Maurice helps Celia across the tower threshold as fresh stones tumble behind them. Beside the road, a battered execution wagon groans beneath fallen masonry, its iron cage twisted inward.
Inside crouches a young adult man with a gaunt build, dust-pale skin, tangled brown hair, and a torn burgundy coat bearing the lord's mark. Chains bind his wrists to the cage.
Tomas Rusk
Headsman! Maurice Headsman! By the lord's authority, break these chains! The tower is coming down!
Maurice shifts Celia's weight against his shoulder and turns toward the wagon. A slab slides from its roof, crushing the road beside the wheel and showering them with grit.
Maurice Headsman
Stay still, prisoner. Another pull may bring the wagon down on you.
The prisoner freezes, breathing hard. Beyond the wagon, the village road lies empty beneath the gray sky, while the tower's broken threshold sheds dust in widening cracks.
Tomas Rusk
I am not a prisoner by sentence. They locked me here when the dead came. Please, Headsman, get her clear, then get me out.
✓ Quest Accepted
Free the chained prisoner
“I crawl to the cage and inspect how its twisted bars hold the chains.”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +1)
Celia lowers herself onto hands and knees and crawls across the grit toward the execution wagon. Maurice keeps one hand near her shoulder without hindering her inspection.
The cage bars are twisted inward where the roof collapsed. Two bars have wrapped around the chained prisoner's chain, pinning both wrists against the rear lattice.
Celia Graves
The chains are held by bent bars, not a lock.
Tomas Rusk
Can you see the fastening, ma'am? The iron caught me when the roof fell.
Celia traces the deformation through dust and splintered wood. One bar bears the chain's weight, while the second merely braces it against the cage frame.
Maurice Headsman
Then I can bend the bracing bar away. Once it gives, the chain should come free without pulling the wagon apart.
The inspection reveals a clear release point beside the chained prisoner's left wrist. Maurice shifts his footing, ready to act there while the cage remains supported.
“I use my undead sensing to determine if the prisoner is truly alive.”
FAILURE (Legendary Undead Sensing, rolled -3)
“I use my undead sensing to determine if the prisoner is truly alive.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Undead Sensing, rolled -1)
Celia lets her undead sensing pass through the wagon's twisted iron and into the chained prisoner. The grit, chains, and collapsing tower fall away beneath her perception.
His pulse answers with warm, uneven life. His blood carries no dead force, no curse-root, and no hidden second presence. He is wholly alive.
Celia Graves
He is alive, and not touched by undeath.
Tomas Rusk
You found something, ma'am? Am I still myself?
Maurice watches Celia's face, then braces one boot against the wagon frame. He grips the bar identified as the brace and pulls it outward with controlled force.
The bent iron groans free without shifting the roof. The chain slips from the lattice, leaving the prisoner's wrists bound together but no longer pinned.
Maurice Headsman
He lives. Now keep still, and I will have the rest of this iron off you.
“I tell Maurice "when you are done I need to inspect and treat any injuries he may have.”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled -2)
Celia Graves
When you are done, I need to inspect him and treat any injuries.
Maurice twists the freed chain around the cage post and wrenches the remaining links apart. The chained prisoner stumbles forward, wrists bruised and scraped, but free.
Maurice Headsman
Then tend him now, Graves. I will keep the wagon from collapsing.
Celia examines the chained prisoner's wrists and shoulders, finding swelling, shallow cuts, and a strained joint. She cleans the grit away and binds the worst places with torn cloth.
Tomas Rusk
Thank you, ma'am. I thought the iron would take my hands before anyone heard me.
The treatment steadies his breathing, but Celia's drained strength falters and fresh blood darkens the cloth beneath her own sleeve. The chained prisoner remains alive and fit to move.
Maurice Headsman
Your sleeve is bleeding again, Graves. Treat yourself before the tower claims another debt.
Get the freed prisoner to safety
Quest Complete
Free the chained prisoner
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Good→Great