Before the springhouse comes into view, a mud-spattered royal courier blocks the lower ridge road. Branna’s directions remain behind them, while the eager young woman travels beside Medica.
Pellan Rusk, a gaunt middle-aged man with windburned skin, cropped dark hair, and a torn blue-gray courier cloak, grips his lathered horse’s reins. Fresh mud streaks his boots and sleeves.
Pellan Rusk
Medica Valkyrie? Stop there. I carry a summons from the palace. The king’s physicians require your evidence and alchemical supplies immediately.
He raises a folded document bearing the palace mark. The wax seal is cracked and pressed together again, its edges still soft beneath the rain.
Tavia Reed
That seal has been disturbed. If the physicians truly sent him, why does he look more frightened of the message than the road?
Pellan Rusk
Because every delay costs the king another breath. I rode from the palace without stopping, and whoever opened this summons may already control the sickroom.
The courier extends the summons but does not approach farther. Behind him, the eastern cliffs shed loose stones, and the road toward Dawnspear remains the only visible route forward.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine whether the palace summons offers genuine access to the king
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach Dawnspear and investigate the poison’s source
“"You have a good eye, ma'am. Would you be able to discern exactly when the seal was disturbed, and possibly by who?" I whisper to the young woman out of earshot of Pellan Rusk, as he might be a possible suspect for the tampering.”
SUCCESS (Good Persuasion, rolled -1)
Medica Valkyrie
You have a good eye, ma'am. Can you tell exactly when the seal was disturbed, and possibly by whom?
Medica keeps her voice beneath the rain and angles her body between Pellan and the young woman. The courier watches the road, but one hand tightens on his reins.
Tavia Reed
I can, if you let me see it close. Do not touch the wax again.
The young woman studies the softened edges without breaking the fold. She traces a faint crescent in the wax with one fingernail, then smells the residue on her glove.
Tavia Reed
It was opened three or four hours ago, after the seal had fully hardened. Whoever did it used a heated signet, not steam. The impression belongs to the palace’s chief thaumaturge, or someone carrying that exact signet.
A fleck of brittle wax breaks loose onto the wet road, spoiling part of the palace mark. Pellan turns sharply at the sound, his expression hardening.
Tavia Reed
The courier did not reseal it. His gloves carry road grit and horse oil, but no palace wax. Someone inside the court tampered with this before he received it.
“"I had a feeling you would be helpful." I whisper, half to myself and half to the woman. I then turn to Rusk. "Thank you, loyal courier. As you know, time is of the essence. Unfortunately, it also means we can't afford to turn back. Please have safe travels back to the palace." I dismiss the ragged man and continue on the road. Once the courier is out of sight, I turn to the woman to voice my thoughts out loud. "Let's check this letter. It may have been tampered with, but the tampering itself may by a clue as to its true intent. I suspect that someone is already on my tail about my investigation and trying to lure me back to the palace to slow me down. What do you think?" I ask as I hand the letter to the woman to allow her to investigate alongside me.”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled +2)
Medica Valkyrie
I had a feeling you would be helpful.
Medica Valkyrie
Thank you, loyal courier. As you know, time is of the essence. We cannot afford to turn back. Please have safe travels back to the palace.
Pellan studies Medica, the altered summons, and the road ahead. Then he bows, turns his lathered horse toward the western descent, and rides into the rain.
The road carries Medica and her companion beyond the courier’s sight, between dripping pines and jagged cliffs. The palace summons rests safely in the young woman’s hands.
Medica Valkyrie
Let’s check this letter. The tampering itself may be a clue to its true intent. I suspect someone is already on my tail, trying to lure me back and slow my investigation. What do you think?
The young woman unfolds the summons beneath her cloak, shielding it from the rain. She examines the paper, folds, ink, and broken wax beside Medica’s lenses.
Tavia Reed
The wording is urgent, but carefully vague. It names no physician, gives no symptoms, and demands your supplies rather than your diagnosis. I think it is bait, meant to remove you from the trail.
“I thought so. Let's keep moving forward toward Dawnspear. By the way, what is your name? I can't just keep referring to you as "ma'am" this whole time. I am Medica Valkyrie, by the way.”
SUCCESS (Good Persuasion, rolled -1)
Medica Valkyrie
I thought so. Let us keep moving toward Dawnspear. By the way, what is your name? I cannot keep calling you ma'am. I am Medica Valkyrie.
Medica folds the summons beneath her coat, and the two travelers continue along the lower ridge road. Rain whispers through the pines as Dawnspear’s eastern ridges emerge beyond the mist.
Tavia Reed
A pleasure to meet you properly, Medica Valkyrie. My name is Tavia Reed.
Tavia returns the letter, then adjusts her mustard cloak against the rain. Her bright expression settles into alert concentration as she studies the narrowing trail.
Tavia Reed
You may call me Tavia. I travel quickly, notice inconvenient details, and know which questions make dishonest people nervous.
Medica Valkyrie
The summons is concealed, and Tavia has given me a name.
The road descends beneath dripping branches toward the springhouse markers. Behind them, Pellan’s hoofbeats fade completely, leaving only rain, footfalls, and the distant promise of quarry bells.
+ New Item Acquired
Palace summons
“Let's keep going until we reach the Lantern Rest. We need to find Maelin Tern as soon as possible. Tavia, do you know a safe way there? You mentioned earlier that you were also headed to Dawnspear.”
SUCCESS (Poor Survival, rolled +0)
Medica Valkyrie
Let us keep moving to the Lantern Rest. We need to find Maelin Tern quickly. Tavia, do you know a safe way there?
Tavia Reed
I do. We leave the ridge road at the third springhouse marker, follow the quarry drainage path, and avoid the main gate until we reach the inn’s lower entrance.
Tavia guides Medica beneath the pines and along a narrow drainage trail, using faded chalk marks hidden beneath roots. Rain thickens, and one of Medica’s warming tinctures breaks against a stone.
Tavia Reed
That route is safer because quarry guards watch the roads, not the old watercourse. Keep close, and step where I step.
By dusk, lanterns glow beneath Dawnspear’s lower gate. The trail opens behind the Lantern Rest, a squat stone inn with blue shutters and a carved brass lantern above its door.
Maelin Tern, a sturdy middle-aged woman with copper-brown skin, tightly curled black hair, and a weathered green coat, steps from the doorway. A pale scar crosses one eyebrow.
Maelin Tern
Hadrik’s mark. Then you are Valkyrie. Come inside quickly, both of you. Dawnspear has been asking questions about travelers from the west.
“"Maelin, right? Thank goodness we found you. Who have you talked to already? What have you told them?" I present Hadrik's mark as well as explain the situation, including the tampered summons I received.”
SUCCESS (Good Persuasion, rolled -1)
Medica Valkyrie
Maelin, right? Thank goodness we found you. I am Medica Valkyrie. Hadrik sent me, and I need to know whom you have spoken to and what you told them.
Medica presents Hadrik’s green-sealed mark and explains the poisoned royal evidence, the king’s illness, and the summons altered with the chief thaumaturge’s signet.
Medica Valkyrie
The palace summons demanded my supplies but named no physician or symptom. Tavia found it opened and resealed hours before the courier received it.
Maelin’s scarred eyebrow lifts. She pulls both travelers inside, bolts the lower door, and spends a small pinch of hearth salt across the threshold ward.
Maelin Tern
I spoke to three people: Orven Pell, the Consortium receiving clerk; a quarry weighman; and a woman asking after western travelers.
Maelin Tern
I told Orven only that Hadrik’s contact was expected. To the weighman, nothing. The woman heard your name, Valkyrie, before I could send her away.
Tavia Reed
Someone already knew enough to search for Medica before we reached the inn.
Quest Complete
Determine whether the palace summons offers genuine access to the king
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Great→Superb