There is a lot of uncertainty when Severin asks about the lands on the other side of the mountains. "Bad lands," one of the village lads says. "That's where the evil demons fought." "My dad said it used to be farmland, until the rain of ash." None of them have ever been there. The soldiers are dismissive of the peasants, but they don't know what's on the other side of the mountains either. The next morning, the eagerness of the village lads seems to have faded, replaced by skittishness. Eventually, Severin manages to get them moving again, and they follow the clear trail left by the trackers up the pass. They clear the pass about mid-morning and look out over the barren hills.

Back up at the pass, Gabriele spots a large rattler basking on a rock in the cool of the morning. It eyes her warily, up until she shoots it with her bow. It's pretty trivial to skin and clean, but if you want to cook it, it might take time. Time and a fire. While game is fairly scarce in the desert, as compared to the grassy plains of the Igerang valley, throughout the day, every once in a while Gabriele is able to bring down a small bird or a basking lizard. Once everyone is awake, you can see the rolling, barren hills stretch out in front of you. In the distance, you can see several plumes of smoke rising. Not from where you remember where you saw their camp. Once everyone is ready to march out, the party follows the trail to the east. The trail is still easy to follow, with heavy bootprints making deep marks in the dry dirt. The trail winds its way across the rolling hills. As the day winds on, the dirt turns to hard-packed ash. With every step, a thin puff of ash is raised, coating everyone's clothes and gear gets covered with it. The ground turns harder, with sharp rocks protruding from the ground. Towards the evening, the trail reaches the lake they saw in the distance. Warm, almost hot water seeps out of the sand of the beach. You can see steam and smoke rising out of the shattered ground to the east. There is the glow of a campfire on the opposite end of the lake from you.



Spoiler
Show
We'll cut to the chase soon enough, but the question is, do you want to wait for Severin and reinforcements to catch up, and do you want to start a fire to cook the game that Gabriele has caught?