At around noontime the rain peters out and you come to the walled hamlet of Valam. Drandar and Zanax have been here before, again with Kadlian's party, in the spring of 1371. At that time they were pursuing a caravan which was supplying the evil within the Temple of Tyaa. Valam was a prosperous little trading post located a fork in the road over the Secret Pass. Now, however, hard times have struck. Over the winter it was attacked by humanoids out of the Rockies, its wall breached, and the hamlet sacked. Of the population who did not die in the fighting or flee southwards, the remainder were carried off into the wilderness as slaves or foodstock.
Now, you ride silently through a collection of burnt out buildings and crumbling rubble. Crows rise squawking into the air before you. A few people have returned, and they are trying to rebuild the wall.
In the centre of the hamlet is an intersection. You stop to read the obligatory signpost:
North: To the Diamondmere and Globola.
Southeast: To Carnovy.
Southwest: To Borderland Keep.
It is almost a relief to leave Valam behind.
By the time you stop for the evening you are climbing into the Secret Pass, at the head of the Aas valley. The forest is thickening, and you post watches. You are not molested, though.