After the giant had been looted, Allysen starts working on clearing the bridge of its corpse by pushing it over the edge.
The group gathers up the few worthwhile belongingins of the giant and his goblinoid followers (captors? family?) before quickly heading across the stone bridge to the cavern entrance.
This area seems to have been used as some kind of bathroom by the goblins, but you manage to carefully avoid the various droppings to reach the Western Door.
Grakkus hands off his mule to Quresha and pulls a small stone device from his pack. It seems to be about the size of a large apple and is covered in numerous protuberances and dwarven sigils. He presses it into an indentation on the wall. Seconds later there is a low rumbling and the wall in front of you swings open and blinding sunlight streams through.
"Those creatures who were following us are still behind us. Let's move through here and shut the Western Door behind us. The creatures of the Old Road won't venture out into the sunlight."
Lord Belros keeps watch as the caravan progresses.
He watches the device and the door opening with some interest, but is more focused on if foes would attempt another ambush.
"Let us advance, and be free of these deathly passages.", he intones
Allysen puts actions to the others' words and begins leading one of the mules across the bridge. Once she has one out, she goes back for any stragglers.
Bizzle, still busy with the mules, glances at the dwarven device with keen interest. "Woooah! Is this like a magic dwarven apple?", he inquires, his large eyes almost oozing wonder, only for his mouth to snap open as the doors open and let the sunshine in. "Ha! We made it!", he laughs out, jumping nearly three feet into the air and fist-pumping in the fresh breeze.
Grakkus shakes his head at Bizzle's comment. "No, it is not magical, at least not inherently so. It was passed down to me by my uncle who was one of the gatekeepers of the ancient dwarven Kingdom under the Hill whose roads we have been following these last few days. Only a few of these keys remain, most of them still in dwarven hands, although I'm sure the goblins have found other ways of accessing these passages."
Grakkus and Amelius lead you out into a woodland of mixed coniferous and deciduous trees. As the dwarven door closes behind you, you can see that the seams of the door meld into the natural stone that surround it until it is almost invisible. Only a single indentation similar to the one Grakkus used to open the door remains marked by several dwarven runes.
The forest around you seems to be unremarkable and a small, overgrown path leads from the Sunset Gate, heading in a roughly southwesterly direction.
Amelius takes a deep breath, inhaling the smells of the forest. "Well, we've made it. From here it is only a half-day's journey to Saltmarsh. Your journey is almost at an end!"
"And if goblins attack, we won't have to worry about the stench knocking us out," Allysen quips with a weak smile.
She stays in the middle of the caravan her eyes always looking to and fro as they march on. Even the smallest sounds make her jump nearly a foot in the air. Whatever else may have happened, the last fight has shaken Allysen.
Without comment, MWG leads her mule along the path at a steady pace, trying to maintain an inner peace so that her inner supply of shurikens will replenish itself (that's literally how she thinks of it).
You travel through the forest for the better part of an hour, leading the mules along an overgrown trail. It is clear that this was once a well-kept road, as it still slopes down at the sides and you can see the occasional curb stones sticking out of the moss-covered ground. Behind you are a high ring of wooded hills while the ground continually slopes down in your southeasterly direction of travel.
You eventually emerge from the forest and look out over a long, lightly-forested river valley flowing from the northwest in a generally south-by-southwesterly direction. An enormous wetlands begins several miles across the river to the west, and to the south you can see that the river flows into the sea. Numerous small hills stand like sentinels in the river valley, while the path you are on joins a larger road that parallels the river a mile or so away.
"That's the Salt River there, and those are the Hool Marshes ahead of us," Amelius explains, pointing at the river and wetlands ahead of you. "The Hool is full of lizardfolk from what I have heard tell. They don't like humans and dwarves much, but prefer to be left alone and tend not to bother others unless someone messes with them."
He then points up the river. "Upstream several miles is the human village of Burle. Not much to see there, but the road continues on through the villages of Kendra, Haven, and Kimberton before heading westward into the Yeoman League. North of us is the Dreadwood of course. We just avoided going through that gods-forsaken place by traveling on the Old Road, not that it is any less dangerous from what we have discovered."
"And to the southeast, just behind those hills ahead is the town of Saltmarsh where the Salt River flows into Monmurg Bay and the Azure Sea. We should arrive there before sunset. A ship has been waiting for Grakkus and myself there, ready to transport our goods on to the Hold of the Sea Princes where they'll fetch a nice price."
Amelius shakes his head at Isagoras' question.
"No, the river is somewhat brackish, but is still considered freshwater. No one knows where the extra salt comes from. It could be there is a hidden source of it upstream, or it somehow leeches out of the Hool Marches, but no one has found out why."
Amelius gives Isagoras a sideways glance and then just keeps walking. "Er, yes, that could be. Sure."
Allysen, now that the caves are far behind them and their destination is near, slumps and follows along in a very mechanical fashion. Her eyes are dull and focused on the ground as she guides the mule she'd taken charge of. She notes the conversation around her but is too caught up in her own thoughts to join in.
Lord Belros keeps watch from the rear of the group, ready to face any last minute dangers.
You briefly stop at the edge of the Salt River to let the mules drink and take a short rest. The overgrown path you have been following here joins a much larger and well-kept road that follows the edge of the Salt River all the way down to the sea, and is in much better shape. Judging by the tracks on its muddy surface, the road receives frequent wagon, horse, and foot traffic.
As you are resting you look up to see a group of a half dozen horsemen coming up the road from Saltmarsh. They are traveling at a trot and should be in bow range in under a minute.
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True to his word, at the stop, Isagoras takes several hand-fulls of water and tastes it deeply, swishing it about trying to determine exactly how and if and how much salt might be in the Salt River.
"There seem to be well-outfitted horsemen coming this way. Is there some local conflict about? Perhaps a few sides wearing roses?"
Allysen looks up at Isagoras' comment, and while she notes the riders she can't tell anything about them. Rather than open herself up to his sharp tongue, she keeps quiet and focuses on the mules to make sure they didn't go wandering off.
MWG, ever-vigilant, spots the horsemen as soon as they come into sight, and tries to determine what she can about them :
But she doesn't notice anything in particular about them from that distance.
"Isagoras, as far as I'm aware, there are no local conflicts in this area. Why do you ask?"
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"Because would armor-wearing sheriffs mounted on steeds of war and bearing lances be a common sight in a province that is only reachable through goblin-infested warrens?
We have just been told there is little about save the bustling metropolis of dirt-farmers at the village of Burle...
...so I would ask you, why would there be well-outfitted horse riders here if there reason was not to war?"
"After all this is hardly Rohan...." Isagoras mutters to himself.
Eventually the soldiers come near enough that you can see they are wearing the colors of the local Barony of Saltmarsh: a vert fish jumping over an argent tower on an azure and sable bordure.
They don't seem overly aggressive, but pull alongside the caravan at 20 paces.
"Greetings. Where are you headed and where from?"
Amelius, as the leader of the caravan, steps forward.
"We are traders from the Good Hills on our way to put our goods on a ship at Saltmarsh."
The soldier nods in response, seemingly buying the dwarf's prevarication. "Okay, well, you should be in Saltmarsh before the end of the day. Keep your eye out for lizardfolk from the Hool. They've been a bit more aggressive lately."
"Oh, we will," Amelius answers casually, "and if they show up, we've got some protection," and points to all of you.
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"Well that was rather less bandit-filled than I had thought," Isagoras says, still trying to remember the forms and sigils for Drajjin's Instant Summon BattleMech.
'Hmmm, lizardfolk. I wonder if they still know the way to Tsojcanth." he says, pronouncing the last word impeccably.
"Tsojkith? I think I had an uncle by that name," Grakkus mumbles to himself as he swats the back of the mule to drive it down the trail again.
"Thank you, guardsman. Tell me, what tactics are these lizardfolk prone to using, so we may best keep on guard against them?"
The guard shrugs his head at the elf's question. "They usually come at night and conduct raids to steal livestock. No people have been killed so for, thank Phaulkon, but you never know, it could always get worse."
The guardsmen gives Isagoras an annoyed look.
"We all worship in our own way, Old Man. Who are you, the High Phaulkon Inquisitor?"
He then begins to chuckle at his own joke as he digs his heels into the horse's sides, urging them forward.
"Useful to know regardless. May Pelor watch over you."
Amelius calls for the caravan to continue its journey, and you once again grab the leads of the mules to urge them forward. Once the guards are out of sight, Amelius hands off his mule to Grakkus to move into the middle of the group so that everyone can hear him.
"You will have probably noticed that I did not mention the way by which we traveled here from the Good Hills, specifically the Old Road. There's a reason for that. I wish to keep our journey a secret for now, as I am still hoping I might use it again at a future date. If people were to find out about it, others might take advantage of the shortcut and my business would lose its market share. Is this something we can keep amongst ourselves?"
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"And if I was, you...wouldn't expect it," Isagoras mutters, then laughs at his own little joke.
Isagoras shrugs at Grakkus. "You needn't worry. So great are the terrors and obstacles in that path 'twould hardly be the favored egress of every shopkeeper with two pans to sell.
Still, though I doubt I could keep such sweet knowledge from the populace overlong, I shall be kept from being a curiosity for the now."
"Yeah. I can keep it quiet," Allysen says, hoping that she can keep avoiding Isagoras' notice for now.
"No problem" MWG says matter-of-factly.
With that decided, Amelius guides the caravan towards Saltmarsh.
During the final leg of your journey, Amelius fills you in on some of the details of the town.
"Saltmarsh is a nice little town, although there isn't a whole lot going on there from what I know. It gets a little bit of overland traffic from the rest of Keoland, but most trade comes from the Azure Sea. Most people in town work on the sea, either as fishermen or sailors. On paper, the Baron of Saltmarsh is the ruler, but he spends most of his days at a hunting and fishing estate somewhere else. The day-to-day decisions are made by a town council. Not much else to say, really. There's only one place to stay for outsiders, I'm afraid, the Inn of the Dying Minotaur. It's a decent sort of place for a town this size. If you want to do more heavy drinking, there's also the Tavern of the West Wind. It's run by Zelmar and Haki, and they're quite ... unusual."
"We made it through in record time, and will have to wait a few days for our ship that will transport us onward. We could use some help guarding our goods until that comes in. Just one or two of you should do it, as we'll be loading everything into a warehouse. We'll pay, of course, since that's not part of your current contract."
Looking at her fellow adventurers, MWG says "What about rotating shifts? That way we can all have some time to explore the town."
"I wouldn't mind helping guard whatever wares you need guarded. No one's going to miss me much anyway," Allysen says, hoping for a chance to earn a little more coin.
At some point in the near future , MWG will take Allysen aside where they can be alone and say "Allysen, what's up? You suddenly seem to be very timid, and not at all sure of yourself. If we are to adventure together, everyone needs to be at the peak of their performance, and having such doubts will not allow you to be at your best." She says this neither tenderly nor harshly, but more matter-of-factly.
"I will keep quiet, except for the unlikely event that townspeople are safer evacuated through such a route than not.", says Lord Belros.
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"I would certainly guard, and would cooperate with shifts."
He raises an eyebrow at Allysen's comment.
"Allysen, you are brave, if perhaps foolhardy. Do not denigrate yourself so."
Just after lunch, a small stone keep situated on a hill overlooking a small settlement pulls into view as you come around an outcropping on the river road: the village of Saltmarsh. Numerous plumes of smoke can be seen rising from the mostly wood and stone houses with the sparkle of the Azure Sea behind them. The village is surrounded by numerous outlying farms with large fields of grain or fruit orchards. Farmers can be seem moving among their crops in the distance, bringing in their tools as they finish their work. Just to the north of the town is a large hill whose crown is almost completely devoid of vegetation. To the South of the town are a small range of hills behind which lurks the unending, fetid miles of the Hool Marshes.
The town is surrounded by a simple wooden palisade. The road eventually leads to a closed gate and a small guard tower. Stationed there are a pair of human guards with the same livery you saw earlier.
"What ho, the caravan!" the guard in the tower yells out to you as you are still a bowshot's distance away. "Where did you come from and where are you headed?"
Amelius continues walking but holds up a hand in a non-threatening greeting.
"We're traders from the Good Hills delivering goods to Saltmarsh, where we'll be meeting a ship to take us farther," he calls out in a strong voice.
The two guards in the tower quickly confer with each another, and the first guard speaks up again.
"Understood. Proceed to the gate and wait there for inspection and a representative of the Merchant's Council."
"Good, good," Amelius answers. "Thank you."
The dwarf merchant turns and explains that this is just a security check by the guard to make sure we don't look too shady. The representative from the Merchant's Council will check our goods to assess how much they will tax us for using the port. Amelius assures you that it's all standard practice.
Lord Belros dwells on the number of times where swift action saved lives on their journey.
"It's just the truth," Allysen lies when Lord Belros tells her not to sell herself short. After all, she knows of at least one who did miss her, though not for the reasons many would assume.
"I almost died. Worse I almost got others killed," Allysen answers, though from the way the half-elf refuses to meet Moves with Grace's eyes, she's hiding something.
"I find that hard to believe. But as you will."
Once Lord Belros is not looking, Allysen lets out a quiet sigh of relief. She'd been around these people too long. Her guard was slipping.
"Yeah... I guess," Allysen replies. "It's just--" she begins to add before closing her mouth and shaking her head.
"I can't afford to make mistakes, and I've made far too many on this trip. Once Amelius and his cargo is gone, it'd be best if you forgot you ever saw me."
A few minutes later a well-dressed man is let through the gate. He introduces himself as Marquette Henderson, a representative of the Saltmarsh Trading Guild. Amelius shows the man a bill of transport for all the good you are carrying while Mr. Henderson takes a few notes in a small book he carried with him using a quill and a small pot of ink that he carries attached to his left wrist. The guild representative then takes a look into a few of the saddle bags, and finding nothing out of sorts, tells Amelius that he will receive his excise bill later that night at the "at the Minotaur" once he's had the chance to make the correct calculations. Mr. Henderson then excuses himself, and heads back through the gate.
Amelius and Grakkus breath a visible sigh of relief and give each other a quick look before Amelius remarks: "Well, that went well."
A different guard steps through the gate and give you a quick speech before letting you proceed.
"All right now, ladies and gents. Welcome to Saltmarsh. We're good, law-abiding people here and the Baron runs a tight ship. Don't make any trouble and you won't have any trouble. The "Dying Minotaur" is the only inn in town and there are plenty of rooms to be had there. That just down ..." he begins, before Amelius holds up a hand to interrupt him.
"Thank you, kind sir, but I have been to the Dying Minotaur before and know the way quite well."
The guard shrugs and opens the gate for all of you. "Fine, fine, have it your way, then, and again, welcome to Saltmarsh!"
Ameilius and Grakkus nod to the man and the caravan moves past the gate and into the village.