Knights of Ferlonia

TRAVEL REPORT II

Departure location: Gate of the citadel of Zelfiria.
Departure time: 22/12/973 P.C. - 14:34
Arrival location: Old Elm tavern, village of San Paurizio in Sanchiria, one mile southwest of Corlona.
Arrival time: 23/12/973 P.C. - 18:24
Distance traveled: approximately 37 miles
Weather conditions: Max T. 63.1 F - Min T. 37.9 F - clear with scattered clouds.

After Radios' attack, Viryl and Anker did not delay for long before leaving Zelfiria: once they had recovered from the fight, they simply bought some pork sandwiches from a kiosk to eat along the way. They walked until late in the evening and stopped at a guest house just beyond the settlement of Orbello on the Vardia, expecting to cross the Vardia gorges the next day.

That afternoon, Anker was in a very bad mood the whole time, kept to himself, and missed the opportunity to ask Viryl for clarification about his past, latching on to what Radios had revealed about him. On the other hand, Viryl seemed to have taken the countdown that now loomed menacingly over him in his stride. It was true that the magic core that Radios had embedded in his chest would have allowed him to find him wherever he fled, but fleeing was not one of the options anyway. It would still be necessary to find what they were looking for as soon as possible.

That evening there was an unexpected development. Just after dinner, Anker received a regional alert on his speculum from a colleague of his, a new recruit who, like him, had been put on the trail of a fallen knight's Exoplion. His team had succeeded in the recovery, but then they had been attacked by the anarchists. One of the two was dead, while the other, the author of the alert, Geltram Roncistelli of Torre Castagna in Leapoli, had escaped and was on the trail of the attackers.

Keeping a safe distance, he had managed to follow them for a stretch of the main road to Corlona, but then he had lost them. It was reasonable to assume that, considering how that main road branched, the base of the criminal group was somewhere in Further Sanchiria, if not in the chaotic capital (Corlona) itself. Therefore, the alert called to arms all the available Knights of Ferlonia deployed in the province to an inn in a small village just outside the city to organize and start the investigation. Geltram found himself without means of transport one day's walk from Corlona, so the meeting was set for the late afternoon of the 23rd of the month of Dodrestes, which happened to be the following day.

Anker showed the alert to Viryl, who seemed only lukewarmly interested. The anarchists might have noticed Geltram and taken that road specifically to throw him off their scent. Anker observed that if they had realized he was still alive, they would have had the means to turn back and finish the job. In any case, Viryl felt that while he was looking for his contact, an undertaking that would prove difficult, it would not hurt Anker to collaborate with his colleagues to explore the new lead.

After this discussion, the companions went to bed and set off at dawn. Crossing the Vardia gorges was not entirely easy, as it involved following a rough path full of jumps and hairpin bends. The comfortable and "official" route to cross the Sanchirian Veils mountain range was the Short Man's pass, much further east, well beyond the Horn of Ghorou, which would have lengthened the journey by more than a day, so it would not have been a convenient detour.

Once past the gorges, the hills sloped down into increasingly lower hills, cultivated with olive groves and vineyards, between which the Vardia River snaked, until they reached the valley of the Lona River, where the tributary flowed into it. Around noon, the rural path opened onto a paved road, parallel to the main road to Corlona, which reached the city from the south. Satisfied with the progress they had made, the duo indulged in a rustic grilled fish lunch at a tavern for travelers on the banks of the river.

After a good hour, they resumed their journey and reached the inn where the Knights of Ferlonia had arranged to meet in the evening.