Elias cranks the ignition again, jaw tight, and the sedan catches. The engine growls as the car jolts forward on the wet lane.
Water fans up over the masked man's boots. He recoils, still half bent toward the open driver side, and loses the angle on the door.
Thadeus Jovanović
The car is moving. Get in or get left.
Thadeus shifts with the roll of the sedan, lunging for the passenger side as the tires creep past the dropped pry bar.
Kaelen
Hey, no, stop! Get back here!
The attacker scrambles after them, but the exhaust and spray shove him back into the rain as Elias keeps the car inching away.
“Thadeus will dive into back seat, looking out the window as the men disappear over the horizon”
SUCCESS (Fair Athletics, rolled +1)
Thadeus drops into the back seat in one smooth motion, boots skidding on the wet upholstery before he settles low.
He twists toward the rear window, wooden sword close to his side, rain streaking the glass as the sedan pulls him deeper into cover.
Elias the Shopkeeper
Door’s shut. He’s falling back.
Outside, the masked man is already shrinking in the lane, swallowed by spray and the blur of headlights.
The pry bar is still behind them.
Kaelen
You can’t leave with it! Bring that back!
A dark shape under the rear bumper flashes past the window, then the sedan clears it and gains another car length.
“Ask Elias for the letter his brother left so he can read it while Elias continues driving”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Rain ticks on the roof as Elias keeps one hand light on the wheel. At the next stretch of lane, he flicks his eyes to Thadeus in the mirror, then back to the road.
Thadeus Jovanović
The letter your brother left. Let me read it while you drive.
Elias the Shopkeeper
Yeah. Yeah, take it.
With a quick glance at the windshield, Elias fishes a folded envelope from his jacket and passes it back without looking away for long.
The paper is already softened at the creases, one corner bent from being handled too many times in a hurry.
Elias the Shopkeeper
He wrote it the night before everything went sideways. I did not open it. I just kept it on me.
A line of headlights glides across the wet glass as the sedan hums onward, and Elias lets out a breath he seems to have been holding for blocks.
Elias the Shopkeeper
If it says what I think it says, then maybe I need to hear it out loud with somebody in the car.
+ New Item Acquired
Envelope
“Thadeus begins reading the letter in the envelope. The letter tells a story of Elias and his brother, Trevor, protecting an artifact from a shadow organization known as the Revenant. The artifact, known as the Peacebringer, is a chain whip, imbued with the power to detect and destroy evil forces.”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled -3)
Thadeus unfolds the softened pages and reads by the glow of passing headlights. The letter is short, but every line lands hard.
Trevor
If you are reading this, then we did not keep it out of their hands. The Revenant found us faster than we planned.
Elias tightens both hands on the wheel, his eyes fixed ahead as the sedan glides through the rain.
Trevor
The Peacebringer is not money, not leverage, not a family secret. It is a chain whip, and it answers to evil. That is why they want it.
The next sentence tells Thadeus exactly why the brother kept driving and hiding instead of fighting back.
Trevor
If Elias survives, tell him I hid the artifact where only he would know to look, and trust no one from the Revenant, even if they come smiling.
The road opens for a breath, then a fresh spray of headlights fills the rear window. Elias speaks without turning.
Quest Complete
Uncover the truth of the brother's legacy
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Fair→Good