Edwin effectively blocks the exit, and a couple cower in the corner. «There is nothing more to take,» they whimper. «You took all there was the day before.» It sounds as if they weep, but the light that enters the room is too dim to be sure.
Those who look around outside will see that one cottage has burnt down recently, and there are some other scorch marks too, here and there. Two fences have been run down, with some hasty repairs on one of them. Perceptive eyes (12+) may see another villager peaking from a window, but other than the couple cornered by Edwin, the villagers are either gone, dead, or pretending to be so.
"Do not worry, we are not raiders. We have managed to avoid the carnage that caused so many dead near here. Are you injured at all? Can I help with any wounds?" Edwin tries his best to sound reassuring.
«No, nobody is injured,» they say. They get slowly to their feet while glancing around. «Who are you, then?» they ask, looking at Edwin, and ignoring the magus in the doorway.
"The estate I work for had been wrecked by raiders, so I gathered what I had and came north, only to discover the results of a massive battle and the local lord's men harrying any survivors."
«Why would you go North? That's where the war has gone now. Not a good place to make a living. I have heard that peace is coming to the South.»
Edwin notices that they are glancing towards the empty larder. The door is broken and unhinged, as if someone took an axe to it.
(EDIT)
All of you, looking around in different places and different ways, see evidence of the village being raided. There is little structural damage; it is not as if the raiders have attempted to sack it. The raiders have not been gentle though, and cellars and larders are broken open. Footprints suggest an army passing through. It is good that you have provisions for almost a week, if the land ahead has been plundered like this. Will a week be enough, though?
"Thank you. We just need to avoid the armies and try and find our allies."
Edwin goes outside to speak to the others. "It seems the armies have taken every scrap of food. We need to decide on a direction to head in, and keep going until we get outside the area destroyed by war. Should we head north and risk meeting armies, or another direction?"
Luciu shrugs. "Avoiding armies is good, but getting out of reach of Wulfric is the most important thing. Wherever we need to go to do that, that's what I'd vote to do."
“We should move north and seek our Diedne enemies. This war is not over until we destroy every one of them and their allies. Let’s camp here and move on tomorrow. May be the Roman wall would make a good base to operate from?” States Janus
The magi probably know that there is or has been a covenant on Hadrian's Wall, towards the East. Whether they survive or not, you do not know. There also used to be one in the Lake District; probably better defended since the hoplites have used it as a rally point. Those are really the only locations you know that might remotely resemble safe havens, if you do not want to turn South. The land is, of course, open ahead of you; war torn, as you know, but there must be oases and magic auras somewhere ...
"North it is. The covenant I used to serve is ashes, the vis sources despoiled by Diedne. There is no point heading back in the direction of the White Horse."
Edwin looks to the magi for guidance.
"Of course, if you wish to try finding a place in a town or a village to regroup, I can use my knowledge of the land to help."
Luciu says, "Let's go to Hadrian's Wall first. There is also a place in the Lake District, but that is more likely to be the site of active battle. I don't fully understand what's going on in this village, I don't speak the language, but if these people are starving, invite them to come with us. We can't provide a feast, but we can at least offer them basic sustenance, and when we seek to settle down, it will be helpful to have them along. Janus, if you wish to pursue war, I'm afraid we'll have to part ways. I do seek to examine battlefields, but not to fight on one, I am neither soldier nor hoplite."
You see a couple of villagers crawling out of their hiding places to watch you, warily, at a distance, and from behind fences and corners, but visible enough to make it clear that the village is not deserted, just in a bad shape. Nobody disturbs the party who discuss their plans in the village square.
You have spent enough time in the general area that you know that there is a main road going to the Wall, not too far from the covenant¹. The question is, do you want to follow the main road, or will you seek the shelter of the forests and keep away from people?
¹ Northumbria lore + OoH Lore + Int of 15+ to know anything else about how to locate the covenant.
Edwin tries to remember the route, furrowing his brow as he remembers what the redcaps told him.
(My Area Lore: Northumberland and OoH Lore are both specialised appropriately, so I got a 13 on my roll - Edwin spends a point of confidence to remember something)
The main road leads to Wallsend or Tynemouth, where Newcastle will grow up when a new castle is built in 1080. There is also a Roman road branching off and leading to Corbridge. Castrum Antiquum was said, before the War, to reside in a turret on the wall about midway between the two ancient forts, a little closer to Corbridge than Wallsend. There have been rumours about fierce attacks from beyond the wall, Giants and Picts, and you don't know what.
Your current location is roughly a day's march West of York, as far as Edwin can tell, so heading East or North East you should find the main road within a day or two. The distance from York to Corbridge is less than a hundred miles, but still easily ten days with wagons. The distance between the two forts on the wall is twenty-odd miles, thinks Edwin, but he suspects rough terrain, so it could take as much as three days on foot, and thus more than a day from Corbridge to the turret, and with the wagons, who knows?
Edwin relays what he knows.
"So if we head east, we can join the main road near York. If you need any supplies from a city, that would be our last chance. Then it would be ten days up the road to the wall, and then we need to find the turret where the covenant is, which be at least another day."
The grogs have listened to Edwin's information, and, looking around to make sure that they do not interrupt any of the magi, Arnold puts in. «Ten days you say, Edwin, plus some maybe. We have provisions for about six days, maybe seven. If we do not manage to buy something, we will have to forage, before we get to the Wall.»
Janus replies “This war will find us once our enemy know where we settle. When it does you can run and hide if it suits you, Flambau will stand and fight to defend our own people and our Order. You can examine the aftermath if you like.”