Yeah, a road will be nice. 

The darkspawn might use it too, but... They can keep alert.

Right. Following the road it is.

Maybe this way their boots will get a chance to dry out!

Mud: quite possibly the worst thing about the surface. 

Just wait, she hasn't seen snow yet.

She saw some up on the slope on their way out the mountain. Snowy mud would still be mud, and snow proper can hardly be worse. 

Nnno, no, it can be worse. Mud doesn't often fall from the sky. Or stack up into three-foot drifts.

She'll believe it when she sees it.

No complaining they didn't warn her!

Fair enough. 

What do they have underground instead of mud and snow, then?

Dust and rock, at least outside of the fancier areas - the major parts of the Deep Roads are paved with heavy stones, and most of them aren't too damaged. The rest is more jagged, but still the tunnels are cut straight through rock. Tunnels in dirt don't last, especially wet dirt - in most tunnels, anything that isn't stone is something they or the darkspawn brought in with them. There's tunnels and natural cave systems nearer the surface that have more, and there's water - entire underground rivers - but what few growing things survive there anchor their roots straight into cracks in the rock, or coat it in a soft fuzz like moss - or slime - if there's enough water and nutrients nearby. 

Sounds about like what else she's heard about the Deep Roads. Don't get much weather underground.

It'd be alarming if they did. 

Guess so.

Definitely sounds better than mud... Though hopefully they'll be at the watchtower soon. Lys is looking forward to her bedroll tonight. 

Does stumbling across the desecrated remains of an army patrol boost her spirits any?

Doesn't really worsen it. 

Any survivors? Or signs of where the enemy went? 

No survivors. Nice clear bloody tracks though, the darkspawn obviously didn't care too much about cleaning up after themselves.

Are they likely nearby still? 

The arrow whistling past overhead as she leans down to check the body temperature says yes!

- Source? (She's going to immediately return fire.)

Hiding in the half-withered copse of trees over there, a little bit off the direction the tracks go. Well, the archer(s) remain(s) hidden, some sword-and-board hurlocks emerge to charge the party.