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For several minutes you ride the river, keeping to the centre of its course to avoid being dashed against the rough rock walls of the tunnel through which it flows. Then you glimpse a moonlit opening in the distance and, a few moments later, you are tumbling from an outflow at the base of Duadon’s east city wall. You fall amidst a torrent of frothing water and hit the surface of a river twenty feet below.
Immediately you strike out with your hands and rise as quickly as you can, spitting out a mouthful of foul-tasting water as soon as your head breaks the surface. The current pushes you towards the river bank where a group of beggars, clad in mouldering rags, are sifting through the flotsam that is being flushed out of the city. You note with disgust that this floating debris consists mainly of corpses, many the victims of Prince Lutha’s brutal regime. The beggars take fright and scatter when you stagger out of the water. You watch them run away; then you hurry towards the beckoning safety of a wood which borders upon a rutted river road. Here you spend a damp, uncomfortable night trying to formulate a new plan of action that will enable you to reach Casiorn as quickly as possible. At length you resolve to go east and attempt to cross the River Storn to the Salonese city of Rhem, located on its east bank. It has the reputation for being a tough and lawless place but you feel sure it can be no worse than Duadon.
