Smoke rolls over the farmstead, thick and bitter. Flames lick the roof beams, and the yard glows orange through the ash.
Talya strides into the light, silver dress streaked with soot, gold eyes catching on a shape half-hidden by the well.
A body lies there, dragged too far to be mistaken for sleep. One boot scrapes the dirt. Fresh tracks cut toward the cellar door.
The Rogue
Easy now. You are too late to help the dead, and too early to judge the living.
He straightens from the cellar steps, a charming grin fixed in place, one hand still wrapped around the corpse’s wrist. His cloak is singed. His other hand hovers near a belt knife.
The Rogue
I am keeping this land safe. Something foul was here, and I meant to bury it before it spread.
Behind him, the cellar door hangs open on dark hinges. A gust of heat drives sparks across the yard, and the fire answers with a hungry crackle.
Talya
The body was moved after the fire started.
The rogue’s smile thins as he notices Talya watching the dragged marks, the broken latch, and the blood on his sleeve. He shifts his stance, no longer sure whether to bluff, bolt, or reach for steel.
The Rogue
If you have sense, you will leave this place and let me finish what I started.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn the rogue’s motive for the murder
“I step closer to him and growl. If you don't want to be a midnight snack you will tell me what you are doing here it be a long run and I am hungry speak quickly”
SUCCESS (Superb Intimidation, rolled +1)
Talya closes the distance, and the rogue’s grin finally breaks. He lifts both hands, palms out, like he expects a blow and wants to bargain with it.
Talya
If you do not want to be a midnight snack, you will tell me what you are doing here. Speak quickly.
The Rogue
All right, all right. I came for the cellar, not the dead. The body was already a problem when I got here.
He swallows, eyes flicking to the open hatch as the fire mutters behind him. His voice drops, stripped of charm.
The Rogue
They hid something under this farm, something that should never have been dug up. I killed him because he would not stop shouting that it was waking.
The rogue jerks his chin toward the cellar, then toward the corpse. The question hanging between them is no longer whether he did it, but what woke below.
“Well that sounds like murder. And not a very good reason to kill. If it shouldn't be dug up why are you trying to take it”
SUCCESS (Superb Intimidation, rolled +1)
Talya
Well, that sounds like murder. And not a very good reason to kill.
Talya
If it should not be dug up, why are you trying to take it?
The Rogue
Because I was paid to. Not by the dead man.
The Rogue
By the woman who owns the land. She said the thing below was a family curse, and if anyone in the house woke it, she wanted it gone before the village blamed her.
The Rogue
He lowers his hands a little, swallowing hard. "I came to seize it, not feed it. Then he saw me, screamed, and ran for the cellar hatch. I struck him once. He fell wrong."
The Rogue
I never meant for the fire to become part of it. I only wanted the job done, and the thing hidden again.
The Rogue
If you want the full truth, then ask me what is still breathing below the floor.
Quest Complete
Learn the rogue’s motive for the murder
Skill Upgrade: Intimidation Superb→Legendary
“How about we go see what it is together. She I say with a toothy grin. That told him he didn't hava a option”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intimidation, rolled -1)
Talya's grin flashes white in the firelight as she turns the rogue’s own fear back on him. The ash between them stirs with her movement, and the cellar hatch seems to wait for both of them.
Talya
How about we go see what it is together.
The rogue goes still. His shoulders sag, but he does not laugh it off this time.
The Rogue
She is not asking.
The Rogue
...Aye. Together, then.
He glances once at the open hatch, then back to Talya, as if measuring whether the darkness below will be worse with her beside him.
The Rogue
If we find what the old woman paid to bury, I want my name clear of this. And if I lied to you before, it was because I was already in too deep.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what the rogue is hiding beneath the farm
“Boy how old are you. I say sniffing at him. I finaly got a good look at his face now that he was looking up at me. He seemed young”
SUCCESS (Fair Perception, rolled +0)
Talya leans in close enough to catch the rogue's breath over the smoke. His face is younger than his voice has been trying to sound, all hollow cheeks and soot-streaked fear, with a thin cut across one brow.
Talya
Boy, how old are you?
The rogue blinks at the bluntness, then gives a short, bitter huff that almost becomes a laugh. He wipes one dirty thumb under his nose, then thinks better of it when Talya keeps staring.
The Rogue
Nineteen. Old enough to dig a grave, not old enough to survive the sort of bargain that brought me here.
Ash sifts down from the blackened beams. His eyes flick to Talya's gold gaze, and the answer seems to cost him more than he wants to show.
The Rogue
I was hired to keep the thing below quiet. That is all I meant to do, until the dead man heard it moving and tried to run.
The rogue swallows hard, voice thinning at the edge. 'If you want the rest, I'll give it. But I need to know whether you mean to hear me out, or drag me to the village in chains.'
“You are young. I will not drag you back to the village but you will be coming with me. I will not let you die”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled -1)
Talya
You are young. I will not drag you back to the village, but you are coming with me. I will not let you die.
The rogue goes still, as if the words hit harder than a blade. He drags in a shaky breath, then nods once, quick and tight. No chains, no village, just the cellar.
The Rogue
Then I am yours to the hatch, at least. I was not lying about the thing below.
He steps aside from the open square of blackness, giving Talya the first look down. The smoke thins at the lip, but the cold rising from below is wrong against the firelit air.
The Rogue
My price was to keep it quiet. I broke that bargain when I killed him. I only wanted another day.
His hand trembles once, then he clenches it hard enough to hide it. Somewhere under the floorboards, something answers with a low, dull thud.
The Rogue
If you still mean to go down, say the word. I will open it wider.
“Well then. What are we waiting for. I say spanking a small red flame in the palm of my hand with my chaos magic.”
SUCCESS (Good Arcana, rolled +1)
Talya
Well then. What are we waiting for.
Talya lifts her palm, and a small red flame gathers there, not born cleanly so much as snapped into being. It flickers once, then steadies, painting her silver dress in ember light.
The Rogue
By the gods... there. That is what I could not face alone.
The rogue’s eyes lock on the flame, then on the open hatch. The cold from below rolls up harder, stirring ash at Talya’s feet while the fire on the farmstead gutters at the edges.
The Rogue
I was hired to bury a family curse. Under this farm, there is a bound thing, old as the land. The dead man heard it moving.
He swallows, and the truth lands with him. Whatever waits below is not a rumor now, but a name for the fear in his face.
The Rogue
If you want the rest, we go down together. If you do not, it stays under the boards with us standing over it.
Quest Complete
Learn what the rogue is hiding beneath the farm
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Great→Superb
+ New Item Acquired
Small red flame