The two listeners take the covered handcart's handles from the rear lane. Beneath its canvas, Reallipha's recipe book and bread remain secured as the bakery's last warmth fades behind them.
Unseen Listener 1
Stay close, baker. We will leave by the service lanes, then take the north road before the morning crowds gather.
The lean woman guides the cart while her broad-shouldered companion walks beside the canvas, watching each crossing. Univalv's waking streets open ahead in strips of pale gold.
Unseen Listener 2
The message came through a chain, not from either of us. Its sender knew your bakery, your habits, and the kind of help Yggknowtrell needs.
At the last southern gate, the cart passes beneath old ward-stones without challenge. Beyond the walls, fields and low hills unfold northward, while the road bears faint scars of recent magic.
Unseen Listener 1
When we reach Yggknowtrell, some will welcome bread and some will blame anyone carrying it. The town remembers promises better than faces.
Unseen Listener 2
Ask us again on the road, if you wish. Before Yggknowtrell, we should decide whether its people need a courier, a teacher, or someone willing to listen.
The gate slips behind them. With the bakery left stocked and unattended but secure, the three travelers follow the north road toward the broken town and its uncertain welcome.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify the sender and purpose of the sealed message
✓ Quest Accepted
Bring the wrapped baked goods to Yggknowtrell
Director's note
I say this as we continue to walk the path
“Well, since you are allowing me to ask again, what else does this sender know about me?”
SUCCESS (Great Reading Customers’ Moods, rolled -1)
Reallipha Vermonghul
What else does this sender know about me? My baking, my habits, or something beyond what any neighbor could tell them?
The cart rolls steadily beneath the morning sky. The lean woman keeps one hand on its handle while considering the question, her pace never breaking.
Unseen Listener 1
The sender knows your bakery opens before sunrise, that you follow the family book precisely, and that you leave food aside for those who cannot pay.
Unseen Listener 2
They also knew you would not abandon your neighborhood lightly. The message was chosen for someone who measures kindness carefully rather than spending it blindly.
The road bends between low fields silvered with dew. No answer suggests the sender knows Reallipha's private thoughts, only the visible pattern of a life lived consistently.
Unseen Listener 1
Beyond that, we cannot say. The sender knew your name, your trade, and your reputation for noticing sorrow. Nothing more was included in the chain.
“I see. But could I at least know a reasonably small, yet important trait about the sender themselves? Not trying to pry on your group's secrecy, I am simply asking for a little trivia. I hope that is alright with the both of you.”
SUCCESS (Good Diplomacy, rolled -1)
Reallipha Vermonghul
I see. Could I at least know one reasonably small, important trait about the sender? I am not prying into your group's secrecy, only asking for a little trivia. I hope that is all right with both of you.
The cart wheels whisper over the road. The lean woman glances toward her companion, and their brief exchange of looks carries more weight than the request seems to deserve.
Unseen Listener 1
One trait, then. The sender does not ask another person to bear a burden she would refuse herself. If she names a duty, she has already accepted its cost.
Unseen Listener 2
That is why people follow her, even when they distrust the road ahead. It is also why this small truth cannot travel beyond us. You now owe discretion for it, baker.
The answer is modest but meaningful: the sender leads by sharing the dangers she assigns. In exchange, the companions have placed a fresh obligation on Reallipha, making their confidence a favor owed.
Unseen Listener 1
We have given you what we safely can. Keep it close, and we will consider this question answered in good faith.
The road continues north beneath widening daylight. The cart's canvas shifts softly in the breeze, while the new detail settles beside the recipe book as another responsibility carried toward Yggknowtrell.
undefined / undefined
A tremor passes through the north road. Dew rises from the fields in shining beads, and the old magical scars beneath the stones flare violet for one breath.
Unseen Listener 1
Stop. Do not step across the scar until the light fades.
The cart halts hard enough to make the canvas shift. Beneath it, wrapped loaves slide against one another, while a thin line of violet fire crawls across the road ahead.
Unseen Listener 2
That was not here yesterday. The Zone is reaching farther south, or something has carried its influence along this road.
A nearby milestone bends like softened wax, its carved distance changing from two hundred and thirty miles to a jumble of unreadable marks. The fields remain still, but the road no longer feels trustworthy.
Unseen Listener 1
We wait for the road to settle, then choose the fields. Ilyra Venn asked us to reach Yggknowtrell, not to pretend danger is ordinary.
The violet line dims, leaving damp stones and a faint smell of rain. Beyond the road, a narrow grass track climbs toward the low hills, offering a slower but untouched route north.
“Let us not take any chances with Wild Magic, as much as it widens the timely gap to our designation, it would be safer to take the hills. (Me and my companions take the cart onto the grassy path)”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Agility, rolled +0)