{{Hello all! I hope 2008 sees you well. Thank you for your patience. My preparations are complete, and I ready to continue as before.}}<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>The party follows the road leading north out of Talloak and climbs onto the face of Mount Stalsis. The terrain steepens and breaks and is soon dominated by rockfalls, cliffs and bottomless cravasses. There is little level ground to stand on, and every surface is slick with ice.<br/><br/>Yet, despite this, the travelers find that their ascent is quite easy; the road remains remarkably straight, flat and level. The reason for this lies in the Jejunian economy: the Armel Highway is one of the main arteries linking the northern mines to the rest of the Orev Valley. Normally--in days before the Endless Winter--this road would be crowded with pack-bearers and wheeled vehicles heading north with perishable goods and heading the other way with mineral exports for the southern markets. This trade made Jejuna a very wealthy city, so price was no issue when constructing the highway: the roads are paved with bricks throughout and supported with reinforced foundations. Several of the crevasses are spanned with arches of sturdy steel latticework. And, as with the pass at Talloak, many tons of rock were carved away to widen the road and tunnel through obstacles. Anyone with an eye for engineering finds these works to be of masterwork quality, easily able to accommodate the mass and volume of giant or a treefolk (though Nocke still hesitates before each one to stare at it).<br/><br/>The party follows the giant tracks up the highway for over an hour, rising thousands feet in elevation. Looking back when the view is not blocked by a stone wall allows a scenic vista of the snowbound Orev landscape spreading out below them.<br/><br/>Shortly into the fourth mile, the party exits from a tunnel into a bank of light fog that opaques vision past 100 feet. For some reason, the air here is relatively warmer (0° instead of -20°, still cold) and the wind is much weaker. The treant stops and points uphill into the fog.<br/><br/>"This...is...the...ridge. Fort...Armel...is...ahead." He looks down at the others. "Any...closer...and...we ...risk...being...seen."<br/><br/>On Cecil's map, it is roughly two-thirds of a mile from the tunnel's exit to the circle labled "Fort Armel". The highway, if the party continues along it, zig-zags up the ridge and will take them directly to the fort. To the edge of vision to the east and west, the ridge is a steep rockfall, piles of boulders featureless but for a few clinging conifers. The map notes nothing on the ridge other than the highway, the fort, and a small stream that runs near the fort then before spilling into a crevasse to the east.<br/><br/>"Can...you...make...him...invisible?"  He asks Sen, refering to Rihyan.