Prelude: Law of Surprise

[TetNak]

Early Spring 1273
Riverdell
Just below Theodula Pass

The two Witchers Dariusz and Crizus had traveled from Mount Gorgon to Riverdell, it had taken them five days on foot. The first day was the worst, as getting to Mount Gorgon was always a challenge, as was getting down the mountain. Now, just below Theodula Pass, Crizus grunts with his Witchers' eyes. "Wished I could say I smelled bacon, but I think it might be pig shit instead." Crizus was a short man, sinewy instead of bulky, but perhaps one of the fastest Witchers Dariusz knew. The pair were near the same age and were brought to Mount Gorgon and Kaer Gorgon at near the same time. They had just survived the Trial of Grasses a year ago and both were setting off from their long time home for the first time. Crizus and Dariusz were the only of five to survive the Grasses of the six that tried last year. Two of their younger brothers were due any day to make their attempt. Crizus had been irritated in the days before they left.

"I wished we could stay away from Kaer Gorgon for a spell, just running an errand for a dead man is not fun, no fun at all." It was true, the errand part. An old witcher by the man of Brang had died two years ago, but his legacy lived on in the School of the Griffin. He had invoked the Law of Surprise which gave him domain of a young child. With Brang dead, the school 'recruited' Dariusz and Crizus to collect the babe and bring it back. The father had supposedly died in a battle in Cintra, but the mother still lived, a duchess and distant relative of the diposed royal family in Nazair. Unfortunately, it is said that the duchess had fled north. There was little to go on, but there was one rumor; the heir of the Nazairian crown was in Verden. Unfortunately the Amell Mountains had one way up, and one way down. They were on the east side of the mountains and would have to circle around to go west to Verden to find this Nazairian noble.

"Bacon, I want some fuckin' bacon," Crizus repeated. The sun was getting low and the small trail northeast was growing less favorable for travel. "We still heading to Loc Monduirn and catching a boat west?"

[Vardaen]

"Shut your damned mouth Crizus. You always want bacon, you know they say too much of that and your heart will give out. I say if you don't shut up about it I might make your heart give out." He stands there on the trail looking around hands on his hips, then laughs at his companion. The two always had a way with words with one another. "Its getting late. We need to think about shelter for the night. The map say anything about an Inn or a flophouse around here?" He eyes the trail and isn't sure he wants to risk it in the growing dark.

[TetNak]

Crizus pulls out his scroll case and pops it open, drawing out the map that was given to them before they left. He unfurls it and takes a look for a few moments before passing it over to Dariusz. "Nothing until we're near the lake. Looks like we get to spend the night outside." He shrugs, neither of them really needed sleep. They could meditate for a few hours and keep going. "I say we keep going until the full moon, go into trance, then get moving before sunrise." The map supported what Crizus stated; there does not appear to be anything nearby of interest that is posted on the map.

[Vardaen]

"Sound enough plan. We need to keep our eyes open that we don't loose the trail, looks spotty this way." He then returns to an earlier question. Loc Monduirn it is then, then a boat west." He gazes into the wilds and then smiles as he takes a deep breath in of the air. "Smells terrible, but it smells like adventure!" He's happy to be out of Kaer Gorgon even if just for a little while. "Maybe we can find ourselves a bounty or two along the way and make some coin."

[TetNak]

"My exact thoughts, Dariusz, gotta have money for bacon after all."

Crizus chuckles, "Looks like a little clearing over there." He points into the woods a few feet, with a patch of soft grass. Neither of the witcher's jade amulets were vibrating, and so, it seemed all was well.

[Vardaen]

"You and that damn bacon!" He shakes his head and marches forward to the clearing just giving it a look. The pair have good eyesight, and won't be hindered by night nearly as much as man might. Plus their amulets should warn them of necrophages and the like, but they haven't been put to the test yet. So Dariusz simply presses on.

[TetNak]

The other Witcher smiles and walks into the clear, kneeling in the center. "Let's get some rest." Rest, of course, was not sleeping for the two. In four hours, the two Witchers come out of their trances undisturbed. The meditative trance of witchers is a semi-concious state, one that can be prolonged or not, depending on the wishes of the witcher. Dariusz remembers three deer moving into the clearing and grazing before moving out again.

Crizus gets off his knees and comments, "Now I want venison." Crizus instead settles for a dried hunk of beef that he chews while frowning. "Tastes like leather."

[Vardaen]

Sighing the Witcher shakes his head, "Well that's better than hearing about Bacon all day." He rolls his shoulders and orients himself and then returns to the path and the trip to their destination of Loc Monduirn.

[TetNak]

"I could talk about bacon, no problem," Crizus jests with a sly smile. He runs a hand through his sandy blonde hair which is long upon his shoulders and flowing loosely. Over the next day the two witchers make their way along the road until they reach a small crest on a hill. Below is the smells and sight of a large lake, Loc Monduirm of course. There are a couple ships anchored, which is good for the witchers, who need a boat to sail down the Yaruga to Verden.

"How much coin do you have? I have no idea how much someone will ask for a trip."

[Vardaen]

The Witcher shakes his head, "Next to nothing, in the wrong direction. We may find ourselves working for a ride. Come on, a good place to start is always the tavern." He heads into town looking over the poeple and the places making his way along the main road to the center of the town.