Before the guild attendant can finish handling the notice, a travel-stained young adult man, lean and sharp-faced, with weather-browned skin and a thin scar at his jaw, stumbles through the opened doors. His ash-gray cloak is torn, his dark hair plastered with rain, and black-feathered seals spill from his clenched bundle onto the threshold.
Sereth Vey
Do not bar these doors. I am Sereth Vey, herald for the power advancing upon your borders. Hear the terms before your rulers make corpses of your people.
His knees strike the stone. The bundle opens completely, scattering black seals across the threshold, while the attendant catches the urgent notice against her chest and backs away from him.
Sereth Vey
Abandon resistance, and the city keeps its homes, its coin, and its living. Refuse, and the force behind me advances without mercy. These terms are generous because surrender need not be ruin.
One black-feathered seal rolls to Inkei's hooves. Its wax bears the same angular mark pressed into the guild's red-sealed request, binding the promised work to the herald's approaching threat.
The Guild Attendant
You chose a remarkable moment to arrive. Sereth, if that is your name, explain why your message carries the mark on my sealed request.
Sereth Vey
Because your request was never merely a rescue call. It is the first warning of what is coming. Read it, little mage, and decide whether the guild serves the city or sacrifices it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine whether the city can be protected from the approaching force
Director's note
if under 100,000 then yes if over 300,000 than maybe if over 500,000 than no
“Inkei asks how large are the forces”
FAILURE (Poor Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Inkei Hitori
How large are the forces advancing on the city?
The question lands plainly, but the herald's guarded posture closes around it. The guild attendant watches him over the notice, unwilling to let either message escape her hands.
Sereth Vey
Large enough that counting them will not save your city. Small enough that your rulers may still mistake numbers for certainty.
He gathers several black seals with shaking fingers, keeping the rest scattered between himself and the door. The angular mark flashes whenever the lamplight catches its wax.
The Guild Attendant
That is not an answer. Give a number, or admit you came to frighten us instead of warn us.
Sereth Vey
I was not entrusted with a tally. I know only this: their vanguard can surround the outer wards before dawn, and their strength follows behind it.
The answer offers no usable count and turns the question toward the sealed request. The attendant lowers the notice slightly, now weighing the herald's warning against the danger of opening it.
Director's note
if under 100,000 then yes if over 300,000 than maybe if over 500,000 than no
“Inkei asks how large are the forces”
SUCCESS (Superb Perception, rolled +1)
Inkei studies Sereth instead of the scattered seals. His hesitation is measured, not evasive panic; the herald knows the force's shape, but not its full muster. The warning is credible.
Inkei Hitori
He is withholding a tally, but he is not lying about the danger.
The seals confirm what his voice conceals: many detachments, not an endless host. Inkei's sharp reading places the advancing force well below a hundred thousand, yet large enough to choke the outer wards before dawn.
The Guild Attendant
Then the number matters less than the timing. If the vanguard reaches the wards before first bell, every district becomes a battlefield.
Sereth Vey
Now you understand. They do not need a hundred thousand blades. They need only enough to make your walls choose where to fail.
The guild attendant's grip tightens around the red-sealed request. The angular mark on its wax matches the herald's seals exactly, and the connection is no longer merely suspicious.
The Guild Attendant
Fine. The request is opened under witness. Read it, both of you, and tell me what the guild is expected to prevent before dawn.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine what the guild must prevent before dawn
Director's note
opens the letter
“a large army of many monsters have joined together to take over kingdoms seeming to be lead by a powerful sorcerer, this person has access to many dragons, serpants, and hyrdras the guild must fight agaisnts what is most likely certain death”
FAILURE (Great Reasoning, rolled -2)
Director's note
opens the letter
“a large army of many monsters have joined together to take over kingdoms seeming to be lead by a powerful sorcerer, this person has access to many dragons, serpants, and hyrdras the guild must fight agaisnts what is most likely certain death”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled -1)
Inkei opens the red-sealed request beneath the attendant’s watch. The parchment lists a united monster host: dragons, serpents, and hydras gathered beneath one sorcerous command, advancing to seize kingdoms.
Inkei Hitori
The threat is coordinated, not a wandering horde. Its commander has enough creatures to break kingdoms, but not enough to make resistance meaningless.
The letter’s requested aid is not a rescue expedition. It asks the guild to identify the host’s route, delay its vanguard, and preserve the outer wards until the kingdoms can muster resistance.
The Guild Attendant
This is an invasion notice disguised as a rescue request. The guild was being asked to hold a border against a force built to overwhelm it.
Sereth Vey
Not disguised. Delayed. The first wards fall before dawn unless someone reaches the command’s path and breaks its timing.
The conclusion settles with grim clarity: this is near-certain death for an ordinary guild party, yet the host remains below the scale that would make every kingdom helpless. The letter gives no reliable count of dragons, serpents, or hydras, and studying its cramped route marks costs precious minutes.
The Guild Attendant
Now we know what the guild must fight. We still do not know whether anyone can survive long enough to make the attempt.
Quest Complete
Determine what the guild must prevent before dawn