Daybreak

His camp was already broken down by the time the first rays of the sun touched down outside. He didn't know this from his position in Ranguemont Pass, or at the very least he didn't know it visually. Lyall had risen with the sun many times in the past on his travels and he knew he needed to be in top traveling form for this trip; This wasn't just an excursion to Valkurm or Jeuno. This was something bigger for him.

As he wished in his journal his dreams were pleasant while he slumbered. His camp was undisturbed throughout the night and even though he could hear the goblinfolk scampering and skittering around in the darkness none of them were quite brave enough to approach. They could sense the predator, too.

Lyall couldn't count on that for long. The moon was fading and he wanted to be back in the wilderness before it was at its last quarter. He couldn't afford to camp near the beastmen while whatever charm kept them away was down.

The rocky depths of the cavern didn't prove to be too complex. For a man who had walked from Bastok to San d'Oria it would take a bit more than slippery groundwork to slow his pace. Lyall had always been adept at traveling on foot and he was thankful for that.

In total Lyall had navigated the cave before the afternoon was spent. He took his time for a brief lunch in the mouth of the cave and watched the snow coming down in large, heavy flakes. The blizzard would pass soon. He was midway through his meal when heavy footsteps and words lost in the winds drifted towards him. Lyall was already waiting with his axe in his hands before the first of the group broke the curtain of weather and stepped foot into mouth of the Pass.

"Hold there, friend! No beastmen this way, just some weary travelers," spoke a heavyset fellow with a smile. When asked the man told Lyall that his caravan had been returning from a pilgrimage to the ancient city if Fei'Yin. Their group consisted of about a dozen, a smattering of humes and taru and elvaan. Only three of them looked battle ready.

"We've been researching the arcana there. They're usually friendly enough but they attack immediately if someone taps anything magical near them. You'd do well to not cast near them, friend." Lyall wondered what part of him, covered almost head to toe in heavy mail, looked like a mage.

Lyall welcomed them for their own lunch and the many of them spent a bit of time merrymaking. This would be the last chance Lyall had at conversation before his stepped foot into the snow, he imagined, so no use in letting it go to waste. The bulk of the caravan were speaking about magic and arcana and things Lyall didn't understand very much.

Before the two parties went their seperate ways, Lyall asked a favor of them, if they could deliver some mail for him in San d'Oria if they were stopping there for long. One of the elvaan fellows said he would be more than obliged to.

Standing at the shifted curtain of falling ice with powder blowing freely around his feet, Lyall took one last moment to reflect on the people he was leaving behind before stepping into the frost.