Kulkav smiles as the throng put aside their personal intentions, in favor of shared hope.

"I have run from these goblins. They are not terribly slow, but if I could escape them in this armor, they could not keep up with an unencumbered lowlander. So, we will march away together into the hills, where we can remain unseen, and help each other survive. The horses will ride around our flanks, to give advance notice of approaching bands.

Malthos, Vlorah, Elias, and Demonbane: I will trust you with my life. You will be four of our scouts."

"You," he adds, pointing to the man who had tried to put his wife and child on one of the horses, "will be our final scout. The remaining five horses will be kept in reserve, to allow extended hard riding by our scouts. As for the rest of us, the weak," he emphasizes, gesturing toward the wife and child, "shall be our vanguard- the strong shall push them from behind. We march to Star Spire- I know the land in that direction, and they may have better defenses for us to work with. Now, scouts, saddle up and ride! My people, MARCH!"

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I'm presuming that there is a reasonable amount of hilly terrain south of Beluvah, since it's fairly uncommon for plateaus and mountains to start from nothing. Hopefully, this would give the group cover from any approaching bands. Since the more mountainous terrain stretches to the east and south, I would presume an approach from the north would not be too hard for the civilians to make, if pushed and aided by someone who knows the mountains?