Willowford’s chapel door opens onto a low hearth and bare benches. Bren guides Seamus inside, while Alexandre follows with the monastery token clenched in one scarred hand.
Bren Riverglade
Sit here, Seamus. Small sips first, then warmth. Timothy, the dry place by the fire is yours if you need it.
Bren settles Seamus near the hearth, removes the wet outer cloth, and wraps him in a chapel blanket. He checks the boy’s pulse and offers watered broth.
Alexandre Reaper
The token stays here. Tell me what you know of the men behind us, and do not spend truth merely to win sympathy.
Seamus
They wore no single badge. One had the monastery’s cord, another carried a reeve’s warrant, and the third knew Alex’s name.
Alexandre places the token on the chapel table. His gaze shifts from Seamus to Timothy, measuring the monastery’s reach against the boy’s exhausted testimony.
Seamus
They said Timothy had taken something from the abbey. They said Bren was helping a heretic. I do not know what is true, but they meant to seize you both.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish a shared plan to protect the chapel from the monastery’s agents
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn who is directing the monastery’s pursuers
“I ask Seamus what the pursuers said about who commands them.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled -3)
Timothy
Seamus, what did the pursuers say about who commands them?
Seamus grips the chapel blanket, eyes fixed on the token upon the table. Outside, a horse stamps once, and Alexandre’s hand settles on his sword.
Seamus
They said the Abbot gave the first order, but the reeve’s warrant came from Lord Mayor’s men in Northmere. The one who knew Alex’s name answered to someone called Cerdic.
Alexandre Reaper
Cerdic does not move openly. If his hand is in this, the monastery has borrowed more than local authority. It has bought pursuit beyond Willowford.
Seamus’s answer costs him his remaining strength. His face pales, and the broth cup slips from his fingers, striking the chapel floor with a sharp crack.
Bren Riverglade
Enough for now. He has given us the command’s chain, and we have witnesses to the warrant. Timothy, keep the door barred while Alexandre checks the road.
Quest Complete
Learn who is directing the monastery’s pursuers
“I bar the door and coordinate our defenses”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +2)
Timothy crosses to the chapel door, drops the wooden bar into its iron brackets, and tests it twice. The swollen oak holds firmly against the night.
He checks the side shutters, drags a bench beneath the nearest latch, and points Alexandre toward the narrow vestry passage while Bren gathers the remaining blankets and food.
Alexandre Reaper
Good. I will watch the front and keep the sword ready. If they call for entry, no one answers until we know whose warrant they carry.
Bren Riverglade
Seamus stays by the hearth. I will keep him quiet and hidden from the windows, then prepare a second place near the sacristy if we must move him.
Timothy arranges the benches to narrow the entrance and places the chapel table within reach of the door. The token remains visible, but the papers and food are tucked beneath the altar cloth.
Alexandre Reaper
You think like a hunted clerk, boy. That may serve us better than courage. Bren, bar the vestry. I will listen for hooves and voices.
Bren Riverglade
Done. Whatever comes, they will find a shut chapel, witnesses, and no frightened child standing in the open.
Quest Complete
Establish a shared plan to protect the chapel from the monastery’s agents
New Gift: Shared Scriptural Discernment