You sigh. "The Expedition has fulfilled its mission," you concede. "It's time to return home."
Some of the tension goes out of the room at your words. "I'm glad we're in accordance," Sir Joerg says. "Our attention must turn to our return trip, then." He unrolls a map and weighs down the corners with your steins.
"Our path here worked, but we left a lot of trouble in our wake," Snorri says. "The Chaos Dwarves would have had time to collate reports about the steam-wagons and consider what it would take to set up an ambush, the Plotter-daemons are undoubtedly up to something, and the Iron Wolves would have had plenty of time to consider the wreckage we left behind and whether they consider themselves capable of taking us on, should we return. And not least of which..." He jabs a finger at the ascent between Zorn Uzkul and the Steppes. "Gotrek would have been able to give hard numbers, but my gut is telling me that we'll lose at least one steam-wagon to that corner."
"And even if we don't, the Iron Wolves would have to be imbeciles not to realize how perfect an ambush position it would be," Sir Ruprecht says, "since we have to either disembark and unload and then reembark and reload each one, or risk the crew and contents of each. I'd pit us against any Kurgan impromptu ambush with confidence, but I don't want to know what they might have come up with, with near a month to plot and plan and prepare."
"I was under the impression that the only other route was shelved for good reason," you say cautiously.
"Damn good reason, and one we can largely work around now that we know the terrain," Snorri says. "We go south to Dolgan land, load ourselves down to the gunwales with cows, then skirt the edge of the Wastes until we reach the mountains. That way we minimize time spent in the Chaos Wastes and in Kul territory, which the original route didn't."
"Okay, walk us through the entire route, then," you say.
"These mountains," he says, pointing to the northernmost spur of the World's Edge Mountains, north of Uzkulak. "We know there's navigable passes through them, and navigable by the original plans of the Expedition, before we had the fogs to ease our passage. There's also beasts that lurk them, but as far as our scouting revealed, no worse so than around the ascent."
"And the sea?" you prompt.
"The Frozen Sea, as well-named as it could possibly be. Apart from the Icebreaker-led convoys to and from Uzkulak, all there is to encounter is seals and ice crabs."
"It can hold our weight?" Sir Ruprecht asks dubiously.
"The Chaos Dwarves need to use fire sorcery and leashed daemons to weaken the ice enough that their dreadnoughts can break through it. Our steam-wagons won't even make it creak."
"Then through the Goromadny via Black Blood Pass, I take it?" Sir Joerg asks, and Snorri nods. "Controlled by the Baersonlings, but they are far from the worst of the Norscans. They send traders south as often as they do raiding parties. At the southern end of the pass is Fort Straghov, which tends to rise and fall with the seasons - it's a precarious position because it's only connected to Kislev proper by a chain of forts and Ungol villages, but it's also the first warning Kislev tends to get of invasion from the north, so they do their best to keep their grip on it. From there, Fort Kaminski and Fort Ostrosk along the Tobol, and overland via Iaryn and Dushyka to Praag."
"It's a more direct route, but one that is largely without roads," Sir Ruprecht says. "Under normal circumstances, the route we took would likely still be faster. With the fog-path, though... Dame Weber, your thoughts?"
You consider the map thoughtfully. It's the
Rite of Way that could make the original route faster and possibly safer than the one the Expedition took here, and so your words here will probably tip the scales one way or the other. Known dangers versus a bevy of unknowns is an unenviable choice, but it's one that you're in a position to make.
[ ] Road of Skulls
Stick to the same route for the return trip that you took to get here.
[ ] Frozen Sea
Return via the route the Expedition was originally planning to take.
[ ] Demur
Avoid tipping the scales one way or the other, leaving the choice in the hands of Snorri, Joerg, and Ruprecht.
- There will be a one hour moratorium.
- The Road of Skulls route took four weeks. The Frozen Sea one seems like it would take two to three.
- I won't be in the thread as frequently as usual over the next two or three weeks, so if you have a question, ask the rest of the thread first. A lot of things have already been answered and there's usually somebody who can dig it up.
