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<span class="mu-s"><span class="mu-b">Winner:</span></span> Leave the missive in his office.
Once everything is settled, you depart.
Despite its name, no road leads to the Road Beneath. One might think that a shortcut beneath the Briarcrown that avoids the conflict-laden Ivylands would deserve a road all of its own, that merchants might take advantage of the time saved in bringing goods across the border. Yet only a few have any desire to brave the labyrinthine tunnels beneath the mountains. Enough to leave a trail of well worn wagon tracks from the caverns to the Lilyroad. Too few by far for it to merit the cost of construction and maintenance for even an unpaved dirt path.
The reason for this is twofold. The first, and most obvious of these is the Lilystem, a gentle and navigable river that flows north from the waters of Lake Lilien. It meanders across the northern reaches of Sonnenblume until it briefly dips into Primrose before flowing into the Ivylands, where it merges with the Ivystem. A riverboat on its own can carry as many goods as a full caravan of waggoneers, with a lesser risk of banditry than taking a dirt path through the wilderness. That makes the Lilystem the most economical means of bringing Rosarian goods into Sonnenblume territory.
The Road Beneath might have a niche as the route preferred for lightweight goods of high value, where a single wagon moving swiftly might profit as much on its own as an entire caravan. The need for specialists in navigating the labyrinthine halls rules that out, however, for there is little value in an expensive good that does not reach the market at the opportune moment. Louise has experienced once before how easily even veteran navigators can lose their way in those tunnels, chasing Rosarians back to their homelands during the annual border clash that has almost become a sport.
Thus only desperate men who think themselves clever take the Road Beneath. Them, and folk who do not mind taking their time and braving the beasts that call the labyrinth their home.
Right now, you're roughly two days out from Liliendorf, another day until you reach the Road Beneath by your best estimation. Your men-at-arms surround a small wagon train carrying the supplies the Earl purchased for the journey, with the Earl himself sitting in the gonne seat of the wagon Damien volunteered to drive. You have elected to stretch your legs for the past half mile, after a long ways in the saddle, patrolling up and down the wagon train. Distaste for horseback riding is one of the many reasons you prefer to fight on your own two feet, though you can join the cavalry when you must.
"Hnnnnnnnnnnnng-ah~!" Hilde makes a sleepy sounding noise from the driver's seat of her mobile workshop. Her arms stretch up into the air, giving her whole upper body a motion that catches the eyes of the menfolk around her. "Is anyone else getting a little sleepy?"
