Chapter 1: The Road to Dagger Falls

[Stik]

"My reasons for being here are my own. But I am headed to Dagger Falls." Traern eats breakfast from his own store of food, then sets about collecting a pair of ugly-looking hill ponies from where he had corralled them behind the keep and preparing them for travel. Both have riding saddles.

[Breila]

Eringard sees the two ponies and asks bluntly: "Where is your companion?"

[Stik]

A dark look passes over Traern's face as his head turns toward Eringard. Then it's gone, replaced by his normal deadpan look. "Dead," is all he says.

[Breila]

"I'm sorry" Eringard says as she passes Traern, briefly laying her hand of his upper arm as she goes to ready pack up her belongings and readies her mount.

[JadedDM]

Gimak packs up his things, puts on his armor, and readies his pony to set off. "Mind scouting ahead of us again, Raina?" he asks.

[HorizonsDream]

"Yeah, sure," Raina says to Gimak as she finishes packing up what very little she has.

[NoTrammeling]

The party gathers their things together in the clear-but-frigid morning air and sets out North along the road to Dagger Falls. "We should make the City by evening," calls the Longleague back to the group as their horses trot along the near-frozen dirt path. A day's travel through Daggerdale is a depressing thing, farmhouses crowded together protected only by sheer tenacity and earthwork ramparts. The trees are sparse here, mostly lowly rolling plains cropped low by frost and sheep. Here and there a slate-grey rocky outcropping breaks the earth, a testament to the land's poor soil.

You pass only a few other travelers, phlegmatic-eyed locals who cautiously regard the party though some few bow their heads respectfully to Eringard should she ride with her priestly vestments visible.

Some time near midday you arrive at a small settlement bisected by the road. Jain Longleague reins up a few hundred paces short of the first dug trenches. He grins at the group but his eyes are on the horizon. "Here is where I depart. You should have no problems finding Dagger Falls from here. Be wary of the Constable, and keep a low prof-" he pauses to laugh as he turns back to the mismatched group. "Well, do your best. And by that I mean, succeed."

[Jenara]

"May we meet again soon my lord." Elianna says with a bow, her hand Holding Fleet in position. "We should be wary of this road, keep your guard, and keep safe."

"Raina ahead once more, I will ride in front of the group." the Half elf suggests, waiting on an accord.

[Breila]

"Lathander be with you" Eringard says with a smile to the departing Jain. "And with us" she adds, almost like an afterthought.
"Go ahead" she nods to Elianna. she herself keeps in the rear of the group.

[JadedDM]

"Good luck to you, and have your reward ready, because we're going to crack this case; of that you can be sure," Gimak promises.

[HorizonsDream]

"We haven't had problems on the road so far," Raina points out to the half elf as she waves good bye to Jain. "We probably aren't going to have too many problems until we reach the city itself."

[Jenara]

"Still, I know this land, I would prefer to be ready, it is... unpredictable." Riding slowly she ensures Maria is held close, occasionally searching the trees for signs of life. "keep a defensive spell ready, just in case." She whispers to the young mage.

[NoTrammeling]

"That's the spirit, master dwarf!"Jain nods farewell to the group, throwing a final lecherous wink Raina's way he spurs his grey palfrey on and into the town where he takes a sharp left at the crossroads of Black Switch.

Maria squirms in her saddle, looking up at Elianna. Even though riding pillion was awfully uncomfortable, she was determined not to complain and show the group how grown up she was. "I always do! Or, well, sometimes just more attacks..." she trails off, but finishes her sentiment in a quiet whisper,"no one can hurt you if they're dead."

Seraphina for her part show's the silent stoicism the group has come to expect from her.

Leaving your employer to his private pursuits, you continue on the road to Dagger Falls. This close to the city things look different, the people more plentiful but also more wary. Crops are grown here, potatoes and millet in pebbly fields. You notice a Zhent or two patrolling the streets in the small hamlets that stud the road every few leagues. The clear sunny day warms from this morning's chill, but the breeze never loses its bite.

Finally, when the sun is well past its apex, Dagger Falls comes into view as you crest a low hill. Still at least an hour's ride off, you can easily make out the ramshackle huts pieced together in the shadow of the town's stone walls. This land must once have been heavily forested, but Zhentarim clearcutters have chopped the woods back almost a full league from the city. The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful, the Dagger Falls which lend the city its name cascade in a triple-tiered torrent to form the river Tesh as it flows West to East along the city's Southern border. There is only one tall building in the city, a tower jutting from its most Northwesterly corner.

Drawing closer you can see that some of the outlying buildings clustered near the city are in fact well-built and larger than any home has a right to be, they must be businesses of some kind. The closest of them is planted on the road south of the city, and appears to be an inn from its large stables and multiple chimneys. As you come to the front of it, the building's painted wooden sign proclaims it to be the Teshford Arms (the very place Jain said to leave him communications).

Ahead of you continues the road to a bridge over the river Tesh, and into Dagger Falls.

To your left is the Teshford Arms and behind that the rocky escarpment from which the falls flow.

To your right, a field of clear-cut land and beyond that the forest begins.

[JadedDM]

"Well, then," Gimak says, "our first order of business may as well be to get rooms and stable these beasts of burden." Dismounting his pony, he heads to the stables first, than to the Teshford Arms next.

[Jenara]

"Maria, could you lead fleet to the stables, if I take the packs?" Elianna asks, lowering the girl to the ground, before hopping off the horse with as much grace as she can muster.

"Keep your coin purses close." She says in a low whisper, "And your tongues closer." Assuming Maria does as suggested, Elianna follows, in turn following the dwarf. "My Lady, you should stick with us." she adds, looking back at Eringad.