Contents
71 North
Overview
Tunuva and Canthe reach devastated Hróth and pursue Wulfert Glenn’s trail into the Barrowmark, where they find mass plague deaths and abandoned carts. Pressing on through endless daylight and lethal cold, they reach the Vathuld Pass and choose to continue east into the cold wilds, deepening their commitment and peril.
Summary
Arriving in Hróth, Tunuva sees a burned city and a slain wyrm stripped for parts beneath the Hraustr hall. Canthe, having learned in Eldyng that Wulfert Glenn rode into the wilderness with a housecarl, equips them with Hróthi gear and leads at speed along the ancient amber road through icy forests and rivers under a sun that never sets.
As they near the Barrowmark, signs of disaster grow. They first find scattered bodies with axes, then an unending tally of plague dead, carts of corpses abandoned by the roadside. At a frozen lake, Tunuva breaks ice for water and discovers a half-preserved corpse trapped in the freeze, a chilling emblem of how swiftly death has overtaken the land.
Relentless riding carries them northeast to a tall ridge and finally to the Vathuld Pass, where Hróth ends and the cold wilds begin. Canthe offers Tunuva a last chance to turn back, but Tunuva—driven by the need to find Wulf to reach Siyu—chooses to press eastward despite the cold and the plague-strewn path.
Who Appears
- Tunuva MelimWarrior tracking Wulf through Hróth; witnesses plague devastation and chooses to continue east into the Vathuld Pass.
- CantheGuide and linguist; gathers intelligence in Eldyng, secures supplies, leads the ride across the Barrowmark toward the Vathuld Pass.