Everyone seemed to be in such a rush. After watching Clint ride off out of town, Grace returned to her original plan of heading north. It had been a rather dull journey, a few monsters here and there, some peddlers, a few highwaymen, and the slowly dropping temperature as she neared the northern ridge had forced her to spend the evenings in some peculiar shelters along the way. The last of which had been a seasonal wolf den. Luckily the owners had not been using it at the time. She had largely avoided any settlements at first, for the weather had been fair and game was easy to find. Now, however, the days were shortening and the frost took longer and longer to melt away under the light of the sun. Small animals were becoming scarce and she was too far north to find any edible vegetation in the thickening forests.

Grace was nearing the base of the northern ridge. Supposedly there was a quest available were she to make it to the top. A temple of some kind was what she was looking for, but she needed to find a guide to get there. Climbing mountains in the winter was dangerous at best, trying to find a temple at the top of such a long, icy ridge in the first throws of winter was suicidal. Grace’s first challenge was to relocate the road she had been avoiding for the past few weeks. After that she did not think it would be too hard to find a village with a capable guide. Though finding one reckless enough to help her up the ridge this time of year might be a bit more difficult.

Walking softly through the light snowfall, Grace slowly began to wake up her senses, which were still dulled by sleep. Hearing was the easiest to awaken, her eyesight was another matter, always being touchy it was. After about an hour of walking, her senses seemed to be in full working order, as well, she had found a road. Or at least a path through the thick woodland that surrounded the northern ridge. She only hoped it led to a respectable town or village and not some sloppily constructed outpost. She’d run into a few of those on her journey and wasn’t exceptionally impressed with the types of ‘people’ she ran into.

Keeping to the edge of the road, Grace followed it’s winding course in her slow, measured steps.