The mounted host dwindles beyond the road until ash swallows its banners. Then the scorched ritual lines crack apart, and a thin wet trail seeps across the yard toward the burned wagons, though nothing rises.
Celia Graves
That is no death-mark. I feel no command in it, no blessing, and no curse I recognize.
Celia crouches beside the glistening line without touching it. The trail pulses once beneath the ash, then continues toward the blackened wagons.
Maurice Headsman
Stand clear of it. Something crossed here alive, or close enough to leave that impression.
Maurice points to a single footprint beside the trail. It is impossibly narrow, sunk deep into the softened earth, with no second print visible before or after it.
Celia Graves
The dead did not make that. Whatever it is, it passed through the ritual's ruin without belonging to it.
The wet trail reaches the burned wagons and vanishes beneath their collapsed timbers. Beyond it, the yard falls silent, waiting for Elianor's next move.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep the creature pursuing Tarin from escaping the yard
“Celia and I clear the collapsed wagons while Maurice stands ready to protect us from any creatures that arise.”
SUCCESS (Good Strength, rolled +1)
Elianor and Celia wrench the collapsed wagon beams aside together. Wet ash slicks the timber, and the effort tears a rough scrape across Elianor’s palm.
Maurice plants himself between them and the open yard, sword raised, his broad frame tracking every shifting shadow beyond the wagons.
Celia Graves
Together. Lift on my count. Whatever left that trail is under here.
They heave the final blackened beam clear. The collapsed wagons open onto a hollow beneath them, exposing the trail’s end and a narrow earthen passage.
An ash-skinned crawler, small and many-jointed, scrambles from the passage. Maurice steps across its path and knocks it back into the dust with his blade’s flat.
Maurice Headsman
The way is clear. Keep your distance from that hole until we know what else shares it.
“I saw to the crawler if you do not attack us we will not hurt you.”
SUCCESS (Good Diplomacy, rolled +1)
Elianor Vale
If you do not attack us, we will not hurt you.
The ash-skinned crawler freezes beneath Maurice’s blade. Its many-jointed limbs fold tight, while wet ash threads from its narrow passage around its feet.
Ash-Skinned Crawler
No striking. No fire. You leave the hollow, and I leave your fallen ground.
Celia lowers her flail by a finger’s breadth, studying the creature rather than trusting it. Maurice keeps his sword ready, but the blade no longer blocks the passage.
Celia Graves
It understands the bargain. But now it knows we will negotiate instead of simply destroy what frightens us.
The crawler retreats into the earthen passage, granting them the hollow without another lunge. Its silence leaves a debt in the air: if they return, it will expect the promised restraint.
Quest Complete
Keep the creature pursuing Tarin from escaping the yard
Attribute Upgrade: Strength Good→Great
