Beneath the broad rock shelf, the survivors remain out of sight while the charcoal burner’s sons kneel over a small smokeless fire, stirring divided grain with water.
Petar
The old smuggler’s route begins above that valley. It keeps to fir country, crosses behind a ruined shepherd’s pen, then climbs toward the mountain paths.
Petar points without leaving the spring’s shelter. His finger marks the hidden bends, the exposed saddle, and the narrow defile where soldiers often stop travelers.
Petar
At the saddle, they demand guides or papers. Near the defile, they search packs. A larger road is faster, but every mile brings another question.
The Charcoal Burner’s Elder Son
The smuggler’s way is slower and steep. A rested body may cross it in two days. A hungry one may need four.
Daria studies the valley while Sofia divides the warm grain among the travelers. Angela checks the salt and oil, and Julia remains seated close to the spring.
Petar
We can gain distance today, or preserve strength for the climb. Once we leave this shelter, the choice will be harder to reverse.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn whether Petar’s route is safe
“"I don't want to spend four days in those mountains. A little bad weather in the mountains can be deadly. Let's take a rest first. How are you feeling, Julia?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Oratory, rolled +1)
Makeda
I don't want to spend four days in those mountains. A little bad weather there can be deadly. Let us rest first. How are you feeling, Julia?
Makeda settles beside the spring and sets her pack down. The others ease their burdens to the stone, accepting the pause beneath the rock shelf.
Julia
Better than yesterday. My ankle aches, but I can walk. Rest will do more for me than haste.
Julia flexes her ankle carefully, then drinks from the clay cup Sofia offers. Her pale face remains tired, but her voice is steady.
Daria
Then we rest through the worst of the day. We leave before dusk, while the light still shows us the safe ground.
Petar
I will watch the valley. If weather comes, we will hear it first through the gorge.
The charcoal burner’s sons bank the fire and spread the packs beneath the driest stone. For now, the spring, grain, and shelter are secure.
“"That goat reminds me of something. We can take game in the mountains, if we have the right tools. Maybe Daria knows about traps and snares. In Abyssinia, shepherds carry a weapon we call a parsatik. I think you call it a sling. I have not much skill with it, but I will get better with practice." She sits down and starts making a sling out of cords and hemp.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +0)
Makeda
That goat reminds me of something. We can take game in the mountains with the right tools. Perhaps Daria knows traps and snares.
Makeda
In Abyssinia, shepherds carry a weapon called a parsatik. I think you call it a sling. I have little skill, but I will practice.
Makeda sits beside the spring and draws cord and hemp from the packs. Her fingers measure, twist, and knot the fibers into a broad pouch with two even cords.
Daria
A sling is simple, but hunting with one is not. I know snares better. We can set both when we reach fir country.
Makeda tests the finished sling, pulling each cord taut. The hemp pouch holds firm, light enough to carry and ready for stones gathered along the trail.
Petar
Then our mountain stores may come from the land itself. I will watch for game signs while you learn its reach.
Julia
A useful weapon and a useful skill. If it gives us food without smoke or noise, it may serve us well.
+ New Item Acquired
Sling
“She picks up some rounded stones and walks a short distance away to practice, using a dead tree for a target. "Don't come too close! My shooting is none too accurate," she warns the others.”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Ranged Weapons, rolled +1)
Makeda
Don't come too close! My shooting is none too accurate.
Makeda gathers several rounded stones and walks beyond the spring’s shelter to a dead fir marked by pale, weathered bark. She checks the wind, sets her feet, and loads the hemp pouch.
Daria
Keep your wrist loose. Let the cord do the work, not your arm.
Makeda whirls the sling, releases, and sends the stone hard against the dead tree. Bark flakes away with a sharp crack, and the stone drops among the roots.
Petar
That will serve. A rabbit will not know the difference between practice and danger.
She retrieves the stone and tries again. The next strikes lower on the trunk, close enough to make the tree a dependable mark and the sling a practical tool.
Julia
If you can repeat that on the trail, our provisions may last longer.
+ New Item Acquired
Rounded stones
“"I have nothing better to do. I can practice all day. Unless you want me to make some wooden spoons? No, the sling is more important."”
FAILURE (Mediocre Ranged Weapons, rolled -2)
Makeda practices through the afternoon, gathering stones, setting her feet, and sending them toward the dead fir. Her aim improves, but never becomes dependable.
Near sunset, one stone passes the trunk and strikes a high branch instead. A cluster of hazelnuts drops onto the leaf litter beside the spring.
Daria
There is your hunting lesson. The sling may feed us before it brings down game.
Makeda gathers the nuts, but the hemp pouch has begun to fray from the day’s repeated casts. One cord is loosening at its knot.
Julia
It needs mending before another throw. Better that we discovered it here than on the mountain path.
Petar
The branch marks a different use. With practice, you might shake down nuts without climbing or making a fire.
The survivors sort the fallen nuts with the evening grain. The sling rests beside the cord, damaged but repairable, while its first useful target waits in the fir country.
+ New Item Acquired
Hazelnuts
“"While I am thinking about it, why did we never sharpen that knife? It will be easier to use when it has a good edge." She finds a suitable stone and gets to work.”
FAILURE (Fair Trade, rolled -2)
Makeda
Why did we never sharpen that knife? It will be easier to use when it has a good edge.
Makeda finds a flat stone beside the spring, wets it, and braces the knife against her knee. She draws the blade along the grit in steady strokes.
The stone is harder and coarser than it appears. Instead of forming an edge, it catches the metal; a thin burr curls along one side and the blade slips from her grip.
Daria
Stop there. That stone is eating the blade, not sharpening it.
Makeda turns the knife toward the fading light. The edge is now uneven, with a shallow nick near the point. It will still cut cord, but poorly and unpredictably.
Petar
We need a finer stone, or a smith’s wheel. Until then, keep it for rough work and do not trust the point.
Makeda wipes the grit from the damaged blade and sets the unsuitable stone aside. The knife remains usable, but sharpening it here has made careful cutting harder, not easier.
“"Maybe we should let Daria handle it. I'm not good with knives."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Oratory, rolled +0)
Makeda
Maybe Daria should handle it. I’m not good with knives.
Makeda offers the damaged knife across the spring’s flat stone. Daria accepts it, turning the blade carefully to inspect the uneven edge and shallow nick.
Daria
That is wiser. A bad edge is more dangerous than a dull one.
Daria wraps the blade in a scrap of cloth and tucks it safely beside her belt, keeping the point away from the packs and bare hands.
Petar
Use it only for cord and food until we find a proper stone. The mountain will provide enough other ways to injure ourselves.
Angela gathers the fallen hazelnuts while Sofia redistributes the evening grain. Julia watches Daria secure the knife, and the damaged tool leaves Makeda’s burden.
“"I wish I knew more about weapons. Maybe I can make a club or something. Better than nothing. A staff would be easy, just take a sapling and strip away the bark and twigs, instant staff."”
FAILURE (Good Survival, rolled -1)
Makeda
I wish I knew more about weapons. A staff would be easy, if I could strip a sapling clean.
Makeda leaves the spring’s shelter and searches the fir margin. The nearest young trees grow below the rock shelf, rooted in a steep wash she cannot reach safely without exposing the camp.
The Charcoal Burner’s Elder Son
Those saplings are no good. Their roots hold the slope, and pulling one would send stones down into the gorge.
Makeda turns back empty-handed. Beside the abandoned firewood lies a crooked limb, too short and brittle for a proper staff; when she tests it against the ground, it cracks near the grip.
Daria
Not that. A weapon that breaks in your hand is a danger to its owner.
The elder son points instead toward the upper path, where storm-felled branches lie among the firs. Some are long enough to serve as walking poles, though they will need choosing rather than stripping.
Petar
We can look there at first light. A sound pole will help on the climb, even if it is no club.
✓ Quest Accepted
Have Petar disclose his knowledge of the mountain route
− Scene Quest Removed
Learn whether Petar’s route is safe
“"Until morning then. My lust for improvisation has so far only brought us some nuts, but we can keep trying."”
FAILURE (Good Willpower, rolled -2)
Makeda
Until morning, then. My improvisation has won us nuts so far, and I will keep trying.
The camp settles beneath the rock shelf. The charcoal burners bank the fire, and Makeda leaves the storm-felled branches for daylight rather than risk a noisy search in darkness.
At first light, she follows the elder son up the fir margin. They find several long limbs, but rain and rot have softened their centers beneath sound-looking bark.
The Charcoal Burner’s Elder Son
Test them before you trust them. A staff should bear your weight before it bears anything else.
Makeda braces one branch against a stone and strips away loose bark with her fingers. When she leans into it, the limb splits with a dry crack, scattering brittle wood downslope.
The break leaves only a short, blunt length fit for a walking peg, not a weapon. The remaining limbs are too rotten or too far across the unstable wash to reach safely.
Daria
Leave the trees. Take sound poles for the climb, and let the mountain provide no more weapons than it offers.
“"Groghi tsots’y gna amen inch’! Pardon my Abysinnian. I guess we will have to worry about it later. Let's just go."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +2)
Makeda
Groghi tsots’y gna amen inch’! Pardon my Abyssinian. We will worry about the mountain later. Let’s go.
The charcoal burner’s elder son selects two sound fir poles, trimming their splintered ends against stone. Packs are tightened, the repaired sling is secured, and the damaged knife remains with Daria.
Daria
Keep the poles low and your eyes on the ground. We leave no fire, no scraps, and no reason for anyone to follow.
Julia rises carefully, testing her ankle before taking a pole. Sofia steadies her pack, while Angela checks the grain, salt, and oil one last time.
The Charcoal Burner’s Elder Son
The high path begins above the fir margin. Stay behind me until the ground narrows, then follow the marked stones.
They leave the spring and climb into the fir country, moving east above the hidden road. Petar takes the rear watch, and the charcoal burners guide them into the mountain route.
Petar
The valley is already behind us. Keep walking, and let the trees hide our passage.
Establish Petar's loyalty to the survivors
Quest Complete
Have Petar disclose his knowledge of the mountain route
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Good→Great
+ New Item Acquired
Fir poles