The fresh boot marks end at the iron-bound doorway. No voices answer from beyond, yet a thin line of torchlight trembles beneath the threshold.
Corin Vale
Wait. That mark beside the lock is Greywatch's old sign.
Corin leans toward the scratched emblem without touching it. His face pales, and his sword hand tightens until the knuckles show white.
The Bound Mother
I hear nothing. Not footsteps, not breathing. What does your garrison's sign mean here?
Corin Vale
It marks a refuge, or a warning to those who served there. I learned the signals during my first winter at Greywatch.
Corin Vale
My former masters knew these halls. Some may have helped seize you, but I never knew the refuge was theirs. I swear that much.
The bound mother keeps her ear near the cold iron while the torchlight shifts beneath the door. Corin looks to Dale, unsettled, leaving the next move unanswered.
✓ Quest Accepted
Gain the Greywatch veteran's cooperation
“Is Greywatch's garrison aiding the captors?”
YES, BUT (Likely, rolled 65)
A bolt scrapes back inside the doorway. The iron-bound door opens a handspan, revealing a Greywatch cloak and the wary face of an elderly man with a cropped white beard.
the Greywatch veteran
Corin Vale. You should not have come here. The garrison is keeping the refuge supplied, and the prisoners are below.
The veteran's gaze shifts past Corin toward the bound mother, then toward Dale. Behind him, two more Greywatch cloaks move through the torchlit hall, swords drawn.
Corin Vale
You serve the men who took her? Greywatch swore to protect the border, not hide kidnappers.
the Greywatch veteran
Some of us serve the oath. Others serve the captain. The captain ordered the prisoners kept alive, but he knows you are here now.
A bell rings once in the deeper halls. The veteran curses under his breath as heavy bolts begin dropping somewhere below, sealing the refuge's inner passages.
The Bound Mother
Then their aid has bought us a prison, and your arrival has cost us the element of surprise.
“I lower my hands and ask the veteran to honor Greywatch's oath.”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled -2)
Dale Trackfinder
I lower my hands. Honor Greywatch’s oath. Protect the innocent, and open this refuge to us.
The veteran studies Dale across the narrow opening. Dale holds his ground, though the demand drains his composure, leaving a visible hesitation before his next breath.
the Greywatch veteran
You speak as though the oath still carries weight here. Perhaps it does. Lower your swords, all of you.
The two armed soldiers, two young adult men of average build with light skin—one broad-faced with cropped blond hair, the other narrow-faced with curly black hair—in gray cloaks over dark tunics exchange uncertain looks, then ease their blades downward. The veteran pulls the door wider, exposing a torchlit refuge and a stair descending beyond.
the Greywatch veteran
The prisoners are alive below. I will take you to them, and I will stand between them and the captain’s men if required.
The Bound Mother
Then your oath has found its witness. Move quickly, before the captain turns his sealed halls against us.
The veteran steps aside. Corin enters with his sword lowered, while the bound mother follows, and the refuge’s guarded threshold opens into their rescue.
Rescue the prisoners
Quest Complete
Reach the captors' refuge
Skill Upgrade: Survival Great→Superb
Quest Complete
Gain the Greywatch veteran's cooperation