The survivors leave the lean-to with divided grain, salt, lamp oil, and cord secured among their packs. The elderly charcoal burner remains beside the shelter, while his two sons guide them east.
The Elderly Charcoal Burner
Keep above the road. Patrols use the valley floor, and a stranger’s fire can be seen farther than he expects.
The charcoal burner’s elder son leads down a steep path screened by firs. His younger brother follows behind the fugitives, watching loose stones and the dark slopes below.
The Charcoal Burner’s Elder Son
Step where I step. The slope narrows ahead, but it reaches the torrent without crossing the open ground.
By midday, the path emerges above a gorge. Far below, a narrow wooden bridge sags over white water, one side of its railing already gone.
The Charcoal Burner’s Younger Son
That bridge will not carry us. The spring floods broke it yesterday. We must find a ford, or climb around the gorge.
The sons halt at the overlook. Behind them, the high path remains hidden; ahead, the torrent blocks the route, and the survivors must choose how to proceed.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get past the gorge
“"God provides! I wondered why we were carrying a heavy wooden spar around. Now I know. We need only find a narrow place and lay the spar across it. With that and a rope line, we can cross safely."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +0)
Makeda
God provides. We carried the spar for this. Find a narrow place, lay it across, and use the rope line.
Makeda and the elder son follow the gorge upstream until the torrent constricts between two dark shelves of stone. The water still runs fiercely, but the gap is narrow.
The Charcoal Burner’s Elder Son
Here. The spar will reach, if we set its ends firmly. I will secure this side while you guide the other.
They drag the fallen spar into place and lower it across the channel. Makeda loops the rope around a stout fir, then carries the free line across the timber.
Daria
One at a time. Keep the rope taut, and face the current. No one carries a pack in both hands.
Petar crosses first, gripping the rope with both hands and testing each foot. Sofia guides Julia after him, while Angela passes the provisions separately along the line.
Makeda crosses last with the rope braced against her shoulder. All reach the eastern bank safely, and the spar remains hidden among the rocks as the sons retrieve the line.
Quest Complete
Get past the gorge