Disdainfully he sniffed the cold winter air. They had been laboring through the snow covered forest for two days now and according to his sense of location, they where still a three days forced march from Iron Hold. It was rare too see this much snow, even as far north as they had come.
   The snow didn’t bother him, though it was hard on their horses and it slowed their progress significantly. During spring, they would have reached Iron Hold more than two weeks ago. Then again, in spring there would have been plenty of traders making the trip, as the roads were clear and the King’s soldiers were patrolling the realm. More traders meant a higher influx of goods into the North and more goods meant lower prices.
   So he was quite content to be making the journey now, though their cargo would have secured them a substantial profit even come spring. But… a maiden in the hay was better than an old hag far away, as the popular tavern saying went.
   He sighed. The air smelled clear, without a trace of horses or wood smoke. They hadn’t encountered any bandits so far, apart from the two street urchins who tried to get into their saddle bags back in Midbridge. Nevertheless, he stayed vigilant. Only fools ventured this far north in the winter without an escort. Whether they were fools was heavily debated among those who knew them, yet they felt comfortable with the risks they sought.
   Patiently, the man stroked his horse’s neck and whispered some encouraging words into the beast’s ear. The quiet crunch of hooves on snow announced the arrival of his companion and the other and only member of their little trading enterprise, Pedro Nonius.
   He was sitting on a magnificent destrier in a tailor-made fur cloak which he had wrapped tightly about himself. With his left hand he tugged on a rope, which brought two pack mules to stand beside him. In comparison to the large warhorse, the mules looked little more than two closely-cropped dwarven ponies.
   “What do you think, John? Are we alone?” the other man asked.
   He nodded, then said: “Knock on wood, so far there’s nothing.”
   “Ha!” came the short reply.

"Ah, Light! It's coming straight at us. The trees will not hold! Ride!" and with that they spurned their horses to a break-neck galop through the deep snow away from the thundering masses of snow which had begun to break trees on the treeline as if they were toothpicks.

Nonius yanked on the guide for the pack mules, who were struggling to burrow through the snow, where the horses where able to leap.

"Leave the animals!" shouted John, "if they don't make it we can get the goods later!"
"I will not! These are precious investments. I will not leave them behind! Five silvers per animal!" replied a furiously pulling Nonius.
"Stuborn as those mules you are! May the Light sear whatever brains you have left!" with that, he leaped from his horse and helped Nonius pull on the lead animal to hasten it through the knee-deep snow. The rumbling of the avalanche came nearer and both men laboured drenched in sweat on getting both cargo and animals out of it's path.
"Behind that rock there, quickly!" urged Nonius still high on horseback.
They managed to pull the first two animals behind a small outcropping of stone and while the third animal was caught by the flood of snow shooting past on both sides of their shelter, it's lead rope held. After the snows had settled down an instant later they were able to pull the dazed beast from the white mass.

"Well, there you have it. Told you it would be worth it." panted Nonius, who was visibly sweating, despite the below freezing temperatures.

"What about that milk you were talking about? I could use some of that right now." stated an equally out of breath John.

just then, Nonius spiraled into a contained vortex of insanity, or so this seemed to John.  He stared again into the sky and opened his arms in exhaltation.  He then gasped.  He then shouted, "why?"

John then inquired, "Fair friend, what troubles you so greatly on our fair planet?  Please, let an old friend know!"

Nonius then replied, "John, I have known thee through the ages through thick and thin, and I have always tried my best to relay onto you the inner secrets, troubles, and mysteries that I have encountered in my life.  The Mother's Milk is the Mystery of NukFin, and this is a sad day in my life that I realise that I have not let you onto this fertile secret.  The Mother's Milk is the source of all life on our planet, and, without it, you will certainly wither away like a fall flower under the heat of our three suns if you do not attempt to locate it's source.  The Mother's Milk Is the drink of Life, and it is located far North beyong the Range of Inhabitability, yes, my friend, behond the MobPsychians, beyond the Hamiltonians, beyond any other savage walk of life that we know of.  I have heard from a very old man, a man by the name of Corovosia, that this source can lead to immortality, and many more delights, er, yes, well, life is more and less at the same time of a delight, isn't my friend?  Anyway, my goal is to defeat the Bellians and then venture to the north, the great cold north where the three stars of MonkeyAios grace our pink skies in order to guide the great hollow ships of Nonia."