The Clerk jerks upright between the Guard and the yard stones, drawing one ragged breath like it costs blood.
The Clerk
Pell.
The name cracks off the walls. Master Pell’s face goes white, then hard, and he lunges for the Clerk.
The Guard slams in front of him, both hands up, driving Pell back from the prisoner with a hard shove.
Wukong
Pell just lost his mask.
The Clerk twists in his restraints, eyes wild, as if trying to spit out more than breath. The open gate yawns behind them, and the yard turns from bargain to brawl.
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect the Clerk from Pell
“I tell the guard to protect the clerk and attack master pell with intent to incapacitate him while standing between him and the clerk.”
SUCCESS (Superb Melee Combat, rolled +0)
Wukong steps into the line between Pell and the Clerk, blade up, forcing the merchant’s charge to hesitate. The Guard shifts with him, sealing the gap with a hard shoulder and a snarled warning.
Wukong
Protect the Clerk. Take Pell down, but keep him alive.
Pell snaps toward Wukong instead, rage cracking his fear. His hands come up too late.
Wukong strikes clean, a controlled blow that turns Pell’s lunge aside and drives him back on his heels. The merchant staggers, winded, no longer reaching the prisoner.
Master Pell
You have no right to this yard.
The Guard plants himself over the Clerk, one arm out like a barred gate, while the Clerk crawls farther from Pell’s reach. Mud sprays under hurried boots. The child’s blue wax is still clutched tight in a small fist at the edge of the threshold.
The Clerk
He came for me to stop me talking.
Quest Complete
Protect the Clerk from Pell