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-----Soon the wagon crosses over another large bridge spanning the main watercourse of the Altor River. The hooves of the horses and the wagon wheels clatter loudly on the stones underneath. Beyond the bridge, the trail leads off across flat plains. To their right, another trail leads off to the west toward the village of Tru.
-----About mid-morning, Jim brings the wagon to a halt by a small lake. He unhitches the horses letting them rest and drink from the water. As the temperatures steadily climb, everything seems more comfortable in the morning sun. The birds sing sweetly as they flitter to and fro in the trees.
-----Once the wagon riders are underway again, the trail leads them straight south across a barren expanse. Here, very few plants grow and the dusty soil is cracked and broken. To their right, many small hills rise up in the distance. At high noon, the thieves have their lunch at the western end of a big valley they stop at.
-----The afternoon finally warms enough so the thieves can at least remove their cloaks. The ride seems truly enjoyable as the wagon gently moves across the grassy plains dotted here and there with hills.
-----As evening approaches, Jim turns to the three passengers and tells them, "I best be lookin’ for a place to camp for the night." They pass to the south of a large hill and the trail swings them around heading to the west. Just off the trail, no farther than a mile ahead, they see a great host of people gathered.
-----The thieves can see about two hundred people setting up a camp. The westward sun shines off armor that most of the people are wearing. At least half of the guards, if guards they be, are on horseback. There appears to be four large wagons also in the camp.
-----Gimplefwick peers curiously at the assembled troops. "Shiver me timbers, that seems to be a lot of guards fer a merchant train. Especially when there only be four wagons. Maybe I'll go check it out after nightfall. Let's just be makin sure that we don't camp too close to 'em."
-----Seth nods at Gimplefwick’s suggestion, "Maybe this is the gold delivery to the town!" With that he launches the crow off into the air.
-----Kazel's gaze follows the crow towards the evening sky. "I'd like to find out what the fuss is all about, too. Take us a little farther away out of their sight, Jim," she says leaning back inside of the wagon. "By the way, how're you in a fight?"
-----Jim turns to Kazel with large nervous green eyes, "A f-f-fight?" he stammers, "I t-think I’m better at hidin’." He then turns the horses and drives the wagon to the northwestern side of the hill, so the landform shields them from the eyes of the unknown camp.
-----After they stop, Jim begins to ready their own camp. He unhitches the horses and begins gathering stones to encircle their campfire. He gets some firewood from the wagon and soon has a suitable fire going. After fixing the feed bags on the horses, he commences to roast some meat on the fire.
-----The evening star shines in the western sky as the sun begins to set. As the evening sky darkens, they eat under a starry sky. About two hours after sunset, a gibbous moon rises in the east. It hangs above the horizon looking like a dull angry eye.
-----After they eat, Gimplefwick unrolls a blanket and proceeds to snore quietly. Soon Jim also prepares to sleep after he finishes with the horses.
-----Sometime after midnight, Gimplefwick gets up and leaves the camp.
-----Kazel watches Gimplefwick leave, then goes to the wagon and picks out a lemon from the crates. She then wraps herself in her cloak and settles down to watch the camp, chewing occasionally on the sour fruit to keep herself alert.
-----Seth turns to Kazel, "From what I can gather, that group is the only one in the area, or it was prior to sundown anyway. If you are going to stay up, I might try and catch some sleep, wake me in a few hours so you can get some sleep. Ok?"
-----Kazel nods. "That or until Gimplefwick returns, just in case he's not coming back alone."
-----Gimplefwick makes a wide circuit of the encampment on his way back to the thieves’ base. When he gets back, he announces, "Arrr, well the good news is that it does appear to be a merchant camp. The bad news is that the wagons are heavily guarded by about a dozen soldiers with crossbows and torches. I'm not fer thinkin we can get in there, unless we create a major diversion like a plains fire, which would threaten us as well. I think we'd best just be leavin 'em alone, unless one of ye wants to try to get into their wagons." Gimplefwick roots around in his bedroll, trying to get comfortable for the night.
-----"Hmm, a plains fire?" Kazel ponders, putting a finger on her temple. "I think I'll just go to sleep, actually. This cargo's enough to worry about for now..." Yawning a bit, she then prepares herself for rest, unless Seth has other ideas.
-----Seth slowly shakes his head, "No, I do not think a plains fire is appropriate at this time, but since you two need some sleep I shall keep a watch while you rest."
-----Seth now follows Kazel’s example and finds a lemon to suck on while he sits on the wagon waiting for sun up.
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