Guida grumbles at having to do this, but unsure of whether the fire triggers a spell or whether they need to witness the smoke somehow, and so how big the fire needs to be, she'll go back to hack a few branches off a tree in order to have enough wood and she'll fly back.
She places the green wood in the fire pit. Roll INt+survival to get it started, target of 9
She rolled a 6. Specialty of mountain was not calculated. Does that require a confidence point, or can that be solved with additional time?
It will require a confidence point.
Seeing as I'm surviving the Griffin with some confidence left, she will spend a point, yes.
The fire starts and smoke quickly rises from the green wood. Moments later the side of the mountain opens up and a pair of grogs gesture you inside.
Guida hurries inside, happy to get out of the cold.
You spend the next three days in the covenant, surrounded by strange magi you are not accustomed to who seem to forget that you do not have Parma to shield you from the Gift, and that you have to rely on your own sense of civility and ability to handle your emotions to not react. You get a handful of silver from delivering the messages and are given a new set of letters- you should stop somewhere between here and the next covenant to sort through which ones go where and if any of them go elsewhere on your route, though the alternative is simply to bring them back to Harco when you are done with the route and let them get sorted and sent from there, or maybe the copper rooster.
While there is a definite air f hospitality and even joviality the covenant does not involve you with any of their concerns and goings one beyond the sharing of a few lighthearted stories and of course the endless questions about what is going on other places.
The cold almost feels welcome after three days of Gifted comradery, and you get to see a fair amount of their underground covenant and the remarkable stone artistry that helped form it. They let you out of the eastern "gate" where you see another circle of blue stones, and are told the village of Prato Borni lies 2 miles north- some of the covenfolk go there for church when the weather is passable.
Guida will sort the letters prior to leaving the covenant. She will also ask the covenant to put a landmark sufficiently tall next to both blue rock circles so it can be seen after a snowfall - or to shovel their lawn so that visiting redcaps don't need to guess where it is in the valley.
"We don't normally get a redcap this early in the winter, we'll do better in the future."
The weather has gotten colder and the snow deeper while you were in the covenant. Your heavy winter clothes barely feel as if they are providing any warmth.
Feeling the intense cold, Guida has an inkling of an idea why they don't usually get a redcap this early in the winter. From here, how close are the possible stops?
There is a town 2 miles north of here as noted, from there it is 20 miles to a main valley running through the Alps, which must be traveled to another pass which leads to Kander. Total over 50 miles. There are otherwise sporadic settlements through the route though avalanches and other natural events render the information of their exact locations suspect.
Guida will head towards Kander.
Is she flying over towns, walking...
She'll fly if there's no sign of civilization nearby, but will otherwise walk.
Important to note that given the way the valleys twist and the often small villages that this approach will have her either flying or landing within sight of several villages.
Sounds like I can't fly easily. Very well, walking it is for now.
You walk for 11 miles through the nearby village and on to Chouson, where you arrive just before dinner, passing first the small houses of shepherds and goatherds, before getting to the middle of town which is dominated by a church and manor attached one to the other.
Guida will look for a place to eat for dinner and sleep in after such a long walk.
You enter the small town but can find no inn or tavern.