"The sewer creatures are agitated because of the blood veil. I expect we're going to send squads down sometime in the next few days, but right now we're focusing on the aboveground quarantine."

"...okay, that makes sense. Thank you. In that case, I'm probably going to look for work on a caravan out of Korvosa soon. Is there anything I should know while I'm here?"

The receptionist shakes his head. "I don't believe so."

"Alright. Thank you!"

And now she has a traceable reason to be leaving Korvosa, which has absolutely nothing to do with going to Almas. One less crack for light to creep through.

She spends the rest of the day looking for caravans out of Korvosa. A plague which has a currently active quarantine means people will want to get out, and anyone heading to a nearby trade center with Teleport is a useful possibility. Preferably no more than a week-long trip, but that should leave many options still open. She has demonstrated she can be useful, she can refer them to the Guard to confirm she's capable, and there should be no shortage of demand for travel guards right now.

There are a few caravans leaving Korvosa tomorrow. Among them, two possible destinations stand out to her as trade centers. The dwarven fortress-city of Janderhoff, one hundred and forty miles north. The city of Skelt, officially of Molthune but in practice held by the Nirmathi, one hundred and fifty miles east. Janderhoff has been a reliable trading partner of Korvosa for longer than living memory. The route to Skelt fell into disuse during the Chelish Civil War, but has recently reopened after a successful effort to clear the wilderness, funded by the King only a couple of years ago.

Those both sound like they would work. She rolls a die.

Janderhoff it is. She approaches the caravan traveling to Janderhoff about its plans. Does it need caravan guards? She is a competent sorcerer, she can provide Prestidigitation on the way, and the Korvosan guard can attest to her ability in combat. And she comes at a very reasonable price, not implausibly low but definitely more like a green adventurer than one with a successful substantial operation behind her.

The caravan to Janderhoff is willing to hire her for that price. The group is composed of a little under a dozen dwarves and humans. They leave tomorrow morning and are expecting to arrive at Janderhoff on the 10th.

Sounds good!

She returns home, informs Mother—

<And this is entirely your choice? You are certain?>

<Yes, mother. With the sewers quarantined, there is nothing for me to do here.>

...

<Don't tell me, then. After whatever happens happens, when should I Divine you?> She rolls a die. <Two weeks and eight hours from this moment? What notes should I pick up when you fail?>

<Mother!>

...<Fine, if I'm not back yet. My desk's back left leg, tenth sheet, standard encoding.>

<You know you aren't that good yet, dear.>

<Yes mother thank you mother I know mother.>

(Dear! Progress!)

—and does some preparation before going to sleep. She will need to be awake early tomorrow. Caravans at least have an excuse.

STARDAY, SARENITH 6th, 4708

The newspapers have not yet been delivered when Tencednil leaves her house.

She runs down to the Bank to tell them she's joining a caravan to Janderhoff, and asks them to send along some of her account information — fifty or so gold sails should be enough, she can wait for anything larger than that. After that, down to the caravan!

The Bank will transfer her money for a small fee.

Tencednil has a letter. It's from Anton and Julio. They've sold the black onyx and the crystal for a total profit of a little over three thousand silver shields. Under market rate, but her share has been transferred to her account. They paid someone to defuse the trapped red book. It was indeed Matei's spellbook, which they aren't going to sell, at least right now. The green and grey books probably aren't of interest to her unless she cares about horrible experiments mixing alchemy and necromancy, apparently performed far to the south in Geb.

The caravan is outside the city gates across the bridge from North Point. They're almost ready to leave when she arrives.

Oh good, that money did come in. That will help make sure everything works cleanly. She probably could have worked without it, but it would have been much harder.

She is also ready to leave! She packed (and gathered some extra things) yesterday. Where should she stow her hammock and various utilities? Carrying them herself seems like a silly plan in a caravan.

She can stow her things in the second wagon. They'll be leaving shortly, once everyone is ready.

Stuff stowed! She's ready whenever.

The caravan sets off only a few minutes later. They take a dirt road east away from the city. Tencednil walks alongside the caravan with the other guards. The Mindspin Mountains loom far in the distance ahead of them.

Hours pass. Korvosa's outlying farms spread for miles around the city. They stop for lunch at noon. The city is already small behind them.

Augh why did she get herself in a situation where she would have to walk for miles and miles in the open sun. This was a terrible plan and she is a fool. Misery and woe. How do humans do this voluntarily and regularly to themselves.

(The caravan may notice that Tencednil never appears to be in full sunlight; even with no shadows nearby, she's always slightly shaded. She's actually better off than they would expect from a first-time adventurer out like this, more like they would anticipate on a consistently cloudy day.)

Lunch. Yes. Lunch is a good idea. She can spend her time talking to people and be in the shade and not march under the horrible constant light and heat humans consider indispensable for perfectly boring travel.