By dawn, Alerie, Mira, and Garran leave Veyrfen’s lower passages behind. Tovin remains safely upstairs at the Raven’s Cup, guarded by the tavern keeper, while the Old Forest Road winds into thinning mist.
An exhausted elderly man steps from the roadside bracken. Harlan, the gravekeeper of Grimwood, is thin and stooped beneath a patched charcoal cloak, with a weathered face, white brows, and a crooked iron lantern at his belt.
Harlan
Wait. Please. I have walked through the night to find a witcher.
Harlan lifts a fresh plank carved with a single name. The wood is pale and wet, its letters sharp enough to show recent work, though the name belongs to someone still living in Grimwood.
Harlan
My name is Harlan, gravekeeper of Grimwood. Our bell has begun ringing before midnight, and fresh graves bear the names of living villagers.
Harlan
Are you Garran, the witcher rumored to have broken Veyrfen’s curse? If so, Grimwood needs you before our bell chooses again.
“*Alerie looked at Garran determining whether or not he was going. If he did, She'd offer her assistance, it was rare to fine other witchers.* "What do you say?"”
SUCCESS (Fair Perception, rolled +1)
Alerie studies Garran in the gray dawn, her golden eyes measuring his silence. Harlan’s carved plank drips beside the road, the living name stark against the pale wood.
Alerie
What do you say? If you are going, I will offer my assistance. Other witchers are rare to find.
Garran looks from Alerie to the plank, then toward Grimwood’s distant black pines. His hand closes over the worn Wolf medallion at his throat.
Garran
I am going. A bell that names the living is not a gravekeeper’s problem alone, and I will not leave Harlan to face it without a blade.
Garran
Your assistance is accepted, Alerie. Two witchers may notice what one misses, especially when the dead begin borrowing the names of the living.
Harlan bows his head, relief briefly loosening his gaunt features. He turns toward the forest path, lifting the crooked lantern as morning mist gathers between the trees.
Harlan
Then follow me. Grimwood’s bell will ring again before the sun reaches its highest place.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach Grimwood
“*Alerie watched to make sure Mira made it to the cabin before turning to follow them both.*”
SUCCESS (Fair Perception, rolled +0)
Mira reaches the small cabin at the forest’s edge, where its keeper opens the door and draws her inside. Alerie watches until the girl is safely sheltered.
Garran
She is secure. Harlan is already halfway to Grimwood, and its bell will not wait for us.
Garran follows Harlan along the black-pine path. Harlan’s crooked lantern swings beside his patched cloak, casting weak gold across roots and wet stones.
Harlan
The cabin keeper owes me a favor. Mira will have food, dry blankets, and a barred door until we return.
Satisfied that Mira is inside and protected, Alerie turns from the cabin and catches up with them. Dawn pales the mist behind her.
Garran
Good. Grimwood lies beyond the next rise. Tell me what you noticed while watching the girl, if the bell left any trace.
Harlan
And keep your ears open. In Grimwood, the bells ring for the living. The dead do not need warning.
“*As they travelled Alerie ate pieces of venison she'd bought in another village, faster than she intended. She hadn't realized how hungry she was by the time they reached the grimwood night had fallen.*”
SUCCESS (Fair Agility, rolled -1)