The pressure in the birches suddenly stills. A mud-stained pilgrim hurries down from the hill villages, clutching a cracked silver charm as the unseen presence gathers beyond the trees.
the pilgrim
Please, keep back. It followed me from the shrine.
The pilgrim sees Kyouko and stumbles. The charm strikes the roadstones, and the unseen presence recoils with a sound like splitting ice, shaking leaves from the white branches.
the antlered creature
Do not touch it. Whatever hunts the road fears that silver, and fear may make it desperate.
Hoofbeats answer from the eastern bend. A broad-shouldered gatewarden in weathered mail arrives with a hooked staff raised, placing herself between the pilgrim and the road.
the gatewarden
You bring an omen onto my road, pilgrim. Drop nothing else, and tell me why the village shrine gave you a broken charm.
Beyond the birches, something presses against the unseen boundary again. The charm’s cracks glow faintly, while the pilgrim stares between Kyouko, the gatewarden, and the waiting forest.
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect the village from the pursuing presence
✓ Quest Accepted
Discover why the village shrine gave the pilgrim a broken silver charm
“"I sensed something in the woods, but my mind was preocupied with other matters. As it didn't attack, I didn't feel it a threat. Maybe it was just hunting for prey, and it didn't feel I was worth the effort." I scan the area around with my senses, getting ready for a fight, if one happens.”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +0)
Kyouko stills beside the old road, ears turning toward every rustle. She scans the birches, the eastern bend, and the shadowed ground while shifting into a guarded stance.
Kyouko
The presence is outside the road's unseen boundary, circling rather than striking.
Her senses catch a low distortion between the trunks, moving after the pilgrim's trail. It is hunting, but its attention avoids her and the silver charm.
As Kyouko adjusts her footing, a hidden thorn tears across her gloved knuckles. The sting draws a bright bead of blood and makes the nearby leaves snap.
the gatewarden
You sensed it, then. Good. Keep your eyes on the trees, not the pilgrim.
the pilgrim
It followed the shrine path exactly as you say. It never crossed the ward, but it kept searching for me.
the antlered creature
The boundary holds for now. Your watch has found its course, Kyouko, though your blood may have announced that you are awake.
“My instincts tell me healing my own hand should be a trivial task, and the pain may distract me. I choose to heal myself, using a power I'm instinctively aware is there, but haven't used yet.”
SUCCESS (Good Healing, rolled +1)
Kyouko lowers her injured hand and focuses past the sting. Something warm answers within her, gathering beneath the skin like sunlight through shallow water.
Kyouko
The power is there, and it knows where the damage is.
A soft green radiance threads between her fingers. The bead of blood vanishes, the torn skin closes, and the ache drains away until only clean, unbroken leather remains.
the gatewarden
Healing craft? You found that instinctively. Keep your hand raised a moment, and tell me if the pain returns.
the pilgrim
The shrine never gave me such a blessing. Perhaps the road brought you here for more than chance.
the antlered creature
A power awakened by need, Kyouko. Remember its shape, its warmth, and the quiet command beneath it. Such knowledge may serve you again.
The last green light fades from Kyouko’s knuckles. Beyond the ward, the unseen presence continues circling, but the road party has witnessed her first healing without interruption.
“I turn to the gatewarden. "Are those of my kin a usual sight in these parts?" I decide not to reveal my origins to them, not yet at least, but I'm curious if I'm someone who strayed far from her usual region.”
FAILURE (Fair Persuasion, rolled -2)
“I turn to the gatewarden. "Are those of my kin a usual sight in these parts?" I decide not to reveal my origins to them, not yet at least, but I'm curious if I'm someone who strayed far from her usual region.”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +2)
Kyouko
Are those of my kin a usual sight in these parts?
The gatewarden studies Kyouko's ears and tail without lowering her hooked staff. Beyond the road, the unseen presence continues its slow circuit beyond the ward.
the gatewarden
Catkin? Not in these hill villages. Traders speak of clans in the southern cedarlands, and a few wander the western roads, but you are no common sight here.
the pilgrim
I have seen painted travelers from the south, though never one who came from the birch country.
the antlered creature
Then the road has carried you far from any region where your kin gather, Kyouko. That does not tell us whether you strayed willingly.
The gatewarden's stern expression eases by a fraction. She gestures toward the western road, where the hills descend toward distant valleys and older trade paths.
the gatewarden
If you seek others like yourself, ask in Brackenridge first. Its market hears every road's rumor, and no one there will mistake rarity for guilt.
“"I will keep that in mind," I say, "but for now I'll focus on dealing with the threat stalking us." I look at the silver charm. "Are the kind of creatures who would fear silver ones that can be harmed by physical means?"”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +0)
Kyouko
I will keep that in mind, but for now I'll focus on dealing with the threat stalking us. Are creatures that fear silver capable of being harmed by physical means?
Kyouko’s gaze settles on the cracked silver charm. Beyond the ward, the unseen presence circles through the birches, its passage bending grass and stirring leaves.
the gatewarden
Yes. Silver wards and silver wounds are not the same thing. A spear, blade, or staff can harm such creatures if you can strike what has entered the world.
the antlered creature
The charm reveals its nature, not its flesh. It recoiled from the silver, but that does not make ordinary weapons useless.
the pilgrim
At the shrine, it never crossed the stones. I saw branches break when it chased me, though no body showed itself.
The gatewarden lowers her hooked staff until its iron tip points toward the eastern bend. The charm’s glow dims, while the circling distortion pauses beyond the boundary.
the gatewarden
If it manifests, strike the shape you see. Until then, keep the ward between you and it, and do not mistake invisibility for invulnerability.
“I prepare to fight it. My instincts tell me the reason I carry no weapons, is that my own limbs are my best weapon. I know this body is stronger than it would logically be expected of it, so whatever beast it is that's stalking, if I see it, I'll punch it as hard as I can.”
SUCCESS (Great Brawl, rolled +3)
Kyouko settles into a low stance, wrapping her fingers into fists. Her balance sharpens, and the strength beneath her small frame gathers without strain.
the gatewarden
Hold until it crosses the ward. Then give it no room to vanish.
The distortion lunges from the eastern birches. Silver light catches its outline at last: a long, antlered shadow with too many jointed limbs, forcing itself through the boundary.
Kyouko meets it before it can reach the pilgrim. Her fist drives into the revealed shape with startling force, and the creature crashes sideways through fern and leaf.
the pilgrim
By the shrine, you struck the thing as though you had trained for this all your life!
The beast recoils, its outline flickering, but a dark imprint marks the place Kyouko hit. The cracked charm flares and fixes its form within the ward.
the gatewarden
Excellent. The charm has pinned it to the world. Now we can see exactly where to strike.
“I strike again, aiming for its head this time, the force I felt in my previous blow should be enough to at least keep it stunned.”
SUCCESS (Great Brawl, rolled +0)
Kyouko pivots through the beast’s flickering outline and drives her second fist toward its head, carrying the same startling force as before.
The blow lands squarely. The antlered shadow’s limbs buckle, its pinned form folding against the road as the silver charm flashes overhead.
the gatewarden
Good strike. Keep your distance now. A stunned creature may still lash out when it wakes.
the pilgrim
It has gone still. The shrine’s ward never held it so completely.
The beast lies motionless within the boundary, its many-jointed silhouette dimming to a cold, smoky outline. The dark mark from Kyouko’s first blow remains fixed beneath its head.
the antlered creature
You have bought us a quiet moment, Kyouko. Now we may learn whether it came from the shrine, or merely followed the pilgrim from there.
“I ask the pilgrim what happened at the shrine”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +2)
Kyouko
What happened at the shrine? Why did it follow you from there?
The pilgrim swallows and lowers the cracked charm slightly. The beast remains still beneath the silver glow, while frostlike shadows fade from its outline.
the pilgrim
I went to the hill shrine at dawn to leave an offering. The shrine bell rang once, though no hand touched it, and every flame went blue.
the pilgrim
Then the wardstones split. This charm fell from the altar, already cracked, and the thing emerged behind me. I ran when it began following my steps.
The pilgrim turns the charm over, revealing a faint symbol beneath the tarnish: a crowned flame enclosed by a broken circle.
the gatewarden
That mark belongs to the shrine's oldest seal. If it broke before the creature appeared, the shrine may be the source, not merely its refuge.
the antlered creature
And the waystone showed Kyouko a crowned flame. These signs may share an older road, though the shrine's keepers must answer for what they awakened.