From Creste, the city of shields, the Salt Road runs north and west through the expanse of heaths and wooded hills that people still know as the North Border even centuries after the Vlemish bent the knee, until it turns due north at the coast.  With hardly anywhere on the Border itself worth going to, and most travel between north and south done by sea, its building was always more a symbolic gesture than anything else, meant to inspire unity after generations of conflict.  Few enough take the land route to make it unappealing to bandits despite the lack of soldiers, and the worst most travelers have to worry about is the occasional bear encounter.<br/><br/>In short, for a small group--say, a party of rootless treasure hunters--looking to bring sensitive cargo--say, a substantial sum in salvaged Tuatha grave goods--from Vlemis to the capital without drawing attention, and willing to travel through rough country, it's a godsend.<br/><br/>Dawn brings heat and humidity, a forerunner of fast-approaching summer.  Scraps of gauzy cloud promise to cast no shadows.  In a recess beneath a house-sized boulder on a wooded slope, sheltered from the chill rain of the previous night, a curl of smoke rises from the ashes of a dead fire.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>It's another one of those mornings when Yulia can't remember right away whose bedroll she's waking up in.  It's definitely not her own, that much is obvious--or if it is, she's not alone in it.<br/><br/>The sound of mourning doves outside the little cave wakes her up.  She's never liked those--something about their eyes.  It occurs to her that opening her own would quickly reveal who it is she's wrapped around, but if she does that, then she'll have to get up.  Instead, she snuggles closer under the blankets, murmuring sleepy contentment.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Portents</div><div class="spoiler_body">At 2018-08-11 16:24:15, ZincStandard (uid: 62913) rolls: 1d20 Result: 16 (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=123929)<br/><br/>At 2018-08-11 16:24:03, ZincStandard (uid: 62913) rolls: 1d20 Result: 4 (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=123928)</div></div>