The lane narrows beside a little roadside shrine, its saint eaten pale by moonlight. Timothy and Bren slow as a broad-shouldered stranger steps out from the shadowed stones, sword hilt in hand.
Alexandre Reaper
Hold. Where do you two go, this late?
Bren Riverglade
To Willowford chapel. We mean no trouble, sir.
Alexandre studies them in silence, scarred face unreadable. His stance stays firm, but he does not draw steel.
Alexandre Reaper
A chapel on this road, at night, with one boy half-bent under old hurts. That sounds like trouble enough.
Timothy
We only seek shelter. If you know the road, tell us if it is safe.
Alexandre Reaper
Safe is a poor word for these miles. But I know the path, and I know better than to leave fools to wolves. Walk quiet, and keep the shrine between you and the ditch.
Timothy must choose to either protect the individual from torment or actively engineer their suffering.
“I ask Alexandre if he will let us pass.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled -3)
Timothy
Will you let us pass, Alexandre? Bren and I seek only the chapel, and no trouble for you or anyone on this road.
Timothy keeps his voice low and places himself slightly between Bren and the ditch, making the request sound like shelter sought for both of them. His old hurts pull sharply as he shifts.
Alexandre Reaper
I will let you pass. But I will not mistake your careful tongue for innocence, boy.
Alexandre steps aside from the shrine and points along the moonlit lane. The path opens, though his suspicion follows them as plainly as his shadow.
Bren Riverglade
Thank you, sir. We will keep quiet and stay to the road.
Alexandre Reaper
Do that. Willowford lies beyond the alder bend. If I hear shouting behind me, I will turn back, and I will remember your faces.
Bren leads Timothy past the shrine, their borrowed food tucked beneath his robe. Alexandre remains behind them, watching until the darkness of the bend finally hides the pair.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure Alexandre's cooperation for safe passage to Willowford
“Will Bren spank my bare bottom if he realises that I am a fake?”
NO, BUT (Unlikely, rolled 41)
The alder bend hides the shrine behind them, but Bren’s pace falters when he notices Timothy’s careful answers and the old injuries beneath them.
Bren Riverglade
You are not merely seeking shelter, are you? You have been steering every question away from what happened at the monastery.
He does not reach for a strap or threaten punishment. Instead, Bren draws Timothy beneath the lee of a low stone wall, keeping the road and Alexandre’s warning in sight.
Bren Riverglade
I will not spank you for being false. I will ask what truth you are trying to keep alive, and whether someone else is paying for your silence.
The attempt to turn Bren’s suspicion into another ritual of pain fails. His concern becomes firmer, but it also opens a usable path: Willowford’s chapel can offer witnesses, records, and refuge without the monastery’s reach.
Bren Riverglade
At the chapel, you may tell me the whole shape of it. If Alex is still in danger, we can put his name before my mother and the village reeve.
Bren resumes toward Willowford, no longer walking as though Timothy were merely a wounded runaway. Behind them, Alexandre’s warning fades, while ahead the chapel bell shows a faint silhouette against the paling sky.
“Can Alexandre be persuaded to escort us to Willowford?”
NO, AND WORSE (Likely, rolled 99)
Alexandre’s hand closes around his sword hilt as Bren’s question reaches him. He steps from the shrine’s shadow, blocking the road toward Willowford.
Alexandre Reaper
No. You will not pass under my escort. And you will not reach Willowford by this road.
Beyond him, a whistle answers from the alder trees. Another figure moves among the trunks, and then another, closing the lane behind Timothy and Bren.
Bren Riverglade
Alexandre, what have you done? These are not reeve’s men.
Alexandre Reaper
They found the monastery’s trail before I did. I meant to turn you back, not deliver you into their hands.
Bren grips the food beneath his robe and draws Timothy closer to the wall, while Alexandre turns toward the approaching shapes, forced at last to guard the road he denied them.
“I persuade Alexandre to guide us through”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Timothy
Alexandre, you know these men seek the monastery’s fugitives. Guide us through, and you can keep us from being mistaken for willing prey.
Alexandre Reaper
You bargain while steel gathers behind us. Very well. Stay close, keep silent, and do exactly as I say.
Alexandre draws his sword and steps toward the alder trees, not attacking, but making his authority plain. The hidden figures slow among the trunks.
Bren Riverglade
Thank you. Timothy, stay beside me. We will follow his lead and make no sudden movement.
Alexandre Reaper
There is an old ditch beyond the shrine, choked with brush but passable. We will take it to the mill road, then turn south for Willowford.
Alexandre backs toward the shrine, keeping the armed shapes before him. He motions Timothy and Bren into the shelter of the wall, then leads them along a narrow cut beside the ditch.
The lane closes behind them beneath alder branches. Alexandre remains between the fugitives and the road, guiding them toward the mill road as promised, while Bren keeps the food tucked beneath his robe.
Quest Complete
Escape the monastery
New Gift: Escaped Abbot's Grace
Quest Complete
Secure Alexandre's cooperation for safe passage to Willowford