The apartment settles around you after the journey: lamplight warms the shelves, rain whispers against the shutters, and Delate, a young adult wolf woman with a slender build, pale blue eyes, and a simple dark green dress, moves quietly between the hearth and the table.
Delate
Someone came earlier. A cloaked stranger. They asked about our marriage, your work, and the Hellfire Legion.
Delate, your shy white-furred wolf wife, folds her hands together. Her ears angle toward the door, and her voice drops nearly to a whisper.
Delate
I answered as little as I could. I did not know whether they were merely curious, or measuring where to strike.
Before she can explain further, three measured knocks sound from the same door. The room grows still, save for rain and the faint crackle of the hearth.
Delate
They found us too quickly.
✓ Quest Accepted
Confront the cloaked visitor
“*I check who the person is before they can speak.*”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled -1)
Zena moves without a sound, placing one claw against the wall beside the door. She lowers herself and peers through the narrow gap beneath the latch.
Rain-dark boots stand beyond the threshold. Above them waits a tall, broad-shouldered adult figure in a charcoal cloak, hood raised, with one gloved hand resting away from any weapon.
Marra Vey
They know I am here.
A sliver of lamplight catches the stranger's face beneath the hood: an angular middle-aged woman with weathered brown skin, a silver streak through her black hair, and a narrow scar across one eyebrow.
Delate
Can you tell who it is?
The stranger remains silent, posture disciplined and patient. No insignia marks the cloak, but a small bronze token hangs at her belt, etched with a three-pointed crown.
Delate
That symbol is not familiar.
“*For now I play along to a simple chat noting they are not yet reaching for a weapon. But I keep my eyes peeled in case they do. I speak* "Excuse me ma'am is there a reason for you to be here this late?"”
SUCCESS (Fair Willpower, rolled +1)
Zena
Excuse me, ma'am. Is there a reason for you to be here this late?
Zena keeps her claw near the latch, gaze fixed on the cloaked stranger's hands. The bronze crown token shifts faintly as rainwater drips from the cloak.
Marra Vey
There is. I came to speak with you before dawn, when fewer ears might mistake caution for hostility.
The cloaked stranger's gloved hands remain visible and empty. Her weight stays balanced, disciplined, but no motion carries toward the hidden line of her cloak.
Delate
You could have sent a message. Coming here after asking those questions makes this feel less like courtesy.
Marra Vey
Your wife is right to distrust the timing. I sought knowledge of the Legion because someone else is already seeking it, with less restraint than I possess.
Marra Vey
If you permit it, I will explain the crown and name the power moving against your people. If not, I will leave without drawing steel.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what power is moving against the Hellfire Legion
Quest Complete
Confront the cloaked visitor
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Great→Superb
“*I open the door But I keep an eye on her watching if she reaches for weapon but making my stance clear that if she does she will be met with a gun* "As long as you are only here for that then you may come in."”
SUCCESS (Superb Intimidation, rolled -1)
Zena
As long as you are only here for that, you may come in.
Zena opens the door and shifts aside without lowering her guard. One revolver is plainly positioned to answer any reach toward steel, while her eyes track the cloaked stranger’s hands.
Marra Vey
Understood. I will give you no cause to fire.
The cloaked stranger crosses the threshold slowly, boots darkening the floorboards. She keeps both hands visible, then turns so the open doorway remains behind her.
Delate
Stay where we can see you. Please.
Marra Vey
The crown belongs to the Ashen Compact, a coalition of generals and financiers gathering strength in the eastern marches.
Rain taps against the open door until Delate closes it. The cloaked stranger removes her hood, revealing the silver streak and scar fully, then faces Zena across the lamplit room.
Quest Complete
Learn what power is moving against the Hellfire Legion