Sehra reaches the northern gate with two Harbor Watch guards accompanying her, the secured dispatches still in her thigh pouch. The harbor sergeant and his gate detail remain behind to preserve the warehouse scene.
A gate sergeant, with a crooked nose and a thick gray mustache, waits beside the raised portcullis, a square-built middle-aged man with iron-gray hair, a weathered face, and a blue wool surcoat over mail. A travel-stained pilgrim stands under guard nearby.
The Gate Sergeant
Captain, this brother was intercepted before dawn. He claims the shrine road is his destination, but he carries a sealed letter from one of the abandoned waystations.
The pilgrim, his left eyebrow marked by a small white scar, is an elderly man with a narrow, sun-browned face and a shaved crown beneath his hood. His brown robe is patched at the elbows, and a leather satchel hangs against his hip.
Caldus
I am Brother Caldus, bound for Saint Orra’s shrine. The letter was given to me at the waystation, sealed by a fellow traveler who asked only that I deliver it onward.
The sergeant offers the letter without breaking its wax. Its outer wording names a devotional delivery, yet the route mark matches the hidden waystation notation in Sehra’s dispatch.
The Gate Sergeant
The letter says the destination is empty. The phrasing suggests otherwise, Captain. Someone may be using pilgrims to carry messages past every ordinary checkpoint.
“I question Brother Caldus about the waystation sender”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Sehra
Brother Caldus, who gave you this letter at the waystation, and why were you chosen to carry it?
Caldus studies Sehra beneath his hood, then lowers his eyes to the sealed letter. The two Harbor Watch guards remain close, silent witnesses to the questioning.
Caldus
Her name was Mara Venn. She was a young woman in a gray traveling cloak, with a red thread tied around her wrist. She spoke as one accustomed to being obeyed.
Caldus
She said the letter must reach Saint Orra’s shrine because a sworn protector waited there for a royal claimant. She did not name the claimant, but she feared the crown’s agents would find him first.
His answer comes plainly, without bargaining. Caldus touches the satchel at his hip but does not open it, keeping the sealed letter exactly as it was entrusted to him.
Caldus
Mara told me the shrine road was watched, so I should appear ordinary and speak of devotion. She believed the letter would identify the protector without naming him openly.
The sender’s name, appearance, purpose, and method now stand in Sehra’s custody of knowledge. is a young woman with a narrow face, dark braided hair, and a slight build. The waystation was part of a deliberate route toward a hidden royal refuge, not a pious errand.
Quest Complete
Identify the omitted destination on Aldren’s route
Skill Upgrade: Diplomacy Great→Superb