The party reaches the monastery of chance, where stone gates loom under a sky pricked with restless static. Wind worries the prayer flags, and every footfall seems to land a little differently than expected.
Supernovame steps through the gates with the merchant's daughter and the veteran close behind. The courtyard is quiet, but not still, as if luck itself is holding its breath.
Old Cleric
You come at the right hour, or the wrong one. Around here, those are often the same.
Merchant's Daughter
We need a healer for the road. The map points us somewhere dangerous.
Old Cleric
Then let me see the map, and let chance decide what price your need can bear.
The veteran shifts his grip on his weapon, watching the cleric's hands. Above the courtyard, a bell rope sways once without any wind at all.
The air tingles like a spell waiting to be named.
✓ Quest Accepted
Recruit a cleric at the monastery
“I tell the cleric that we also offer any holy relic or holy book we may find along the way. I wait to see of her decides to join us.”
FAILURE (Poor Persuasion, rolled -1)
Supernovame lays out the offer in careful, measured words, holy relics, holy books, anything sacred the road turns up. The old cleric listens without moving, his hands folded in his sleeves.
Old Cleric
Useful, if you find such things. But offers are not pilgrim’s coin. What do you actually bring me, mage?
The merchant's daughter looks between them, hope tightening into worry. Veteran stays planted beside the path, jaw set, while the monastery stones hold their quiet.
Supernovame
We can bring relics or holy books if we find them.
Old Cleric
Then bring them first. I do not join a promise. I join proof.
He lifts one finger toward a small notice board nailed beside the chapel door. Someone has already pinned a list of offerings, repairs, and debts there, each line more immediate than the last.
Old Cleric
Help the monastery recover what is missing, and we speak again. Until then, your party remains one healer short.
“Is there any other cleric that might join us in the mean time to help us identify what you need?”
SUCCESS (Poor Persuasion, rolled +2)
The old cleric turns from the board and plucks a wax-sealed scrap from the debt list. His thumb taps one line twice, then he folds it into a neat square and hands it down to Supernovame without ceremony.
Old Cleric
There. Brother Halven of the east cloister has the learning you want, and the patience to share it if you ask plainly.
Merchant's Daughter
That name sounds like a door opening.
He adjusts the sleeve of his robe and nods toward the chapel steps, where a side passage curves behind the courtyard wall.
Old Cleric
He keeps a small room in the herb hall while he catalogs donations. Take the passage, knock once, and tell him I sent you.
Veteran
Then we have our healer after all.
The merchant's daughter lets out a breath she had been holding, and the cleric adds one more thing, quieter now.
Old Cleric
If he agrees, he will ask what your party knows of the map before he asks what it costs.
+ New Item Acquired
Folded scrap
“I follow the directions to brother Halven.”
SUCCESS (Fair Agility, rolled -1)
Supernovame folds the note once, then turns and follows the side passage behind the courtyard wall. The stones carry the monastery’s chill, and the herb hall waits ahead.
He reaches a narrow archway marked by drying bundles of sage and rue. Light spills from within, warm and pale against the corridor gloom.
Brother Halven stands over a ledger at a cramped table, sleeves rolled up, sorting roots into small clay cups. He looks up at the sound of footsteps.
Brother Halven
If you have come from the old cleric, speak your purpose plainly.
Supernovame arrives at the threshold, note in hand, with the herb hall and its quiet work fully before him.
Brother Halven
I hear there is a map involved. Show me what you carry, and tell me who is asking.
“We are seeking a healer to help us. We want to form a party and follow the map's path. The old cleric asked us to return with some holy items. He said that you may be able to help keep us alive and identify any holy relics we may find that we can return.”
SUCCESS (Poor Persuasion, rolled +0)
Supernovame
We are seeking a healer to help us. We want to form a party and follow the map’s path.
Supernovame
The old cleric asked us to return with holy items. He said you may be able to keep us alive, and identify any relics we bring back.
Brother Halven
A map, a healer, and relic work. That is not a simple errand, but it is honest work.
Brother Halven
Then speak with purpose, not hope. Show me the map, and I will judge what kind of path this is.
Brother Halven
If the monastery sends you after holy things, I can name them when I see them. If you keep your footing, I can keep your wounds from worsening.
He closes the ledger with one hand and leans in, no longer dismissive. The cups of roots sit untouched now, as if the work can wait for this answer.
Brother Halven
Let me inspect it. If the map bears true markings, I will tell you what the old cleric has asked you to earn.
“Ask the merchants daughter to let him view the map.”
FAILURE (Poor Persuasion, rolled -2)
Supernovame
Supernovame asks to see the map, keeping his tone careful and direct.
Brother Halven
Not for my curiosity. For the cloth over your hands and the steadiness in your eyes.
Brother Halven opens a palm toward the doorway, then toward the table, making the request plain. The herb hall stays quiet, roots and ledger waiting.
Brother Halven
If your merchant's daughter trusts this road, she can lay the map flat herself. I will not lean over a stranger's treasure like a thief.
The words land cleanly. The ask is denied, but not from hostility, more from caution and rules.
Brother Halven
Bring her hand to the page, or tell me why she will not. Either answer teaches me something useful.
“I ask her to talk to him.”
SUCCESS (Poor Persuasion, rolled +2)
Supernovame turns from Brother Halven and angles the request toward the doorway, his voice calm and level.
Supernovame
He wants to see the map with you present.
The merchant's daughter steps in from the hall, fingers tight around the folded cloth. Her gaze flicks to Halven, then to Supernovame.
Merchant's Daughter
If I set it down, you will not touch it first?
Brother Halven
Not unless your hand does.
She exhales, then lays the wrapped map on the ledger table and smooths one edge with a careful palm.
Brother Halven
That answer tells me you are protective, and that the thing is real enough to worry over.
Merchant's Daughter
It is real. And it has cost us enough already.
Halven leans in at last, not over the map, but beside her, waiting for her to choose the next fold.
“I watch”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled +1)
Supernovame keeps his silence and watches the pair with careful stillness, letting the room speak through their hands instead of their faces.
Brother Halven does not reach for the bundle. He watches the merchant's daughter's palm on the cloth, then glances to her knuckles, as if reading the strain there.
Brother Halven
You have carried this more like a burden than a prize. That matters.
Merchant's Daughter
It has been treated like neither. Only chased.
At that, Halven nods once and shifts his weight, giving her the table edge as space, not pressure.
The cloth loosens under her fingers, and a corner of old parchment shows beneath the wrapping, marked with dark lines and a seal-stain.
Supernovame catches the detail at once, a faint notation stamped where the fold breaks, as if the map has been handled by someone who knew exactly what to hide.
Brother Halven
Now open it. Slowly. If the monastery is named within, I will say so, and if it lies, I will say that too.
✓ Quest Accepted
Open the map and learn its contents
“I watch.”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled +2)
Brother Halven takes the wrapped map in both hands and peels back the cloth with careful fingers.
A dark lattice of roads, wells, and ruined markers blooms across the parchment, stitched through with tiny notes in a priestly hand.
Brother Halven
Not a trade chart. A route map, and older than it looks.
He leans closer, tracing one symbol with a gloved fingertip, then stops at the stamped seal stain.
Brother Halven
This seal is from the monastery archives. Someone checked this out before, and did not return it properly.
The Merchant's Daughter tightens her grip on the table edge, while Brother Halven turns the page so Supernovame can catch the margin note.
Brother Halven
It names a place called the Hollow Reliquary. The last line warns, only the deserving find the way back out.
Quest Complete
Obtain the map with answers
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Great→Superb
Quest Complete
Open the map and learn its contents