<div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">Jol</span></div><br/>"I knew you'd see it my way!" Sandra clapped Yazhu on the back.<br/><br/>With the matter settled, the Jade Whores paid the toll for everybody, and the now much richer local magistrate cleared all of the wagons to leave the town tomorrow morning.<br/><br/><strong>Social Link (Note: non-DPMCs without at least 3 points will leave at the end of this adventure!)</strong><br/>Ameiko 5<br/>Baihu 2<br/>Sandra 2-->3<br/>Shalelu 2<br/>Kelda 1<br/>Spivey 2<br/>Marcius 0<br/>Nualia 0<br/><br/><strong>Party Inventory and Treasure Change</strong><br/>Lose 993 gp.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">The Ugly Mug Tavern</span></div><br/>Yazhu and the rest of the Jade Whores didn't have to pay for their own drinks, as the rest of the caravan members were more than happy to buy drinks for them in gratitude for paying off their toll. So perhaps the monk was more sloshed than she would have been had the mead been coming out of her own coin. And the mead was excellent too!<br/><br/>"A challenger! Let no man proclaim I am not a gentleman!" Eldric offered Yazhu his hand to help her up onto the table. "What have we here? A porcelain beauty from beyond the Crown of the World! Prepare yourself miss, for Eldric Sylvig holds nothing back whether in love or battle! And this flyting is a battle of words, as sharp and deadly as any blade! En garde!"<br/><br/><em>"Rest on my thick branch your plump birds,<br/>Lap up the sweetness of my honeyed words!<br/>Deep in your throat strikes my verse, my raid,<br/>So take care not to choke, my fair maid!"<br/><br/>(Yazhu needs to counter with a verse of her (read: your) own, or if she (you) can't rap battle, just roll Ameiko's Performance check instead as she intervenes :P )</em><br/><br/><hr/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">Road to Tomgruv</span></div><br/>The next morning, the combined caravan set out on the road. The next leg of the journey ran along the trade road between Jol and the Kopparberget mine, though they wouldn't follow the road all the way to the end. Instead, they planned to turn north at Tomgruv, a town built around the entrance to an old abandoned mine.<br/><br/>Murders of crows wheeled overhead, trailing after the travelers on the trade road in the hopes of feeding on their abandoned scraps.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">DC 18 Perception</div><div class="spoiler_body">One of the ubiquitous ravens shadowing the caravan in the hope of finding scraps to eat was a much larger specimen than normal, perhaps the size of a small dog. This particular raven stood out from the rest and returned every couple of days before departing again.</div></div><br/><br/>Tomgruv had been a mining town long ago, but the mine was long tapped out and now the remaining locals were mainly farmers and herders who used the mine as a stronghold and storage facility, with a few stubborn miners working on meager copper veins in the surrounding hills. The mine entrance was heavily fortified, a testament to the danger of troll raiders.<br/><br/>The caravan spent a night in the relative safety of the mine, but the town elder had a request. "Kobolds have infested the lower levels of the abandoned mineshafts. You seem like fighters... we don't have much, but we'll give you what we have if you can clear out the kobolds."<br/><br/>With kobolds being weak, it was decided to split into pairs and each pair clear out a tunnel for maximum efficiency. (No combat rolls required,<strong>Social Link</strong>with whoever Yazhu picks as her partner.)<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">Road to Solskinn</span></div><br/><em>(If the previous DC 18 Perception check was failed, you may retry it now.)</em><br/><br/>Heading north from Tomgruv the caravan traveled towards the next town of Solskinn. Arriving in the last hours of daylight, it seemed pleasant enough at first, but the atmosphere quickly became tense as the sun dipped ever lower and the watch started forcing residents back into their homes. "The town is under forced curfew at night, as anyone leaving their homes gets abducted by shadows," the mayor explained apologetically. "If you stay the night, all of your must remain indoors inside the inn."<br/><br/>That would mean no guards for the wagons, leaving their precious contents unwatched for the night... the alternative, no more welcoming, was to leave immediately and press onwards without a rest, travelling overnight until Solskinn was safely far behind.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">Into Grungir Forest</span></div><br/><em>(If the previous DC 18 Perception check was failed, you may retry it now.)</em><br/><br/>The caravan road continued north into the Grungir Forest, where it crossed the eastern neck of the forest. Waiting on the other side of the trees were the Thundering River and the bridge to Losthome.<br/><br/>But for now, the caravan had to decide how they would cross the forest, which was even more dangerous than the hills before. The safer but slower way was to send a scouting party ahead and follow with the rest of the caravan once the way was all clear, while the faster but riskier way was to move forward with everyone together as a single group.