Dale reaches an old forest path beneath dripping firs. Ahead, a young adult squire stands rigidly in a mud-stained green surcoat, sword trembling in his grip, guarding a bound middle-aged woman beside a fallen milestone.
Corin Vale
Stay back! I mean it. Do not come any closer.
The woman’s wrists are tied before her, though her posture remains strangely composed. She watches Dale beneath loose dark hair, while the squire keeps glancing toward the empty trees.
The Bound Mother
Please, traveler, heed him. The men who took me are near, though I cannot see where they hide.
No captors answer. The path holds only rain, crushed fern, and a line of small, deliberate impressions pressed into the soil, curving around the pair like a drawn boundary.
Corin Vale
They told me to guard her until the bell sounds. I ran when they stopped watching, but the marks began after that.
A faint chime trembles through the forest, too distant to locate. The strange impressions darken with fresh water, and something unseen shifts beyond the trees.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine the squire's true role in the kidnapping
✓ Quest Accepted
Rescue the bound woman
“"Who are you, man? Are you with the kidnappers?"”
SUCCESS (Fair Reasoning, rolled +1)
Dale Trackfinder
Who are you, man? Are you with the kidnappers?
The squire flinches at the direct question. Rain beads on his fair hair and narrow face, and his trembling sword lowers a handspan without leaving his grip.
Corin Vale
No. My name is Corin Vale. I served at Greywatch, until those men seized her and ordered me to stand guard.
He swallows and glances toward the bound woman, shame tightening his young face. The faint bell sounds again, nearer now, though the trees remain empty.
The Bound Mother
He speaks truth. Corin tried to cut me free, but they heard the blade against the cord.
The deliberate impressions encircling them fill with rainwater, each shallow mark reflecting the gray sky. The woman studies Dale with composed, urgent attention.
Corin Vale
I do not know who leads them, traveler. I know only that the bell means they are returning.
Quest Complete
Determine the squire's true role in the kidnapping