Frieda slips into the narrow lane behind the church. Mud clings to the timber walls, and the small outbuilding stands half in shadow.
Two riders work at the latch with gloved hands while the others wait close by, helmets turned toward the door. They have not yet broken it, but the hinges already strain.
The Riders
Stand back. We mean to take the priest's body for inspection.
Frieda steps into the open, her cross and vestments visible in the lane. The men hesitate, their prying slowed by her sudden presence.
Frieda
You will not carry him off. Father Gerwin stays under the Church's keeping until I see him myself.
The Riders
Then come and look, chaplain. But make it quick.
One rider lifts a hand from the latch and glances to his fellows, uneasy now. The door remains shut, for the moment, and Frieda has the first hold on the dead man's chamber.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure Father Gerwin’s body
“Frieda examines the body and the area around it, looking for clues.”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled -2)
Frieda kneels by the threshold and studies the latch, the mud, and the scrape marks where the door has been handled. The riders hold back, watching her hands instead of the door.
She finds a fresh smear on the jamb and a broken reed of straw caught in the seam, as if someone hurried inside and pulled the door shut from within. The hinges are stiff, but not forced from the outside.
Frieda
Someone was here before the riders reached the lane.
Frieda shifts lower and peers through the small gap beneath the plank. A still foot in a priest’s boot lies just beyond, turned sideways on the rush-strewn floor.
The body is in no visible disarray, yet the floor near it is marked by dragged scuffs, as though it had been moved and set back with care. The hidden lane behind the church lies quiet behind her.
The Riders
Well? Do you see enough to speak for him now, chaplain?
Frieda rises with the measure of the room in her mind, and the riders tighten around the door, waiting for her judgment.
Quest Complete
Secure Father Gerwin’s body