While the gnomes were busy fighting the kobolds, furiously cursing and diligently punching their unwelcome gue

While the gnomes were busy fighting the kobolds, furiously cursing and diligently punching their unwelcome guests right in their dragonish snouts, the cart was all but forgotten. The unwitting cause of the fight, it was being dragged away by the scared ponies when it slid down the ford, sinking all the way up to the coachman's seat in the river. This was where the Skunk River flows into the Tuskwater, and the current becomes excessively spiteful — cold, stubborn, and turbulent. Having taken hold of the gnomes' cart, the Skunk River must have decided to drag it down amid all the commotion, but it was caught in the act.