Mydnight’s Hero

221

The man pockets your money (erase the appropriate amount from your Action Chart) and chuckles to himself as he swaggers to the side of the bridge. Karvas asks that he pull the cart aside so that you can ride across, but the man sneers at the Prince’s request.

‘Move it y’selves!’ he bellows. Cursing his insolence, you jump down from the saddle and drag the cart lengthways to make room enough to pass. Then you remount your horse and ride with Karvas, in single file, across to the other side.

The River Ioma is the political boundary between the realms of Lunarlia and Siyen. For centuries, Voshno has been claimed by both kingdoms and its inhabitants have grown used to the disruption that comes from living astride a border between two frequently-warring nations. Currently the hamlet is divided evenly. You notice that Prince Karvas is smiling as he rides with you away from the river, and you ask him why this is so, especially after having just been fleeced by the boorish toll collector. He explains that this half of Voshno is Siyenese territory, part of his native country. After ten years in exile he has at last returned to his homeland.

There is less than an hour left before it will be dark, and so you suggest to him that you stop at an inn to celebrate his return home over a tankard of Siyenese ale. He agrees, and you ride into the courtyard of the nearest tavern. Outside its door there hangs a board displaying the prices of its food, ale, and lodging. Its list of charges have all been struck out and replaced with new figures that are ten times more than the original costs. Shocked by the exorbitant prices, you decide to forgo your celebratory ale and leave Voshno.

You camp for the night in a copse of elm trees that borders the trail, a mile to the east of the hamlet. Before you sleep, you must eat a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points (unless you possess the Discipline of Grand Huntmastery).

To continue, turn to 125.

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