Turn 26A -- Garth to the Rescue

Taking the last bite of the hard travelling cake that he was eating for his breakfast, Garth adjusts his backpack and begins another days journey. The stout dwarf from the Northern mountains has come to the valley of Haranshire on his never ending quest to spread the word of the Lady Selune. Trying to make his way to Milbourne up from the south, he has set off through the Patchwork Hills in an effort to save time.

"Great idea, Garth. Save time. These Hills are slowing me down to a crawl," he says softly to himself. "At least they do remind me of my homeland..." He trails off as he tops another hill. The sight of the sun rising over the treetops in the east momentarily takes the young dwarf's breath away, "It is a beautiful valley anyway."

Marching north along the hills, Garth quickly becomes aware of how they got their name as the ground is very mottled and patchy, not unlike a patchwork quilt. Off to his right can be made out the Terraces, the area of the hills used for farming. The Terraces were carved from the northern escarpment nearly a century ago. They are cut in layers, each some fifty yards wide, with the next terrace lying some twenty to forty feet below, accessed by steps cut into the rock. From what he has heard from the locals to the south, the soil here is surprisingly good for farming, excellent for roots and green vegetables. Oddly enough, there appear to be no farmers up on the terraces today.

Coming down the slope of a rather large hill, Garth stops in his tracks as he is greeted by an all too familiar sound, that of combat! Apparently to the north and west of his current position there is a rather large battle going on. The smoke of what appears to be a campfire rises over the hill as he listens to the clang of sword against sword and cries of pain.