| 408 The pain spreading from the side of your head and your left shoulder tells you profoundly that you are still alive. Lying under a pile of leaves and broken branches you try and move your arms, but you are so pummelled by the ferocity of the storm that you must lay still for a moment and recover. (Take the number of your dice throw and subtract it from your endurance points. This is the amount of harm you have suffered from the blow to your side. If you are already low in endurance points do not reduce the number of your endurance points below 1 however. This blow has caused you harm but it is not enough to kill you.) The falling branch has struck a painful blow but luckily has done no permanent damage. Looking out through the mass of twigs and leaves you can see that the storm has passed. You cannot have been out for too long though, the storm is still dumping rain upon the plains but its black heart has moved away to the south. Struggling to your feet you lean against the mangled, smoking remains of the Oak and search out your horse. For a moment you cannot see her and a note of panic creeps into your voice as you call out, trying to ascertain where she is. You get no response. Holding your side you walk out onto the plain and call again. All about you the ground is littered with broken wood, piles of leaf litter and slushy heaps of smashed hail. Within this desolation you cannot see her. But then you hear a welcoming neigh from the other side of the stand of trees. Pallenten bursts from the other side of the grove and comes to your side, she seems genuinely happy to see that you have survived. After finding your gear you give her a quick rub down then remount and continue on. In the aftermath of the storm the air is cool and heavy with moisture. Pallenten has shrugged off any stiffness she may have had, and again races across the plains without any sense of fatigue or fading. You think to yourself that if you ever survive this quest you will have a great tale to tell of her stamina and courage. All you have to do is survive for the telling. As afternoon slowly turns to evening you find the open plains and scattered forest give way to an area of low grass-covered hills. If you were on course these hills should have been much farther to your west, but the weather has obscured the mountains and you appear to have veered too far westwards. Your plan had been to try and make it to Melem's Fork for the night. The folk there are well-known for their hospitality and you have a number of friends who would provide you with a comfortable bed. If you are too far to the west then nothing will be gained by trying to make the village however. It will be too far out of your way. On sunset your suspicions are confirmed, you cross the west road between Melem's Fork and the ancient Ring of Stones, but you are indeed too far to the west. The village lies a good three hours to the east and is now too far to go. You will need to consider a different place to spend the night.
| The Ring of Stones lies roughly an hour to the west. It provides both a good place to camp plus fresh water for Pallenten. If you would like to camp there turn to section 257. If instead you would prefer to travel further south and find a campsite on the plains turn to section 413.
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