Chapter 3: Crow's Nest

The night passes uneventfully, if a little discomforting for all the silence. If you had gotten used to one thing living in Meriava, it was the constant sound of people. Here outside the Wards, the only sound is nature -- an occasional night bird, frogs down by the creek, trees rustling with a breeze.

Well before the sun rises, you prepare yourselves for the short journey back to Viamard with efficiency and are on the road early. Clouds have built up during the night, and there is an unmistakably unsettled feeling in the spring air. You'd guess there will be rain sometime today, a cold early spring rain that seeps through clothes and into the bones. But as you make your way into the outskirts of town, you're lucky enough to have come this far without any unpleasant weather. You crest the final hill before the small lakeside town you visited the day before and in the faint pre-dawn light see much the same place you left: abandoned, clearly damaged by fire and destruction of some sort, with the citadel on the opposite side of the town from where you stand.

The wind is starting to pick up off the lake, trees swaying and hair whipping about faces.

Viani was mostly right. It’s not a horse... it’s a pony. And it clearly belongs to someone: it carries a fair amount of gear. Mostly camping gear, a quiver of arrows, a couple of packs that don’t look terribly full.

As it looks back at the people moving toward it, it shows no sign of fear or tension, as if waiting for you to ask permission to approach.

The pony stares back at Verrian. It seems to consider the question for a time, then lets out another equine snort and goes back to grazing on the brambles. It seems utterly unconcerned (or maybe unimpressed) with your presence.

As you look at the animal, it’s obvious that whoever owns this pony cares for it a great deal. The tack and harness are of high quality, well-oiled leather, likely the work of a very good craftsperson.

If the owner is nearby, there is no indication. It does look, from pony tracks, that the animal has wandered quite a lot. If you had to take a guess, the animal was either left to wander or the lead used to tie it up came loose.