The countryside south of Verbobonc is spotted with farmsteads against a natural beauty.  Grains and corn grow plentifully here in neat rows of gold and brown; game seem to roam freely; and large clumps of trees make it seem that the Gnarly Forest extends all the way out to the North Road.  Etterbok was an enjoyable and easy day’s travel, though Wylaer seemed fatigued through most of the second half of the day.

            The second day would take the company through the northern reaches of the Kron Hills.  The ground steadily grew rockier.  Property was increasingly cordoned off by rock walls, instead of the ubiquitous wooden fences closer to Verbobonc.  More hunting could be seen in the south, along with woodcutters and shepherds.  The distance between Etterbok and Homlett was a bit longer than their previous day’s travel, and much rougher.  Wylaer was the most affected, having to take many breaks on the back of Sephyr and on the wagons.  By the time they reached Homlett it was well past sundown.  The comforts of the Welcome Wench were very welcoming.  Thaer and Merric tried to stay up and share a drink with the many patrons in the Wench’s taproom, but Thaer was falling asleep before the first drink even arrived: his head slipping off his hand and hitting the table.  Nobody seemed to take too much notice of the aged dark-skin barbarian from the north and his young companion, they seemed too consumed to discuss yesterday’s temporal aberration and the war to the north.

            Blorys warned his new recruits that the next two days could be dangerous.  The lands south of Homlett are borderland regions that are claimed by many people—some friendly and many hostile—but effectively controlled by nobody.  They should be cautious and quiet at all times, keeping strictly to the formations they practiced on the first day of travel.  That day saw many stops at points where Jerdren or Blorys sensed the possibility of an ambush.  Sometimes Sephyr was sent ahead to scout out the territory.  On one such occasion, their caution proved correct, as an errant arrow from an ambushing brigand tipped his hand.  Six horsemen broke cover some distance ahead, and six archers peeked out of a low bald ridge that marked the edge of a dry creek.  For the two young friends, their first battle proved to be a bit too exciting.  Their immediate response was to dash behind the wagons for cover, popping up their heads ever too cautiously.  The old dark skinned warrior seemed all too casual, standing up straight on top of the seat of a wagon.  His foolhardiness was met with an arrow that pieced him through, the arrowhead sticking out of his ass.  By the end of battle, they had killed most of them, running off two, and capturing two others.  The company found out that they were part of a larger group of brigands from the east.  Since the company’s primary objective was the safety of the merchant and his caravan, they let them go.  They still had another day of travel.

            The next day took the company along the East road toward the Keep: the North Road would have led them further still into the borderlands until it crossed into the closely guarded border of the elven kingdom of Celene.  The East Road seemed like it saw better times.  On numerous occasions distant buildings proved broken down and uninhabited.  Few hardy souls remained to carve out what was surely a harsh living.  Later in the day, Sephyr warned the company that there appeared to be another ambush in the making, this time at the very foot of the Keep.  The company’s counterambush proved to be too much for the three brigands.