A familiar boar crashes through the reeds and collapses at the stream’s edge. Its breathing comes harshly, and one hind leg is caught in a crude iron snare.
Ricayu and Finn freeze among the reeds while Marek stands nearby with the pack’s fresh meat. The boar recognizes their scents, but thrashes wildly whenever either approaches.
Marek
It knows us, but it thinks we mean to hurt it. The snare must have been set near the boundary.
The adult female packmate herds the younger wolves back from the water. Across the stream, crushed reeds and a faint human trail vanish into the trees, but no hunter returns.
Finn
That is the boar from our old hunting ground. Can we make it understand we are helping?
The boar kicks again, tightening the iron around its leg. Its panic carries through the streambank, mixing with blood-scent, mud, and the sharp smell of worked metal.
Marek
We need a plan before it tears itself worse. I will follow your lead, Ricayu.
✓ Quest Accepted
Free the trapped boar