Struggling and with great effort, you manage to hide behind a rocky outcrop a bit upstream from the place where the sewage stream meets with the river. Although it’s not ideal, it should keep your location obscure for a little while, and there are plenty of rocky handholds for the Avidar woman keep herself afloat. Shakily, she latches onto a boulder, still clearly too terrified of the situation to talk.
“Listen,” you say. “I’m going to try to get to that boat on the other side of the river. I’m exhausted, but I think I can make it and get us out of here. But it’ll take me a while to get there and back, so I need you to stay right here, in the water, even though you’re scared. Can you do that?”
Her pleading violet eyes are locked onto yours, and she is clearly scared of the water, but slowly and deliberately, she nods. She pulls herself tight to the rock, and closes her eyes.
You take a moment to rebuild your stamina, breathing heavily. It is then that you notice a large, thick branch has fallen near the bank of the river a few yards away. You swim over to it, pulling it fully into the water. To your great relief, it’s actually quite buoyant. But, even more fortunately, it also has several smaller branches which are still covered in leaves.
Using the branch both as a float and as a simple means of cover, you swim out towards the middle of the river, which quickly grows painfully cold as you approach the middle. You suspect it is quite deep. The progress is slow, but it allows you to get a much clearer view of the situation at the keep. Several small groups of Durnitaur guards are now combing the area around the keep, working their way down towards the river. You count at least two dozen guards in total. You also notice that, without exception, the larger Durnitaurs are the ones giving the orders to the smaller ones.
Looking towards the Avidar woman, you can only barely make out her position. Thankfully, she seems well concealed.
After what seems like an eternity of paddling, you paddle yourself onto an area overhung by brush the opposite shore a few hundred yards downstream from the boat. Your entire body feels as if it is on fire, and for a few moments, you can barely move. Recovering on the shore, you look into the sky. You notice that it has grown considerably darker since you left the keep, and you suspect it will only be another hour or so before evening falls.
With great effort, you pull yourself up and into the woods, hoping to make your way towards the boat unseen. As you approach, however, you hear voices. Cautiously, you move closer.
In a small clearing, probably hidden from the river, you see two men with significant goat horns and long billygoat beards—male Avidars, you assume—tending a small fire. They are cooking tiny fish, and talking quietly to one another. They have fishing poles and small nets. After a few moments, you notice that they are also passing a large jug of wine between them.
Do you: Approach them and tell them you need their help; or try to sneak around them and get to the boat?
