Heavy boots crush the wet leaves as three Settlers Guild members step from the trees. Their eyes lock on the slack rope, then on the freed man at Demetrius's feet.
The Lead Settler
The job was not finished. Explain yourselves, now.
The thug shifts his weight, knife still low, no longer eager. The bound man stays close to Demetrius, breathing steadier, watching the newcomers with raw suspicion.
Demetrius cloudkin
The man was innocent. If someone ordered this, that is where your answers begin.
The Lead Settler
Innocent? You meddle in Settlers business and call it truth? Who put you here, cleric?
The Thug
No one here ordered me to lie to my own hands. But someone did order the name on that rope.
That admission hangs in the rain like a bell struck once. The nearest Settler stiffens, and the path suddenly feels like a witness stand.
✓ Quest Accepted
Stand with Demetrius against the Settlers Guild
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn who ordered the name on the rope
“I fear you have been misled brave Settlers, The Royal family from the west is turning you against each other in a ruse to gain your land. Can you not see? Demetrius waves his hand in the air and casts a spell of clear judgment on the Settlers”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled +2)
Demetrius lifts his hand, and the rain around the Settlers seems to catch on an unseen current. For a breath, the forest hushes.
Demetrius cloudkin
I fear you have been misled. The west is turning you against each other to weaken your land.
A pale wash of clear judgment passes over the group. Mud, rope, knife, and faces all seem stripped bare, as if each lie must stand in open daylight.
The Lead Settler
...By the roots. That order was a trap.
The Second Settler
This was not the sentence we were given.
The Thug
I knew the name on that rope stank of someone else's hand.
The thug's knife stays drawn, but his wrist loosens. The settlers do not advance, and the accusation between them now points somewhere farther away, toward an unseen master.
“Demetrius calls upon his inate ability and magically creates a great meal. Let us eat, a discuss our future”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled +0)
Demetrius lowers his hand, and the silver wash in the rain gathers at his feet. The muddy clearing softens as the air fills with the scent of warm bread, herb broth, and roasted roots.
A broad camp meal settles onto a makeshift spread of bark and cloaks, steaming and real, enough for all of them to eat. The sudden comfort hangs oddly between the trees.
The Lead Settler
You conjure supper after a judgment spell... That is either mercy, or mockery.
The Thug
It's mercy. I can smell it.
The Bound Man
Then let us use it before the rain ruins the lot.
The second settler loosens their shoulders. The lead settler does not relax, but their gaze drifts from Demetrius to the food, then to the knife in the thug's hand.
The Lead Settler
If we are to speak plainly, we speak now. Who gave the order? And why was my guild sent into a noose?
“Demetrius grabs the rope and closes his eyes, peering into the future”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled +2)
Demetrius takes the rope in both hands, the damp fibers rough in his grip. He closes his eyes, and the path around him falls away into a hush of rain and breath.
Demetrius cloudkin
The knot still remembers the hand that tied it.
Vision catches him hard. Not the clearing, but a shadowed figure far beyond it, whispering through the rope to men who never met face to face.
The pull sharpens into certainty. The order comes from outside the guild, carried by a hidden master who uses fear like a leash.
The Lead Settler
Well. That changes everything.
The Thug
Tell me you saw a face. Tell me who put that noose in my hands.
The thug's knife stays lowered, but his knuckles whiten around it. The bound man watches Demetrius in silence, while the settlers wait for the answer that will choose their next move.
Quest Complete
Stand with Demetrius against the Settlers Guild
Fault Removed: Feared Reputation