| 357 As you look out over the expanse of the marshes before you, you consider which will be the best way to go. The way south around the wetlands is the best route if you wish to avoid any possible trouble. Previous travels in those parts has shown you that it is a wild, uninhabited place, fraught with its own dangers, but for those who know the traps and difficulties it can be a safe passage. Following the northern boundary of the marshes however, is a more direct route. There is more chance of encountering Kalboreans, especially the bandit gangs that sometimes infest the abandoned settlements that can be found here. At this time of year is it unlikely though, the encroaching cold of winter tends to send them scurrying for the warmth and shelter of the larger towns and cities to the south. You decide that your best course of action is to follow the northern boundary. Flicking Pallenten's reins you move off, following the contours of the wetlands and keeping to the more stable ground a stone's throw from the edge of the marshes. You find the soft earth no impediment for Pallenten and she moves through the sometimes treacherous terrain with ease. With the Faeron Marshes passing quickly on your left shoulder you can find no sign of recent human activity, it is a lonely part of the world, devoid of the sounds you can usually hear as you travel. It is however, full of the remains of settlements, small villages and isolated homesteads, all testament to the attempts men have made to settle the edges of these wetlands. The ferocity of the weather and the strange way the marshes spread and recede have ensured the failure of every enterprising family that has tried to live here. Always the marshes would win, time was on its side. With Pallenten set on her course you check your horizons. The storm you noticed before has built up dramatically, an ominous dark wall of towering cloud and rain. It is now moving your way.
| Turn to section 334.
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