Utterly Mad

Well, seeing as this may need a kick to get going...

Few of you slept well in the night, and so you find it difficult to awake this morning. You can see much better in the morning light though, and you find that you have set camp not far from what appears to be an ancient guard house. A low squat building facing the road with a tower attached to it's side. The roof has collapsed long ago.

From your campsite by the side of the overgrown cobble road, you can still faintly hear the noise of the salt river from the direction you came the previous day and the thought of the crossing makes some of you feel nervous at the thought of having to do it again. Your guide claims that the bridge over the river collapsed several years ago.

Speaking of your guide...
As you go about your morning business, your guide approaches you and states that he will not be accompanying you any further. The western men may live along the salt river, but they do not cross it. In recompense though, he unrolls an old skin map and begins giving advice. "My clans shaman claims that in the old days, the road we walk was a trade route." He points out a tiny symbol on the map, your own does not have this symbol, and then points towards the building up ahead.. "This is where we are, one of the old customs houses of the central kingdom. Our shaman claims that guards checked over trade caravans from Gulgatha to be sure that they were not transporting forbidden goods, whatever those may have been." He traces a line on the map, "If you intend to go all the way to the old capital, you will have to pass through Old Hok and Imn, but it is safer to simply go around Imn. It is said that Old Hok is little more than a field of rotting foundations and old bones. Might be fine to go through it." After a moment of thought, he rolls up the map and hands it over. "Now I really must leave, but one last bit of advice: Trust none that you meet on the road. There are no travelers in the central kingdom. When in need, seek out the imperfect. They will know this side of the river better than my people. A few of them are crazed people though, so be wary."