Merek has Timothy transferred from the festival grounds into a heavy wooden cangue fixed within Willowford’s village stocks. The cramped timber presses against his sore shoulder as the lock closes.
The Reeve
Two days under watch. No one strikes him directly. Rotten vegetables may be offered as contempt, and nothing more.
The reeve posts two watchers nearby and marks the order on the stocks. Merek remains within sight, preserving Merek’s custody while the village gathers along the road.
The Second Fishwife
There he is, the altar’s little herald. Take a turnip, then, and remember whose death you called for.
A rotten turnip strikes the stocks and breaks apart across Timothy’s chest. More vegetables follow, thrown beneath the reeve’s warning line, while jeers roll through the watching townsfolk.
The First Fishwife
Enough. Contempt is permitted, but do not crowd him or worsen the injury. The order forbids that.
The first fishwife and Perrin stay close as uneasy shields, while the second fishwife joins the jeering crowd. After another vegetable thuds against the wood, Perrin quietly asks Timothy whether he needs water.
✓ Quest Accepted
Survive the two-day display in the stocks without serious injury
“I keep still in the stocks and endure the jeers without provoking anyone.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -2)
Timothy keeps his head lowered in the stocks and does not answer the jeers. Unyielding Penance steadies him through each insult, making stillness an act of deliberate endurance rather than surrender.
The Second Fishwife
Look at him, pretending silence makes him holy. Perhaps the road has finally taught him his place.
A few townsfolk laugh and another rotten vegetable lands against the timber. Timothy absorbs the humiliation without turning, answering contempt with the quiet discipline of his vow.
The First Fishwife
Enough of the throwing. The order permits contempt, not a mob pressing against the stocks.
The laughter thins. Timothy's composure holds, but the effort leaves a visible pause in his breathing, and the first fishwife notices how carefully he gathers himself before remaining still.
Perrin
You are enduring it, but you need water. Say nothing if you cannot, just nod once.
Timothy gives no provocative response and remains secured in the stocks. His will has carried the moment, though the strain has worn his spirit thin enough for the watchers to see it.
“I nod once for Perrin’s water”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +2)
Timothy gives the single nod Perrin requested. The movement is small and deliberate, preserving his silence while Unyielding Penance steadies him against the stocks’ pressure.
Perrin
Water, then. Stay back, all of you.
Perrin moves through the watching villagers to the nearby pump. He fills a wooden cup and returns without letting the crowd press closer to the stocks.
Perrin
Here. Small sips.
Perrin raises the cup carefully to Timothy’s mouth. The water reaches him, cool and plain, while the apprentice supports it without jostling the locked timber.
Timothy drinks the water Perrin brought. His breathing settles by a fraction, and the quiet exchange gives the watchers a clear boundary they cannot mistake for permission to interfere.
“I ask Perrin if they are a boy or a girl.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled -1)
Timothy
Perrin, are you a boy or a girl?
Perrin pauses with the cup still in hand, glancing toward the watchers before answering plainly. The question draws a few curious looks, but no one interrupts.
Perrin
Neither, exactly. I am not a boy or a girl. Perrin is enough.
Perrin lowers the cup but remains beside the stocks, answering without shame or apology. The nearest villagers hear the distinction and fall briefly quiet.
Perrin
You may call me Perrin. That is the only answer I need to give.
Perrin offers the cup again, keeping their attention on Timothy rather than the murmuring road. The water remains steady within reach.
“Will I have to stay here for two full days?”
NO, AND WORSE (VeryLikely, rolled 98)
The reeve returns with a fresh notice sealed in dark wax. Perrin lowers the cup, and the watching villagers quiet as the stocks become the scene of a new judgment.
The Reeve
Not two days. The magistrate has ordered you brought before him at once, Timothy, and the village accusation will be heard with the festival matter.
The reeve unlocks the stocks but leaves the heavy cangue fastened. A chain is fixed to its front, turning release from the timber into a guarded removal rather than freedom.
Perrin
That is worse. He cannot even walk properly with his shoulder injured. You said no one would worsen the harm.
The Reeve
I said no one would strike him. The order does not promise comfort, and the magistrate will decide whether Blackthorn keeps him afterward.
The townsfolk press closer behind the warning line, eager for the hearing. Perrin remains beside Timothy with the cup, while the reeve prepares to drag the cangue from the stocks toward the magistrate’s hall.
“I submit to being dragged through the streets with the cangue round my neck.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +3)
The reeve takes the dragging chain and pulls. Timothy submits his weight to the cangue, letting its rough wood press his injured shoulder as he is drawn from the stocks into the street.
Timothy
The chain is fixed to the cangue, and the hall lies ahead.
He does not stumble or resist. Unyielding Penance turns the cangue’s pressure into a rhythm he can endure, while his Legendary Willpower keeps his steps measured through the village road.
Perrin
Give him slack at the corner. He is walking as ordered, and the chain need not tear at him.
The reeve shortens his pull but does not stop. Timothy passes the square beneath the townsfolk’s stares, submitting to the guarded removal exactly as ordered.
The Reeve
He has crossed the street without a struggle. Mark that for the magistrate: the prisoner cooperated throughout.
The magistrate’s hall comes into view, and Timothy arrives before its doors still fastened in the cangue. The reeve’s recorded admission gives his conduct a favorable witness before the hearing begins.
✓ Quest Accepted
Convince the magistrate Timothy is a scoundrel
− Scene Quest Removed
Survive the two-day display in the stocks without serious injury
“I present myself as a dangerous scoundrel before the magistrate.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Oratory, rolled +0)
The reeve hauls Timothy through the magistrate’s doorway. Behind a broad oak table, the local magistrate, a stern elderly woman with silver hair, a dark wool gown, and a scar across one cheek, studies the cangue and chain.
Timothy
I am a dangerous scoundrel, magistrate. I deceive, manipulate, and turn every authority against the next. If you leave me unwatched, I will make use of your mercy.
The confession is delivered without pleading. Timothy’s small frame remains locked in timber, but his measured voice makes the warning sound deliberate rather than boastful, and the reeve’s hand stills on the chain.
The Local Magistrate
You present yourself as a threat while already restrained. That is either remarkable candor or an attempt to make me fear granting you ordinary process.
The magistrate rises and comes around the table, inspecting the lock, Timothy’s scraped shoulder, and the chain’s attachment without touching him. Her attention settles on his face.
The Local Magistrate
Very well. I accept the danger you claim, and I will record you as a willing deceiver under examination, not as a harmless captive. The hearing begins under my authority.
The reeve’s account and the chain are entered into the magistrate’s ledger. Timothy’s performance succeeds: before the hearing has properly opened, the magistrate treats him as a dangerous scoundrel whose words require guarded attention.
Quest Complete
Convince the magistrate Timothy is a scoundrel