The river crossing at Thornfield was everything Sakh'arran's maps had promised and nothing the Threian military had prepared for.
The settlement sat where the River Ashwell bent sharply westward, creating a natural ford where the water ran shallow across a bed of smooth stone. A stone bridge, old and solid, spanned the deeper channel north of the ford, connecting the settlement's eastern and western halves. The terrain on the eastern bank rose gently to a ridge that provided clear sight lines across the river and the farmland beyond. The western bank was lower, flatter, bordered by orchards whose ordered rows offered concealment but also channeled movement.
