Note: New map, “Caravan Trail” on map page.

Day 1 – Leave Selenica on caravan trail. Pass through farmland, then vineyards. Camp at the edge of the hills.

Day 2 – 5. Up into the rugged, wooded hills along the caravan path. Clouds and frequent mists.

Day 6. At an intersection of the caravan trail with a dwarven road, the party finds a dead mule, and follows a trail to where a dwarven noble, his party assaulted and his guards killed by goblins, lies exhausted and with a sprained ankle. They bury his companions and he agrees to accompany them to Ylaruam City, where he can recruit guards or find another caravan to take him to Selenica (his destination). By the end of the day, the caravan has passed the high point of the caravan trail and is beginning to descend.

Day 7 -9. Down the caravan trail. The farther along, the drier it gets. Forests give way to stands of scrub, then trees are lost altogether. On the last day, the steep mountain walls flanking the trail open up, and before them are open grassland slopes all the way down to the floor of the desert. The native Ylaruai (who work as porters, haulers, and teamsters) celebrate.

Day 10, 11. Down the caravan trail through the grasslands of Makistan.

Day 12. The caravan arrives at the walled town of Parsa, Makistan. The caravan proper camps outside. Haldimar, the merchant master, enters and barters for provisions and the right to fill waterskins at local wells and springs. Bhelgarn the dwarf considers trying to find a group returning west, for his ankle is by now fine. Hazrad counsels him that Parsa is not a safe city for a solitary dwarf, and he will have better luck continuing on to Ylaruam City and finding a return caravan there.

Day 13-15. Crossing the open sands between Parsa and Sulba. There is no longer a clear route, and Haldimar and Hazrad both work to keep the caravan headed in the right direction.

Day 16. Haldimar orders Morgan to take a party ahead and scout a small oasis he has seen. Morgan chooses Hazrad, Bhelgarn, Thrud, Ember, Wolfbane, Iris, Odleif, Jon, and FluffyKitten. Hope she asks to stay with the caravan for the moment. The group is halfway back when a sandstorm strikes. By the time the storm lifts, there is no sign of either the caravan or the oasis. Whole dunes have been shifted by the massive winds, and there are no familiar landmarks. Hazrad attempts to lead the group, but by the end of the day there still has been no sign of the caravan.

Day 17. After breakfast the group is without food or water, except for the salted herring. Hazrad has given up on finding the caravan, and is attempting to lead them in the direction of Sulba.

Day 18 – 19. The group travels through the desert, seeing nothing but sand, sky, sun, and stars. The songbird dies. The cats grow delirious. If they do not find water by the end of the next day, some of them will begin to die.