The inn settles into a hush around the hearth. Firelight warms the old beams, the rain ticks softly beyond the shutters, and Brakka lays a mildew-stained page across the table.
Ser Kael Veyr
The Azure Oath was older than any crown now ruling these lands. We swore to guard a royal bloodline, not merely obey whoever wore the diadem.
Ser Kael Veyr
The serpent in the oldest verses was no mere monster. It guarded the jewel for its master, a wolf king described as tyrannical. Yet another telling says the gem may be claimed only by a wise wolf, one who can befriend the beast.
Brakka
This page was tucked beneath the inn's foundation ledger. The tale is local, then. Not just something travelers made grand beside a fire.
Several lines have been deliberately scraped from the parchment. What remains mentions a royal house, a moonlit jewel, and a promise made beside deep water.
Ser Kael Veyr
If the wise wolf is meant to claim the gem, perhaps tyrant was never the whole truth. What do you make of the missing words, Lunar?
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine what the scraped lines concealed
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn the true identity of the wolf king
Director's note
and friends lost sword and coins for staying at inn
“Lunar reads closure to the lines, he finds a right of passage for the wolf king. he commands the beast, but the heir must prove itself for the serpent won't accept orders from anyone. he formulates a plan. he will give a blade to both those present and they will wave it on the other side of the lake, while he gets the treasure, and return to the surface before the beast could know”
SUCCESS (Fair Reasoning, rolled +1)
Lunar follows the scrape marks until the surviving letters join into a clear instruction. The wolf king was granted passage by command, but the serpent would recognize only the true heir.
Ser Kael Veyr
A right of passage, not a conquest. The beast obeys the king's authority, yet tests the blood that follows him.
Therefore, the missing lines reveal a route through the warning: the heir must cross the lake's far side while the serpent's attention is drawn away.
Lunar
I will give each of you a blade. Wave it from the far shore while I take the treasure, then I will return before the serpent knows what happened.
Brakka
That is a clever reading, but it makes the legend less certain, not more. A wise wolf, an heir, and a tyrant could be three names for one ruler, or three different ones.
Ser Kael Veyr
I will not mistake your plan for an oath, Lunar. I owe you honesty before I offer my blade. The Azure Oath never recorded the wolf king's name, and I do not know whether my order guarded his heir or opposed him.
The hearth pops. Beyond the rain-dark shutters, the warning bell at the fork sounds once, distant and hollow. Kael lays two fingers over the scraped section, waiting for Lunar's answer.
Quest Complete
Determine what the scraped lines concealed