David Clarkson slips out of the back alley and into a narrow lane behind the guild hall. Wet cobbles shine under a thin moon, and the stink of tanneries and old drains hangs in the air. Far off, the city still mutters around him, but here the dark feels sealed shut.
He stops beneath a sagging timber eave, staff in hand, listening. Boots crunch somewhere beyond the lane, then fade. The stone wall at his back is cold enough to bite through his wool.
The alley is not empty. Someone else is here.
A shutter clicks open above him. A woman’s face appears for a moment, pale in the dark, watching from an upper window.
The Woman at the Window
You picked a poor night to run, stranger.
Before David can answer, a lantern glow spreads at the far mouth of the lane. Two figures step into it, one broad-shouldered, one slim, both moving with the careful speed of people who expect trouble.
✓ Quest Accepted
Slip away from the witnesses
“Duck into the shadows of the nearby doorway to avoid the lantern light.”
SUCCESS (Fair Agility, rolled +0)
David slips into the doorway shadow as the lantern glow washes past the lane. His shoulder brushes damp stone, and the light misses his face by a handspan.
The cost is a scrape of wet grit across his palm, and the movement carries a faint rasp from his pack against the wall.
The Woman at the Window
There. He ducks well enough.
The Broad Figure
Spread out. Do not lose him in the dark.
The slim figure lifts the lantern higher, and its glow skims the doorway lip, making David's hiding place a thinner veil than it was a breath ago.
Above, the shutter shifts again. The woman's gaze stays fixed on the doorway, sharp with recognition and caution.
David is hidden from the lantern's direct beam, but not from every witness, as the lane holds its breath around him.
“Does the woman know me?”
NO (Even, rolled 73)
The woman's eyes narrow as she studies David, but her gaze lacks the spark of recognition that would mark a familiar face. She simply watches the stranger with the detached curiosity of one observing a stray animal in the dark.
“I slip deeper into the alley shadows”
SUCCESS (Fair Agility, rolled +1)
David slips deeper into the alley shadow, shoulders tucked in, staff held close. The doorway swallows him, and the lantern glow loses his face at once.
From the lane mouth, the lantern light wavers across wet stone and finds only the empty recess he leaves behind.
The Slim Figure
There. The recess.
The Broad Figure
Hold the beam steady.
The woman above leans farther from her shutter, her attention sharpening as the figures below mark the place David was standing.
The Woman at the Window
So that is where he meant to disappear.
The alley keeps its mouth shut. David is out of sight, but the watchers now know the shadows were occupied.
Quest Complete
Slip away from the witnesses
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Fair→Good