Wicy steps through the gate arch into the town outskirts, damp night air cooling her face. Behind her, Elias lingers near the tavern road, charm gone quiet in her pocket, but not forgotten.
Her sketchbook warms in her bag, a steady pulse matching her heartbeat. The glow feels less like a tool now, more like a memory trying to speak.
Ahead, a weathered traveler leans on the inner side of the gate, half-lit by a lantern fixed to the post. Mud clings to their boots, and a rolled map is tucked under one arm.
The Weathered Traveler
Looking for the road after dark? You picked a poor hour, and a useful one.
Elias does not approach. He watches from the road, jaw tight, as if weighing whether to press closer or keep his distance.
The Weathered Traveler
If you want hidden paths, I know them. If you want answers, I know where the old stones still breathe.
The lantern flame shivers. In Wicy’s bag, the sketchbook gives one sharper pulse, as if it recognizes the words.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure a guide through the region
“"Good Sir, would you happen to know where I can find a female guide? A ranger, druid or a rouge willing to travel the wilderness?"”
SUCCESS (Fair Social Intuition, rolled +0)
Wicy
Good sir, do you know a female guide, a ranger, druid, or rogue willing to travel the wilderness?
The Weathered Traveler
Female is easy enough to find, useful harder. I know one ranger who keeps the north track, and one druid who listens to stones before people. For a rogue, you would need different doors.
The traveler tilts their map toward the lantern, tracing a route with a mud-stained finger. The sketchbook in Wicy's bag answers with a soft, warm pulse, and several nearby heads turn at the tiny glow.
The Weathered Traveler
If you want one who can read old paths, seek Maera at the ashwood ford. If you want one who knows secrets under the road, seek her after dusk, and speak plain.
Elias
He is still, but his eyes narrow at the mention of old paths.
The Weathered Traveler
A fair warning, stranger, your bright little relic is not keeping quiet. It has a way of announcing its owner.
Elias shifts one step nearer the shadow of the gate, while the traveler folds the map shut and offers Wicy a brief, knowing nod, as if the answer now belongs to her to use or refuse.
Wicy leaves town gate behind and arrives at ashwood ford.
“"thank you good Sir." You say, then head out to find Meara.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +0)
Ashwood Ford opens around Wicy in a hush of damp reeds, split boards, and black water sliding under a low bridge. The traveler’s parting words settle in the air as the lane bends toward older trees, and the way ahead feels briefly quieter for having a name.
Wicy
Thank you, good sir.
Wicy dips her head, then moves off at a light pace, boots tapping wet stone as she takes the ford path without hesitation. The map-reader’s advice gives her a clean direction, and the lingering glances around the gate lose interest as she slips beyond them.
At the bend, a weathered signpost leans beside a hawthorn split by age, and a narrow track breaks left toward the waterline. A woman in a travel cloak stands there with a reed staff and a satchel of dried roots, watching the ford as if she has been waiting for the right question.
Maera
You came by the old paths, then. That much the road tells me.
Wicy’s bag gives one soft, warm pulse, then quiets again, as if listening. Maera’s gaze flicks to it, sharp but not alarmed, and she tilts her head toward the trees.
Maera
If you mean to travel with sense, stay a moment. I can tell you where the ford goes, and what it remembers.
“"Good Lady, I come in search of a guide. Would you be willing to travel with me and be that guide?" You ask. "I have a map to an old gate and need help finding it."”
SUCCESS (Fair Social Intuition, rolled +1)
Wicy
Good lady, I come in search of a guide. Would you be willing to travel with me and be that guide? I have a map to an old gate and need help finding it.
Maera
A map to an old gate... that is not a common burden to carry. Show me the shape of it, and I will tell you whether the ford has room for your road.
Wicy draws the map close without fully exposing it, and Maera lets the pause stand. Her staff shifts in the mud as she studies Wicy’s face, not the satchel, and the hard edge of her expression softens by a fraction.
Maera
I know these waters, the drowned stones, the paths that vanish when fog thickens. If you travel honestly, I can guide you.
The reeds hush around them. Maera angles her chin toward the split path, then back to Wicy, weighing the question like a coin she has not yet spent.
Maera
She asks plainly enough. That is better than most.
Maera
I am Maera of ashwood ford. If you want my steps, tell me where you mean to begin, and what you are willing to leave unspoken on the road.
“"I begin with these." Wicy says revealing the cryptic map in her sketchbook and the stone shard. "I will leave unspoken how weird I find peoples' speech."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +2)
Wicy opens her sketchbook to the marked page and sets the stone shard beside it, letting both rest in Maera’s view. The shard answers with a brief warm pulse, bright enough to catch in the black water below the ford.
Maera’s gaze drops to the page, then to the shard. Her hand tightens once on the reed staff, not in fear, but in recognition.
Maera
A careful hand. Good. This road likes careful hands.
She crouches by the signpost, tilting her head to study the ink lines. Mist slips around her boots as she traces the route with one finger, stopping where the path bends toward the trees.
Maera
You begin here, at the ford, then take the higher root-path before the stones sink. If you keep the shard covered, the riverfolk will leave you alone.
Wicy
I begin with these.
Wicy says no more about the odd turn of people’s speech. Maera’s mouth quirks at that, as if she hears the shape of the thought anyway.
Maera
Wise enough. And if you want my steps, I will walk them. Ask what you need, and I will answer plain.
Quest Complete
Secure a guide through the region
Skill Upgrade: Social Intuition Mediocre