The bridge is no more

Nicolas looked at the road ahead of them… and saw something he didn’t like at all. The bridge they were supposed to cross was no longer there, probably washed away by a river flood. Which meant they’d have to change their route.

“Looks like will have to look for another way to cross the river. Or go back.” Commented Kergoth and Nicolas had to agree with him. If they didn’t have any cargo, or if they were ready to abandon it, they would probably be able to cross the river. But their cargo complicated things. Nicolas started thinking about his options:

• going back would mean a waste of time, and like all traders Nicolas didn’t like wasting his time, for it could lead to a huge monetary loss
• they could go right, but that would mean they would have to go through a dangerous forest – it was known as the home of many bandits as well as some dangerous beasts. However there were several major roads passing through the forest, many people traveling each one, and so with a bit of luck they would be able to find and join a caravan, thus significantly reducing the danger – bandits were not very likely to attack a large group of people
• the path to the left was rarely used and was supposed to lead to a place where they could cross the river… but what else was there Nicolas had no idea

• or they could wait for a spellcaster to come and help them with the bridge… but the odds of that happening were lower than the odds of a human queen getting married to an Ogre. Few people traveled this road, fewer still were spellcasters, and even fewer would actually be able to help them…

  Nicolas could think of no other alternatives, and since they had no way of repairing the bridge he would have to choose one of these options.