Sit and have beans with the bandits
From Create Your Own Story
You settle yourself by the fire and help yourself to a leftover billy-can of warm beans. You bolt them down, wolfishly. They are thick and foul-tasting, but the meal feels good in your belly. The bandit grins at you stupidly while you eat.
But gradually, her expression shifts from vacant amusement to confusion, and then to something more sour. "What..." she begins, before jabbing a finger at you. "Bloody... sorcerer!"
The second bandit, done with balancing her sword on one finger, leaps forward, clouting you with the hilt of her sword while the other grabs for your pack. You fall to the ground while the two bandits make off with your belongings, your gold, not to mention your pride.
Once you're sure that they've gone, you pick yourself back up on your feet and continue your journey, quite miserable. About half an hour later you reach the start of the climb into the Hills proper, and continue upwards until you reach a fork in the road.
The road splits around the base of a gigantic tree, but does not rejoin on the other side. The left path winds down into a valley. There is a river there, and the path follows the left bank. It is a safer route, secluded and protected, but the curve of the landscape would mean you were almost backtracking. The right path rises up a slope towards the first thick forest of the Hills. It's hard to see much further, the forest is so sudden and thick. It may be hard going in that direction, but the Hills will involve a lot of climbing eventually and you may get a decent view of the next leg form the top of the ridge.
You are about to make your choice when you hear a faint cry from somewhere close at hand.
Do you:
