Two weeks into mid-Spring, Valornor reaches Haven from the southwest, following game trails through wildlands where hunted meals, sparse forage, and clashes with Foul Folk mark the journey.
Haven rises behind stout timber-and-stone walls, its watch platforms repaired in places and scarred in others. Mixed-race Fair Folk move along the battlements beneath bright council pennants.
Gate Sergeant
Hold there, ranger. Your trail signs and bowwork speak plainly enough. State your business, then enter under Haven's peace.
The guards admit Valornor after a brief inspection. Inside, strained voices carry across the gate square, where townsfolk argue over contradictory watch reports and damage along the western defenses.
A delegation waits beneath the council hall awning: five elected members, including a broad-shouldered dwarf woman with a silver braid, an elderly elf man in blue robes, and three wary figures of mixed Fair Folk heritage.
Councilor Brinna Stonebraid
Ranger, Haven has work for capable eyes and a steady hand. We need facts before fear turns our neighbors against one another.
Councilor Elian Vey
Will you hear what our watches claim, and decide whether any of it concerns you?
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine what threatens Haven's western defenses
“After listening to the watch's reports, the Elf Ranger asked where the damage on Haven's western defenses began. He then went there to inspect for tracks, breaches, and signs of attack.”
SUCCESS (Good Survival, rolled +2)
Councilor Brinna Stonebraid
The west watch reports damage at three points. Stonework cracked from within, timbers bent outward, and no sentry agrees on what they heard.
Councilor Elian Vey
The first signs appeared beside the old western sally path. Inspect it yourself. We need facts, not another argument beneath this roof.
Valornor Gladewarder
Where did the damage to Haven's western defenses begin?
A council attendant, a young adult human woman with a slim build, warm brown skin, tightly curled black hair, and a blue-grey wool tunic guides Valornor across the gate square and along the inside of the western wall. The delegation remains behind, watching him go beneath the council pennants.
At the old sally path, Valornor finds the first breach: three loosened stones, splintered timbers, and a shallow scrape beneath the wall. Dust lies undisturbed inside the passage.
Valornor Gladewarder
The damage begins outside the wall, but the force struck outward.
His keen eyes recover broad, clawed impressions in the damp earth, accompanied by smaller boot marks and a dragged bundle. The tracks leave westward toward the scrub, while no breach reaches Haven's interior.
