Mud to the left, scout the right path

Nicolas called a halt at the broken bridge. He asked Kergoth to scout out the roads to the left and right along the river to get a sense of whether they might be promising.

"Right, Boss," Kergoth said. After he and the guards scouted the immediate area around the broken bridge, he sent small scouting parties up and down the river road.

In the meantime, Nicolas had his wagoneers and teamsters check their wheels, axles, and harness to see if it might weather a rougher road than they had expected. Nicolas supervised the inspections himself, his trading experience having included many caravan trips...and many broken wagons! Nicolas looked over his goods and contemplated his inventory, assessing which ones were most compact and valuable, which ones were most at risk for damage in a high-water ford, and which ones could he most afford to lose.

Before he finished, the party from the left road came back caked with mud.

Tree-Tall was first to report. "Trey'r sir," he slurred through his battle-scarred mouth. "I'th mu'b frr yeague'th."

His companion Snavely looked up to Nicolas and added, "I do believe the road flooded out. The wagons won't like it, ah ha ha! All that mud!" The small man's nostrils flared, and his thin mustache twitched.

"Had th'puuh Th'mayfwey ou'o' a mu'bhoe." Tree-tall said with a snort. Indeed, Snavely had mud up past his waist.

In bits and pieces, Nicolas gathered their report. Not far down the left road, the river had washed out the road and left thick deposits of sticky mud. The rolling terrain near the river was not ideal for bypassing the road, and they would spend a great deal of tedious effort however they went.

He nodded to the two. "Doesn't look too good on that side, then. Especially being the less-traveled road already. I hope the other direction is more promising."

The two guards went down to the river to rinse off the mud.

Kergoth and the half-elf woodsman Fletcher returned from the right road.

"Road's clear the first couple miles," Kergoth said. "Pulls back away from the river a bit, along the bluffs. Fletcher took a branch running up a side stream. Fletch?" he prompted.

"There's a small military camp in a sheltered valley. Maybe a mercenary company," Fletcher said. "Fifty or so, bivvied up, keeping quiet. Looks like they're licking their wounds after a battle. Couldn't tell if they saw me."

Kergoth chuckled. "Tell the boss the most interesting part, Fletcher," he said.

Fletcher rubbed a finger along his bowstring. "Oh yes," he said, smiling.