The morning dawns bright and clear and the group gathers together, piling everything in the wagon. Nadia hitches Levka to the back of the wagon so she can ride in the cart with Eber. Once again, Penelope takes her place on the driving board of the cart and picks up the reigns. Alex and Rolf mount up and the journey is begun. Yarew and the girls have put together a nice basket of bread, cheese and fruit to take along. It wont last long, but at least they can put off the trail rations for a couple of meals.
The temperature rises quickly. The mountains look majestic in the sapphire clear air. A pair of eagles soar overhead, almost seeming to follow the cart for a while. But eventually the two birds glide away out of sight. The rest of the morning goes by quickly. In the afternoon, clouds begin to build up over the mountain peaks. Its amazing how quickly they pile up, building huge towers of white, puffy columns. The tops of the columns shear off into anvil shapes and the weather savvy among the group recognize the build up of thunder clouds.
There are poles in the cart that can be set into stanchions at the corners. A canvas tarp can be spread over and tied in place to provide shade or protection from rain. Nadia and Eber make quick work of getting the poles and tarp in place by the time the white, puffy clouds have turned dark and filled the sky. The light breeze from the morning has faded away and there is a stillness in the air that somehow brings with it a sense of anticipation. Sure enough, there is the flash of light followed by the sound of thunder almost immediately followed by huge drops of rain.
The lightning show in the sky is fantastic. Thunder rumbles and echoes through the mountains. The rain comes down in torrents. But as suddenly as it had begun, the rain is over. Thunder moves off into the distance, though the clouds linger. The smell of fresh rain-soaked vegetation fills the air. At least the rainstorm was a short one. By the time the group makes camp, the ground is reasonably dry and they can make a good camp.
The next day starts out with a light rain, but by late morning the sun is starting to break through a bit. Yesterdays thunderstorm seems to have taken a little of the heat and humidity out of the air, too. In spite of the wet clothes and slightly soggy trail rations, the day gets off to a good start and the group makes good time. By the end of the second day they are well down the mountain and away from the influence of Rastor and the Crater Ridge Mines. Eber breathes a sigh of relief. Tomorrow will be a good time to get started on those items.
The next three days go by quickly for Eber. He spends his time working on Penelopes vest. Nadia watches with interest. The work is intense and takes all of Ebers concentration. A couple of times during the day, Eber thinks he hears some rustling among the items piled in the cart. And the second time, when he glances up at the sound, he thinks he sees some items shift in the pile. But when he mentions this to Nadia, she doesnt find anything, neither in the area where Eber thought he saw movment, (where they had piled items taken from Hommlet) nor in any other part of the cart. No rats or mice to be seen. Peleg doesnt sense any animals nearby, either. Maybe it was just the jostling from the carts movement on the road. Theres nothing to do but go back to work.
By the time they make camp the third day, the vest is ready and Eber presents it to Penelope with a flourish. Hes quite pleased with himself and his work. Penelope is delighted. Everyone is in high spirits, in spite of the dreary day thats been filled with rain. Tomorrow, Eber will start working on the slippers. Soon they will be in Hommlet.
Eber gets back to work in the morning, this time working on the silk slippers. Its still cloudy, but at least the rain seems to be holding off. It turns out to be another good day. Eber gets about half the work done on the slippers. By the time they get to Hommlet tomorrow, the slippers should be complete.
The last day of the journey starts out dreary and wet again. The rain that held off yesterday obviously has no intention of doing so today. Eber and Nadia huddle under the tarp in the cart. The weather may not be the best, but at least the journey has gone well so far. Its mid-morning on the last day of the trek. By evening they should be back at the Welcome Wench with a nice hot meal and some good ale.
But, of course, such an easy, uneventful journey is too good to be true. Suddenly, a group of hobgoblins pops out from behind the rocks and trees by the side of the road. They hurl javelins, all seem to be aimed for the horse pulling the cart. Two of the javelins hit home, one of them in the horses front leg. The horse rears up, crying out its pain and terror. The cart comes to an abrupt halt. The horse drops back down, whimpering as its front leg collapses under it.
The temperature rises quickly. The mountains look majestic in the sapphire clear air. A pair of eagles soar overhead, almost seeming to follow the cart for a while. But eventually the two birds glide away out of sight. The rest of the morning goes by quickly. In the afternoon, clouds begin to build up over the mountain peaks. Its amazing how quickly they pile up, building huge towers of white, puffy columns. The tops of the columns shear off into anvil shapes and the weather savvy among the group recognize the build up of thunder clouds.
There are poles in the cart that can be set into stanchions at the corners. A canvas tarp can be spread over and tied in place to provide shade or protection from rain. Nadia and Eber make quick work of getting the poles and tarp in place by the time the white, puffy clouds have turned dark and filled the sky. The light breeze from the morning has faded away and there is a stillness in the air that somehow brings with it a sense of anticipation. Sure enough, there is the flash of light followed by the sound of thunder almost immediately followed by huge drops of rain.
The lightning show in the sky is fantastic. Thunder rumbles and echoes through the mountains. The rain comes down in torrents. But as suddenly as it had begun, the rain is over. Thunder moves off into the distance, though the clouds linger. The smell of fresh rain-soaked vegetation fills the air. At least the rainstorm was a short one. By the time the group makes camp, the ground is reasonably dry and they can make a good camp.
The next day starts out with a light rain, but by late morning the sun is starting to break through a bit. Yesterdays thunderstorm seems to have taken a little of the heat and humidity out of the air, too. In spite of the wet clothes and slightly soggy trail rations, the day gets off to a good start and the group makes good time. By the end of the second day they are well down the mountain and away from the influence of Rastor and the Crater Ridge Mines. Eber breathes a sigh of relief. Tomorrow will be a good time to get started on those items.
The next three days go by quickly for Eber. He spends his time working on Penelopes vest. Nadia watches with interest. The work is intense and takes all of Ebers concentration. A couple of times during the day, Eber thinks he hears some rustling among the items piled in the cart. And the second time, when he glances up at the sound, he thinks he sees some items shift in the pile. But when he mentions this to Nadia, she doesnt find anything, neither in the area where Eber thought he saw movment, (where they had piled items taken from Hommlet) nor in any other part of the cart. No rats or mice to be seen. Peleg doesnt sense any animals nearby, either. Maybe it was just the jostling from the carts movement on the road. Theres nothing to do but go back to work.
By the time they make camp the third day, the vest is ready and Eber presents it to Penelope with a flourish. Hes quite pleased with himself and his work. Penelope is delighted. Everyone is in high spirits, in spite of the dreary day thats been filled with rain. Tomorrow, Eber will start working on the slippers. Soon they will be in Hommlet.
Eber gets back to work in the morning, this time working on the silk slippers. Its still cloudy, but at least the rain seems to be holding off. It turns out to be another good day. Eber gets about half the work done on the slippers. By the time they get to Hommlet tomorrow, the slippers should be complete.
The last day of the journey starts out dreary and wet again. The rain that held off yesterday obviously has no intention of doing so today. Eber and Nadia huddle under the tarp in the cart. The weather may not be the best, but at least the journey has gone well so far. Its mid-morning on the last day of the trek. By evening they should be back at the Welcome Wench with a nice hot meal and some good ale.
But, of course, such an easy, uneventful journey is too good to be true. Suddenly, a group of hobgoblins pops out from behind the rocks and trees by the side of the road. They hurl javelins, all seem to be aimed for the horse pulling the cart. Two of the javelins hit home, one of them in the horses front leg. The horse rears up, crying out its pain and terror. The cart comes to an abrupt halt. The horse drops back down, whimpering as its front leg collapses under it.
