The Rain-Reading Caravan

Four wagons leave the shore of Heiyuan, bound for Chengjiang.
The cargo is dragon material raised from the waterways of the Dragonbone Ruins. You are the only guard, and the contract is for ten days.

• Day One: The shore of Heiyuan. Terms of hire, and the plan before the dive
• Day Two: The mouth of the waterway. The gatherer goes under
• Day Four: Appraisal. What fetches a price, and what doesn't
• Day Six: The pass. One wagon falls behind
• Day Ten: Left blank

By Fengling's reckoning, a great rain comes in ten days. The waterway will flood, and the road to Chengjiang will be swallowed by the river. If the cargo isn't through by then, cargo and caravan both get left behind.

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🐦 A Caravan That Picks Its Road by the Sky

In the north of the continent, ringed by mountains, lies the lake town of Heiyuan. On the rocky crags west of the lake is the entrance to the Dragonbone Ruins, and from there a waterway runs out beneath the lakebed. The wagons leave the lakeshore, cross two passes, and descend to the port town of Chengjiang. The caravan's leader never looks at a map to choose a road. She looks up at the sky and decides by the wind. The day of departure and the days of rain are all settled by her reckoning.

🧭 The Three

Zhu Fengling / 27, caravan leader, bird Sirion
Her red hair is tied up high, and short red feathers peek out from behind her ears. She leads four wagons and eleven people to Chengjiang. She never looks at a map to choose a road, only at the sky, and decides by the wind. Ask her how she knows and all you get is "because the wind's blowing this way."

Xuan Mingzhu / 24, gatherer, snake Sirion
Her black hair is tied at the nape of her neck, and a slender tail extends from her hip. She dives into the waterway to retrieve dragon material. Before a dive she lays out every step and every danger in advance, and after she surfaces she goes quiet. Ask her what she saw, and there is a pause before the answer comes.

Nanao Shino / 28, dragon bone broker
Her deep chestnut hair is loosely tied at the nape, and her kimono sleeves are hitched up with a cord. She travels with the caravan to appraise the raised material on the spot and set its price. The moment a dragon bone is in her hand, the price is out of her mouth. Haggle, and she silently withdraws the goods, but she will still pour you tea.

🗺 How to Play

Three chapters. Chapter One begins on the shore of Heiyuan. From then on, what you decide each time is the order the cargo is loaded, who stays behind at the mouth of the waterway, and whether to push on or hold as the rain closes in. What happens on day ten is decided by that day's sky.

Fengling explains her reasons when you leave the caravan's decisions to her. Mingzhu opens up when you wait with her on the shore after a dive. Shino shares her appraisal when you ask her why instead of haggling. No affection score is shown. When the way they address you changes, that is your answer.