On the Road

Hrothgar, Enelye, Caradog, and Jorgen met at the gate to Harm, armed and ready to explore the Tower of Udd further. Hrothgar, emboldened by the healing draughts the preist had given him, spurred his horse down the road to the Tower.

(You can follow the New Kings Road and cross the River Ox, then overland through the hills, or cross in about the same spot you came back from which is roughly a straight line to the tower. River is swift, but you made your fording rolls last time) See new map:

Hrothgar, What will you do?

Hrothgar waits...

Hrothgar darted to the church to the north of the Collective House. The town was bustling as it was almost mid day. The road between the collective house and the church was dotted with merchants and farmers, coming and going to the pallisaded main part of Harm.

Hrothgar dismounted and lead his horse to the back of the church near the graveyard, shielded from the main road, but with a clear eye to the front door of the Collective House.

His horse grazed and he watched.

"Hallu there my good fellow!" said a boisterous voice behind Hrothgar as he peered around the corner of the church. " Is there something I may assist you with?"

Hrothgar turned to see a hugely rotund man in blue, faded, peasant cloth robes tied with a piece of frayed yellow dyed rope. His puffy cheeks and bulbous nose show a face thais almost entirely red and he seems to be breathing somewhat heavy with each sentence."My name is Apollonius and this is my church. Well, his church, but mine to run all the same. Are you looking for someone or are you up to some mischief?"

Hrothgar what do you do?

Back to Harm

Hrothgar and Enelye leave the library, knowing that more awaits them, even though no doors were found in the room.

They travel back through the scriptorium, over the hallway trap and to the cellar. They climb out of the cellar to find the day to be mid afternoon. Standing on the ruined tower they can see the stream they crossed to climb the hill to the tower, the thick grassland, rolling until it gets to the River Ox. And beyond that the rolling forested hills. And beyond that, the last bastion in the West, the Village of Harm.

If they hurried, they would be to Harm by dusk. Just in time for supper.

Even with as battered as they were, and as sorry they were at the loss of Rhian, it felt good to be out of the ruins of Udd. And breathing fresh air helped.

Hrothgar walked down the stairs and began his journey to Harm. "Come on Enelye, we can make it by supper time, then a soft bed, and tomorrow, we sell this stuff and find some more people who would like to help us clear out this tower."

~

The trip back to  Harm was uneventful, as both had hoped. The crossing of the River Ox in May was no easy feat, but they had both survived and now were back about to cross under the makeshift wooden gate that marked the entry to Harm. The gate and the wooden pallisade were the latest precautions the village leaders and merchants had taken to protect their interests and themselves from the ever increasing banditry and maurauding humanoids and beasties that now roamed the countryside. It was never like this when the Kings Frontier Forts and Garrison Towers were out west. Now only one fort remained, and none of the Kings army remained in the west. Untold numbers of towns, and villages lay in ruin, or were just unihabited as the people streamed back to the Kingdom, right on the heals of the retreating armies. It hadbeen 2 generations since the Exodus.

So Harm decided to go it alone. Because its leaders and merchants and business men and religious leaders hoped one day it could be the City in the West. So Harm has encouraged explorers and adventurers and warriors to come protect it, and better yet, to take back the West.