"Guard," he begins, "see that they have been provided with the 500 gold promised, and rations to see them safely to Den Sile." "The news that these documents might be found in the ruins arrived just last night. If we had more time to spare, I would have hired one of my contacts out in Eastport. Plenty of solid adventurers up there. The pickings down here, though? Quite limited."

"Then, this morning, we received word that there might be other treasure hunting parties in the area. So, at the risk of offending you, I would not hire you if I could avoid it, but time is of the essence."

"This whole situation has me at a bit of a disadvantage. My client will be fiercely angered if we are not able to obtain the documents. So again, I implore you: bring them back to me - the reward will be exceptional."

"I cannot allow this ship to leave port at the moment, because the Mesmeric Sea is quite volatile this time of year, and taking you up the river would only delay you."

"Now that I think of it, I would recommend hiring a carriage to take you through the forest. It will only save you half a day at best, but it's better than nothing. There are several available here on the docks."
OOC: It's OK :)

'Well, that sounds reasonable. I hope that I - or we, if Drennan chooses to accept too - can demonstrate that we're equal to your 'solid adventurers' in such matters. For now, I suppose we should get going.'

'Understood', Drennan nods. 'Your honesty is appreciated. We will be on our way then.' He begins to bow, but stops short realizing it would be completely pointless, so he just nods at the guard and leaves.

"Farewell," Cinder concludes.

Now you are tasked with finding a way to the ruins.

The fastest way would be by horse-drawn carriage - but that will cost you 75 gold each. Estimated travel time: 2.5 days.

You might also take a boat up the river, which will drop you off in Hammerhall. That will cost you
30 gold each, but will delay your journey somewhat. However, you should be safe and comfortable. Estimated travel time: 3.3 days.

Of course, you could always continue on foot. Estimated travel time: 3 days.

Reminder: you have 6 days worth of rations. You can easily live off of that for 8 days or more, if you conserve your food, and you may be able to forage for food in various locations. Water should be no problem to come by.

'Well, he did give us 500 gold each for expenses. It only seems fair to get there as fast as
possible, and spending an extra 75 of that doesn't really matter that much. Unless, of course, there was a way we could get there faster and cheaper?'

OOC: How long would it take by horse?

OOC: Riding yourselves? Or each of you sharing a horse with an experienced rider?

It would be equivalent to each of you hiring your own carriage. Minus, of course, the
carriage.But they probably won't give you a discount just for ditching the carriage.
So, 150 each.
You should be able to reach the destination in 2 days with this method. It would be even faster than that, but the
forest does not allow for maximum riding speed.

Chalael appears to consider something, before replying 'Ok, then, we'd better get moving.'

OOC: As my question about going by horse was out of character, Chalael is referring to travelling by horse and carriage still.

OOC: OK with horse and carriage also?

OOC: perfectly.

Unfortunately, there is only 1 driver remaining at the docks. All the others must be out on assignment.

Your driver is a young human male by the name of Wick. He has the face of a child. His skin is pale, hair is light, and he has pronounced, ruddy cheeks. Despite this, he assures you that he is an experienced driver and you find the claim believable enough.

You crawl into the covered carriage and find it surprisingly luxurious. There are three bench-like seats, each of them faces the front of the carriage -one behind the other. The seats are made of fine wool, and are quite comfortable. You can rest easily here.

Behind the three seats is a small storage area. There, the driver stores his personal items as well as two tremendous jugs of water.

"One for us, one for the horse," he notes. "Don't quite matter which is which, 'cept that you might have an opinion about that."

Wick, your driver, notes your destination and takes his fee of 150 GP total (75 each).

Based on your limited interactions so far, it's fair to say that his personality is jovial and verbose - perhaps too verbose, at times.

"Beautiful country this is," Wick says, "where we're headed. Beautiful. Cousin spent some time up there just, you know, livin' off the land. Becomin' a man he said. Right, a man. I know's a man when I seen one and he's a sorry excuse! Anyway. plenty o'wide open spaces once you get out beyond the woods. Ever been there before?"

"If you're all set, let's get underway," he adds.

Chalael chuckles, and says that he doesn't mind at all which jug is for who. 'No, I haven't been here before, actually. I'm not from this part of the world, in fact.'

On the other hand, we do need to get up there fairly quickly, if possible, so let's get started.'

The road to the forest is soft and smooth, and you make great time. The sun is falling rapidly, and soon it will be night.

Wick explains that his horse must rest. He recommends making camp on the grasslands at the edge of the forest. He can push on into the forest tonight, if you prefer, but there is a chance that you will get lost.

"What will it be, gentlemen?" he asks.

OOC: Additionally, you have each consumed one day's worth of rations. (If at any point you wish to begin preserving your rations, at a cost to your HP, let me know. Until then I will assume that you will be eating at the normal rate.)

(OOC: We really didn't get very far, did we?)

'Let's press on, and try to reach that river before we rest. I doubt we could miss it completely, and we can use it to reorientate ourselves once we reach it.'