Beyond the ravine, the three travelers reach a hollow between boundary stones. The beautiful bodyguard walks beside Fizzlebaum, while the hidden antimage keeps watch behind them.
A bloodied young courier stumbles from the heather and collapses near the nearest marker. One hand still clutches a sealed black letter, its wax stamped with the same unfamiliar runes glowing on the bodyguard’s ring.
the hidden antimage
Hoofbeats. Lanterns behind her, perhaps a patrol. We have moments at most.
the beautiful bodyguard
She is alive, but badly hurt. We can hide her among the stones, or risk tending her here.
The courier’s fingers twitch around the letter. Black wax gleams wetly in the moonlight, and the runes answer the ring with a faint, pulsing warmth.
the hidden antimage
Do not break that seal blindly. It may be a summons, a warning, or the reason those riders are hunting her.
the beautiful bodyguard
Master Fen, the choice is yours. Hide her, heal her, or inspect the message before the riders find this place.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get the courier out of danger
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn why the courier is being hunted
“I have a healing potion somewhere but I may have modified it to both heal and transform appearance randomly.”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled +0)
Fizzlebaum searches among his rings, talismans, and crowded pouches while hoofbeats thud beyond the hollow. His fingers find a squat violet vial tucked beneath a charm of knotted silver.
Fizzlebaum Fen
The healing draught is here, and its second enchantment is still active.
He draws the vial into the moonlight. Golden motes mend the liquid’s red glow, while a restless swirl of shifting colors crawls beneath the glass.
the hidden antimage
That is not an ordinary healing potion. The glamour is woven through every drop.
The black letter pulses against the bodyguard’s ring, and the vial answers with a brief shimmer. No seal breaks, no transformation begins, but the potion’s unpredictable alteration is unmistakable.
the beautiful bodyguard
Can it save her without changing her into someone else? We cannot afford another mystery tonight.
the hidden antimage
At least you found it. Decide quickly, Master Fen. The riders are close, and she has little strength left.
“Well its probably going to just be superficial, better alive and weird looking then dead. Drink up!”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -2)
Fizzlebaum Fen
Well, it is probably only superficial. Better alive and weird-looking than dead. Drink up!
Fizzlebaum kneels beside the courier and tips the violet vial to her lips. She swallows the enchanted draught in desperate gulps as hoofbeats draw nearer beyond the stones.
The potion vanishes in a burst of gold and violet light. The courier’s torn flesh closes, leaving smooth silver-blue markings across her cheek and throat, while the vial cracks empty in Fizzlebaum’s hand.
the hidden antimage
She is breathing. Alive, certainly, though that glamour has rewritten something visible. The riders will notice if they find her.
the beautiful bodyguard
You spent the draught and saved her. That is a costly kindness, Master Fen, but I cannot call it foolish.
The courier’s eyes open, reflecting the same unfamiliar runes as the black seal and the bodyguard’s ring. Her grip tightens around the letter.
the wounded courier
The letter must reach the ring-bearer. Do not let the riders take it. They serve the one beneath the black crown.
Quest Complete
Learn why the courier is being hunted
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Great→Superb
“Fizzlebaum wishes he could say no just this once but he cant. Instead he says you girls will have your chance to repay my favor because the guy who is after these letters is after me too! Why does it have to be the Orc King?”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Fizzlebaum Fen
You girls will have your chance to repay my favor, because whoever is after these letters is after me too! Why does it have to be the Orc King?
The words carry across the hollow. Fizzlebaum gathers the black letter and the courier close beneath his cloak, then stamps a circle into the moonlit earth.
Violet fire folds around the courier, sealing her presence and the letters behind a brief-lived glamour of cold stone. The spell succeeds, but every bracelet on Fizzlebaum’s left wrist snaps apart.
the hidden antimage
Because the Orc King remembers every oath-breaker. If his riders are hunting this courier, they will search the boundary stones first.
the beautiful bodyguard
Then the favor is already repaid in part. I will carry her, and I will not surrender the letter while you stand beside us.
the wounded courier
The black crown hunts the ring-bearer because the runes name his downfall. The letter belongs with her, but you must keep it hidden.
Lanterns crest the distant heather. The glamour holds, concealing courier and letters as the three travelers move deeper between the stones, with the broken bracelets glittering behind them.