[IC] Death & Taxes (Session 1)

After studying the maps, you conclude that there are likely two ways you could approach Buzzards’ Ford. The first would be to head southeast on the main road toward Tamalir until you reach the Flametail River. The village map indicates that the main entrance is only reachable by taking a ferry across the Flametail, which means you’ll need to somehow cross to the south bank of the river, make your way west, and then take the Buzzards' Ford ferry at the village entrance entrance a short ways into the swamp. This approach is the most straightforward, and should be achievable in four days in your horse cart.

The second approach would be to head southeast to the crossroads shown on the area map, known as Cailn Crossroads. From there, you could take footpaths due south—Hildar recalls reading about these in his studies—until you reach the edge of the Blackwing Swamp from the north. The smaller map seems to show a tributary of the Flametail River flowing southeast through Buzzards’ Ford. Assuming you could find water transport—perhaps with one of the Lizardfolk tribes if you could establish friendly relations— you could come into the town from this direction, saving potentially two days’ worth of travel and gaining the element of surprise on the villagers. However, that might also cause problems, especially if they’re as jumpy as you’ve heard they might be. Presumably, they don’t get along with the Lizardfolk.

In sum, you can take the tried-and-true approach and arrive in four days by horse cart, traversing the river in two places to do so. Or you can take your chances with either a swamp guide or the Lizardfolk and try to reach the village by river from the north. This latter approach would shave a day of travel time off and give you the element of surprise, but it might present difficulties due to your horse cart.

Either way, the Cailn Crossroads is on the route either way, and Tronus happens to know a guild mate there named Gilga Oakenwheel who might be able to care for your horse or set you up with a swamp guide if you’d like—for the right price, of course.

Early the next morning, you all mount up in the horse cart with provisions enough to last two weeks, fodder for the pair of horses, bedrolls for all of you, flint and tinder, and enough tents to sleep your group. The trip southeast is uneventful. You spend your first night in tents, but before the second night falls, you arrive at Cailn Crossroads.The area isn't so much a village as it is a building: A single inn sits near the crossroads with a handful of horses tethered up in stables nearby. You know that this is where Tronus's guild mate, Gilga Oakenwheel, is supposed to live, or at least frequent. Tronus knows that she can fill in some of the blanks about what an off-road, northern approach to the swamp would entail, but she's not one to talk without something in return.

It's a good place to stop for the night one way or another.