The cellar settles into a damp hush. Soot drifts in the red ember-light, and the sealed seam sleeps beneath the floorboards. Talya stands over the rogue while the faint thumping below keeps time like a distant heart.
The rogue drags a sleeve across his face, then checks the seal again with shaking hands. Relief is there, but it does not quite hide the dread under it.
The Rogue
All right. I said I would name him. His name is Hobb, and he owns half the fields between here and the road.
The Rogue
He hired me to keep the old thing quiet, not to wake it. Said the family had fed it once, long ago, and that was meant to be the end of it.
He swallows hard, then looks up at Talya, the tremor in his hands easing as he finally says the words aloud.
The Rogue
I thought I was doing a hard job for a bad man. Instead I made a ruin of it. If you want the rest of the truth, I will give it to you.
✓ Quest Accepted
Hear the rogue’s full confession
✓ Quest Accepted
Decide whether the rogue is a liability
“Your going to do two things with me. You are going to tell me everything about this Hobb and why you. Your rather scrony runt and you are personally taking me to Hobb”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intimidation, rolled +0)
Talya leans in just enough to make the cellar feel smaller. The rogue flinches, then nods once, like the choice is already made for him.
Talya
You are going to do two things. You are going to tell me everything about Hobb, and you are taking me to him.
The Rogue
Yes. I will.
The Rogue
Hobb is the landowner. He set the work. He said the thing below was family trouble, old and hungry, and that if I kept it quiet, no one else would die for it.
His shoulders sag as the words spill out. He points toward the hatch with a hand that still shakes, then toward the road beyond the cellar as if the truth itself has a direction.
The Rogue
I can lead you there. I know the lane, the fields, and the house. If Hobb has answers, you will get them from his door, not from me.
The muffled thumping below stays sealed away, steady and distant. The rogue waits for Talya's next command, stripped of bluster, useful at last.