The ember-bowl burns low as Sophia Honorforge sorts hatchets, wrapped food, waterskins, and spare bowstrings beside the root passage. The enforcer remains unconscious nearby.
the fairy
The farm changes guards at sunrise and dusk. Four watch the gate, while two patrol the drying fields and the eastern fence.
The fairy traces a route in spilled ash, marking the riverbank, a collapsed footbridge, and a narrow path hidden beneath thorn vines.
Sophia Honorforge
Then we take the thorn path. It keeps us unseen, and I can carry enough steel to give those guards a poor evening.
the old hermit
Sophia, Lady, and the fairy go. I stay here with the refuge and this prisoner. Someone must hold the roots.
the fairy
There is a bell beside the main shed. If it rings, the captives are moved underground. We must reach them before that signal.
Sophia closes her pack and rests one hand on her hammer. Beyond the roots, wind combs the pines, carrying no patrol calls yet, but the silence feels borrowed.
“"Well, what are we waiting for? Sophia, do not tell you're frightened. I've known you since we were children, it would be unlike you."”
FAILURE (Mediocre Persuasion, rolled -2)
Lady
Well, what are we waiting for? Sophia, do not tell me you're frightened. I've known you since we were children. It would be unlike you.
Sophia Honorforge
Frightened? No. Irritated, perhaps, that you mistake preparation for fear.
Sophia tightens the straps on her pack and lifts her hammer. The tease earns no hesitation from her, only a sharper division of duties beside the ash-marked route.
Sophia Honorforge
You take point through the thorn path. Fairy, stay between us and guide every turn. I will handle anything that blocks our way.
the fairy
The vines part only where the river stones are pale. Step elsewhere, and they catch at armor, packs, everything.
The old hermit pushes the waterskins toward them, while the ember-bowl gutters behind his shoulder. The narrow route now demands silence and careful footing, not another challenge.
the old hermit
Go before the borrowed silence ends. Bring those fairies back, and leave the king's bell waiting for dawn.
✓ Quest Accepted
Depart the hideout with Sophia and the fairy
“*Lady leaves the hideout first. She looks around, making sure there's nothing and no one nearby...*”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +0)
Lady slips from beneath the tangled roots first, placing each hoof on the pale river stones. Cold pine air brushes her scars as she scans the dark.
Lady
The path is clear. No patrol waits beyond the roots.
She studies the treeline, the slope, and the faint gaps between black trunks. No lantern-glow moves there, and no boot crunch disturbs the borrowed silence.
Sophia Honorforge
Anything?
Lady finds no watcher, snare, or fresh trail near the entrance. Behind her, Sophia emerges with hammer ready, while the fairy hovers low beside the thorn-marked route.
the fairy
Nothing follows us. The pale stones continue east, beneath the thorn vines.
Sophia Honorforge
Then we move. Quietly, and before sunrise gives the farm its changing guard.
Quest Complete
Depart the hideout with Sophia and the fairy