On the plus side, it had warmed up somewhat since the caravan had started descending down the mountain, and some of the guards and Guadel who'd made the trip before had started talking about what the lowlands were like. All of the younger members of the caravan, whether guards, Daughters or gurra tenders, had created mental checklists of the various signposts they would see along the way, and eagerly marked each off as they encountered it. The fact that they would be entering an entirely different world hadn't truly sunk in for Va'del until the caravan had arrived at the way cave with the Guadel family and small detachment of guardsmen tasked with watching the mountainside for groups trying to scale the cruel slopes. The way cave had been too small to accommodate such a large group, so most of them had spent a cold night in their emergency tents, all too painfully aware of the fragile bubble of warmth and light just a score of feet from them. The entire caravan seemed to be restless to arrive, eager to return to, or become acquainted with, a place where warmth was the rule rather than the carefully guarded exception.
