pushing them pretty hard, and if it's an army, you're marching at a good clip. If, however, you're in a small group with fast mounts, and you have spare horses to switch to when your primary mounts start to get tired, you could divide the above times by 3. That, of course, assumes that you're running your horse the entire distance, stopping to switch animals when the first is at the point of collapse.
