loads up on water and starts heading towards town
Ralph grabs the weapons you gave back to him, makes a few obligatory but ineffective strikes in your general direction, then runs away fast and far.
You are loaded up on water, but food is running thin. Larani has mercifully blessed you with awesome weather. Were it not for the great armor protection they give you, you’d be tempted to remove your fur tunics. You really don’t need them for warmth. (During the day. Night is another story.)
You continue your march. Towards late afternoon, the road turns slightly south. There is a fork in the road, and beside the fork is a wooden post with three wooden signs on it.
Pointing east, where you came from: Azadmere
Pointing west: Naniom Bridge
Pointing south: Nenda
I forgot which one goes there, you guys can decide.
Koldanar promised to take you to Naniom, which is the gateway to Getha, the place you agreed on for your destination.
Then let’s go west.
(hey I missed my chance to touch the statue, but I wanted to touch it for luck as we passed it the second time.)
Let’s keep heading west I suppose. Onward to Getha. Any of us have the ability to track food and do a bit of hunting? Koldanar seems like he might. We will need food soon.
Also, we didn’t get rid of ALL our fire water did we? Just enough to allow us to fill up with a few days worth of regular water, right?
Santo, at least, dumped his firewater.
You are about a day away from Naniom. There is food there.
Anyone who wants to have touched Digger has done so.
(Damn this no quick reply window)
I asked a few days or so ago, and I think the answer was yes, I have some hunting skill. And no, I would have saved at least a little of the firewater…damn useful stuff that is. I wouldn’t want us with out SOME at least.
You can have saved all of the firewater or none of it. Or, you could have stored a bit in your liver before dumping the rest.
But one wineskin will not hold some water and some booze, at least not if you want to sell it. Unless you think you can get something for watered down booze.
We each have 1 wine skin though right?
So if two of us dumped and 3 of us didn’t then we would have some regular water and some fire water. If we have more than 1 skin we have better chances of mixing and matching (but I think we each only have one IIRC)
Correct, you each have one.
Just as a point of reference, does anyone know offhand how much liquid a wineskin will hold? This might have some bearing on your decision.
This one on Amazon holds 1 liter.
I would guess it would be reasonable for the to hold up to 3, but probably not more.
OK, let’s say that one holds three cups. That’s not much water for one person, but you’ll be passing by a river pretty soon.
An inn can sell a cup of brandy for 4d. Firewater tastes nowhere near as good, but packs a punch, so you may get more or less money for that. Assuming you have a market to sell it in (and the bridge may very well be one), one wineskin full might bring in 6-24d. Assume civilized living to cost each man 1-2d per day, and that’s living like a pauper.
Sorry, my last post disappeared in the upgrade.
I agree with the way we treated Ralph. He may be scum but we are gentlemen.
I would like to respectfully touch Digger.
I would like to keep all the magic healing honey, but am content to exchange my firewater for water.
I will naturally share my water with my colleagues if needed.
I note we may be able to ‘negotiate’ the bridge toll with firewater (so should keep some).
OK, let’s assume that you have two wineskins full of firewater, two full of springwater, and one full of mystery liquid TBD.
You continue on your journey.
You run out of food by the end of the night. All that’s left is one sausage.
The next morning’s weather is still warm, but a light rain ensues.
As the path continues, the trees get thicker. Before long, you are fully in a forest. The last sausage having been split between you, you are getting hungrier as the day progresses. At least water is no longer an issue. There are a number of tiny streams you must cross, most of which are swollen by the rain.
After a full day’s march, you can see that the path before you exits the woods into a large clearing. You hear the sounds of men and beasts, namely horses and mules. As you begin to exit the woods you see the following:
The path continues for about 500 feet straight west through fields on both the north and south. Dozens of tents are erected in the fields. Men in various amounts of armor mill about. Mules are being tended on the north common. A large paddock houses a dozen horses.
To the southeast are tended fields, some of which are showing small green plants arranged in rows. There are probably near 30 such plots, each about half an acre. At the end of the path, among the garden plots, are some wooden buildings, surrounded by a wooden pallisade.
The path turns into a wide bridge, spanning a great river. It looks like there are three great supports under the bridge, forming four large arches under which boats could pass. There are a couple of barges in the river.
Over the center support of the bridge is a stone tower. In the center of the tower is a great arch, through wich traffic is passing. Men, horses, mules, carts. Each one is stopped by a few men at the arch, then allowed to continue on.
The arch has two portcullises, both in the raised position.
Welcome to Naniom Bridge.
I suggest we approach politely and ask for the rules and conditions of passage.
Can we pay any toll with firewater or healing honey?
Can we work somewhere to raise money?
Can we get some information on local history, customs and power groups?
Do any of these sights (e.g. military insignia) bring back any memories?
Do the gate guards remember us coming through here?
I’ll work on the answers to some of these presently. In the meantime, I’ve only decribed what you see. You haven’t made your way to the bridge yet, and so there are opportunities to interact with people on this side of the it.
The conditions to pass are to pay the toll. Barbarians, such as you appear to be, are often charged double or not allowed to pass at all, depending on the prevailing political clime. Things are neutral these days, but tending towards hostile.
That being said, this is not just a bridge but a trading post. A good number of Taelda tribesmen move among the civilized men, and you can clearly see deals being struck. Weapons, furs, beasts, grain, coin, sexual favors – everything is for trade here on the commons.
The base toll is 1f per leg, 2f per wheel. You need 2d, 2f for the five of you to pass. (4f = 1d, or 1 pence.) Those that refuse to pay the toll are either turned away or (in extreme cases) jailed. Since barter is more common than coin, something of greater than the value of the toll may be tendered, but change will not be given. You can certainly offer a nice dagger, but you’d strike a better deal selling it for coin with a trader and then paying cash.
I should mention that the toll you seek to pay is for five of you. Koldanar, however, has fulfilled his obligation to you. He only agreed to guide you this far. What he does beyond this point depends on whatever sort of verbal contract and friendship you have forged thusfar. He is free to go.
As far as the history of the bridge goes, it is very very very old. The technology is beyond that of any human, and so is probably of ancient Khuzan origin. You saw similar construction up in the mountains, both at the ruined bridge over the gorge, and the building built into the side of the mountain. (Remember the impenatrable door?) The tower in the middle of the bridge is much more recent, and man-made.
As far as power and politics go, you have long since crossed into the Kingdom of Kaldor. The rules of the wild no longer apply. Kaldoran law states that thou shalt not not do this and that, such as carrying certain weapons and armor, bearing certain insignia and heraldry, and killing people. Unless, of course, one is well-born, in which case everything seems to be OK. The rich and famous are the Law.
Other than that, the confluence of the bridge and river are the gateways from Kaldor to the Khuzan kingdom of Azadmere and back. This is where the great caravans assemble, here on the common.
All of this information comes to you from Koldanar. He has spent some time here, but has never crossed the bridge.
(As has been pointed out by our narrator) My obligation ends here, at the bridge. I’ll be in town for a bit if any of you need to seek me out for anything. Then, I suppose, I’ll have to return to that ungrateful lot of $%@#$s before too long.
Well… it doesn’t sound to me like you much want to go back. You may not be obligated to come with us, but I think I speak for us all when I say we would like you to.
Don’t you want to know what is on the other side of the bridge? Excitement, Adventure and Really Wild Things is my guess.
Come with us, help us out. And we will, in turn, help you in any way we can.