Kekona steps out from the shattered tavern into the village square. Cold smoke drifts low over cobbles, and the well stands in the center like a dark tooth beneath the dusk.
Near the well, a knot of survivors flinches together, faces white with dust and terror. One woman with a lantern and ash on her braid edges in front of the others, trying to look braver than she feels.
The Ash-Braided Woman
Stay back. Please... take what you want and leave the rest.
The broken tavern doors creak behind Kekona as the square falls silent around her. The survivors glance at one another, weighing flight against the open ground and the manticore's shadow.
The Ash-Braided Woman
If she reaches the well first, we are lost.
The nearest survivor makes a sudden dash for a side lane, boots skidding on blood-slick stone. The others recoil, waiting to see whether Kekona gives chase or claims the group where they stand.
✓ Quest Accepted
Devour the fleeing survivor
“Kekona's instincts make her chase after the fleeing survivor.”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled +1)
Kekona springs after the fleeing figure, long limbs driving hard over the blood-slick stones. Her shadow swallows the lane mouth as the runner glances back in fresh panic.
The survivor stumbles, and Kekona closes the gap in a blur of fur and claws. The square behind them shrinks away, the well and the clustered survivors left staring after the chase.
Kekona reaches the runner at the lane entrance and drives them down before they can vanish into the dark passage.
The Fleeing Survivor
No, please, please...
The Ash-Braided Woman recoils from the well, lantern trembling in her hand as the others huddle tighter behind her.
The Ash-Braided Woman
Do not let her take another!
Kekona holds the fleeing survivor at the lane mouth, with the square and the last survivors pinned in plain sight behind her. The next move hangs in the cold air.
“Kekona, predictably, devours the pinned survivor.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Mauling, rolled -1)
Kekona closes her jaws around the pinned survivor and heaves once, hard. The runner’s struggle snaps short beneath her claws.
Blood slicks the lane mouth as she tears free her prize, the square beyond briefly held in a frozen hush.
The Fleeing Survivor
No... not here...
The Ash-Braided Woman staggers a step from the well, lantern quivering, while the remaining survivors recoil behind her.
The Ash-Braided Woman
Run if you can, hide if you can, just do something!
Kekona lifts her head from the lane, the survivor gone still in her grasp, and turns that predatory stare back toward the lantern light.
Quest Complete
Devour the fleeing survivor
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Great→Superb