RP Session 2: "To the Mattresses"

Perhaps an hour or two later they left the battlefield, and all that stood between leaving the marsh far behind them and their horses once again treading dry land was the aptly named Black River that marked the border with capitol province of Caercas. The river's fat banks and spiderweb promontories were partially responsible for the Elvenmeres, but the river itself was not so restive as the marsh and it flowed dark and fast and deep. They would need a ford shallow enough for the horses and wagon if they were to make it across.

Blessedly at least there was no sign of scouts on the far bank, but nor was there civilisation for leagues thanks to the haunted reputation of the swamps. Still, a barge was not out of the question if they took the time to look. Peat farmers and cloth bleachers would both come to the marsh when the weather was clement and they would hardly swim the swift waters of the Black River.

Finding a good place to ford could be treacherous, especially when a river was deep enough to earn the name Black River. Where the waters shallowed they would invariably be swift - dangerously so - and so a fork or islet surrounded by boggy ground to slow the river would be their best hope. How to find one though? Corson could almost hear Taethan's voice, dark and rich like soil, but the words...

It had been many long years since those rivercraft lessons, but it was on the banks of Roesone's rivers that those lessons came, and that eventually proved the simplest solution: the land became hilly further north, so to find lowlands travelling south was wiser.

Sure enough, after another half hour following the riverbank south the ground once again became spongy and wet, and soon a fork around a small copse of ashen birch presented itself. The near side of the Black River had formed a sluggish bulge that, though five feet or so deep, would be an easy crossing. Beyond that on the far side of the fork the rushing of water and foamy surface suggested rocks, which would be hazardous but also their best chance.

Pausing to unload the cart's contents onto the horses so as to take advantage of the small vehicle's buoyancy the Roesonians considered the next steps.