Three refugees gather beside the stone basin, travel-worn but unharmed. One is a middle-aged woman in a soot-streaked brown cloak, with a sturdy build, a lined face, and dark hair braided beneath the hood; beside her stand a thin young man with a torn green scarf and an older woman wrapped in gray wool.
the Woodland courier
Speak one at a time, and tell us only what you witnessed. I will set your account beside the road marks and preserve every uncertainty.
The Woodland courier opens his record book. The three refugees exchange a wary glance, then the woman with the ash-streaked cloak steps closer to the basin.
Refugee 1
We saw the dragon walking east. Beneath its folded wing it carried a dark burden, sealed against the light. We could not tell whether it guarded the thing or feared it.
The young man confirms her account with a sharp nod, while the older woman points toward the eastern ridges. Neither adds a name, mark, or claim of purpose to the burden.
the Woodland courier
Then the dragon turned toward the eastern borders carrying something sealed and dark. That is a concrete lead, not proof of allegiance or intent.
He records the testimony beside the refugees’ route and the dragon’s clean passage. The eastern road now offers a direction to follow, while the burden’s nature remains concealed.
“"Dragons do not walk when they can fly. Was it injured?”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
Tuiwen
Dragons do not walk when they can fly. Was it injured? Tell me how it moved, and what you saw of its wings and limbs.
The three refugees turn fully toward Tuiwen. Her question narrows the account from rumor to witnessed movement, while Eyes of the Unseen draws attention to every remembered detail in their faces and gestures.
Refugee 1
It favored its left side. The left wing stayed folded tightly, and that foreleg touched the ground after the other three. Its steps were slow, but steady.
Refugee 2
I saw no blood, and it did not stumble. When ash blew across the road, it shifted its weight carefully before taking another step.
Unerring Truth Seeker separates agreement from embellishment: both witnesses describe the same guarded left side, while neither saw an open wound. Oath-Bound restraint forbids turning that absence into proof of no injury.
Refugee 3
Its wing opened once when it reached the stones. The motion was uneven, and it closed the wing quickly. Then it walked east instead of flying.
The accounts establish a recent injury or impairment affecting the dragon’s left wing or foreleg, a massive dark-scaled beast with a long horned head, four powerful legs, and a broad folded wing, though not its cause or severity. Tuiwen now knows why it walked, and which direction it took.
“"Did the dragon say anything? Did it make any demands?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Perception, rolled -2)
Tuiwen
Did the dragon say anything? Did it make any demands?
Eyes of the Unseen returns Tuiwen to the road’s smallest details: no throat-call, shaped word, or gesture of command escaped the refugees’ attention. Unerring Truth Seeker separates their shared silence from uncertainty about what they could not hear.
Refugee 1
No words. It made a low sound when it shifted its weight, but it did not call to us or demand anything.
Refugee 2
It looked toward the dark burden beneath its wing when the sound came. I saw no sign that it wanted us to approach, flee, or carry a message.
Refugee 3
Nothing was demanded of us. We kept still, and it passed east. We heard only its breathing and the scrape of its steps.
The answer is clear: no speech and no demand were witnessed. Oath-Bound restraint leaves the dragon’s silence unconverted into goodwill, while the extra questioning costs the fading daylight needed to reach the eastern road before nightfall.
“"Do you know why it damaged the shelter? Was it looking for something?2”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Tuiwen
Do you know why it damaged the shelter? Was it looking for something?
The refugees confer only briefly. Tuiwen’s Sovereign Heritage lends her question quiet authority, while Unerring Truth Seeker keeps their answer anchored to what each actually witnessed.
Refugee 1
It circled the shelter once, then lowered its head to the hearth and the stone basin. It clawed at the hearthstones, not at us, as though searching beneath them.
Refugee 2
The dragon found nothing there. Afterward it pressed its snout to the empty jars and smelled the ashes. It seemed to seek water, or something hidden where water had been kept.
Refugee 3
There was no treasure that we saw, and no person concealed inside. When it heard movement in the mountains, it stopped searching and turned east toward the cleft.
The accounts align: the damage came from a deliberate search of the hearth and basin, not an attack on the shelter’s occupants. Oath-Bound restraint keeps Tuiwen from naming the object sought, but the refugees give her a firm answer: the dragon was looking for something connected with water or the hidden stores, then abandoned the search when the mountain sound drew it east.
“"Strange. A fire dragon does not fear ashes, and it needs water only seldom. This one appears to be in difficult circumstances. Something afflicts it. But I must ask if you are also afflicted. I am returning your bundle, which contains baby blankets. You are not missing any babies, I hope? If you are in need of provisions, we can share some of ours. I believe I still have some lembas bread from Lothlorian, and I don't think you will be tasting that again soon."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +1)
Tuiwen
Strange. A fire dragon does not fear ashes, and it needs water only seldom. Something afflicts it. But are you also afflicted?
Tuiwen returns the abandoned bundle to the three refugees, setting its baby blankets and marked leather carefully into their hands. Protector of the Kin makes the gesture practical, while Sovereign Heritage lends her offer calm authority.
Tuiwen
You are not missing any babies, I hope? If you need provisions, we can share ours. I believe I still have lembas bread from Lothlórien, and I doubt you will taste it again soon.
Refugee 1
No babies are missing. The blankets were ours, kept for the road. And yes, Princess, we have eaten little since the fire.
The young man accepts the bundle with both hands, and the older woman checks the blankets before drawing them close. Tuiwen’s Diplomacy turns concern into trust without pressing them beyond what they can answer.
the Woodland courier
I will enter the returned bundle and the shared provisions in the road record, separately from their testimony. No child is missing, and their need is witnessed.
The Woodland courier opens the ration packs while Tuiwen offers the lembas. Oath-Bound restraint keeps her concern from becoming an unsupported claim about the dragon, yet the refugees receive food, shelter, and the bundle before nightfall.
“"Can you find your way home without assistance?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled -1)
Tuiwen
Can you find your way home without further assistance?
Tuiwen’s question is gentle and exact. Protector of the Kin makes the offer attentive to their safety, while Oath-Bound restraint keeps her from promising escort or assuming their destination is secure.
Refugee 1
Yes, Princess. We know the king’s road and the next refuge. With the food and bundle returned, we can reach our people without troubling you further.
The young man nods, tightening the marked leather around the blankets. The older woman points north along the road, where the last light catches the blue-painted posts.
Refugee 2
We will stay together and follow the marked road. The spring and the next shelter are known to us, and we can reach them before resting.
the Woodland courier
Their route is clear, their provisions are restored, and all three agree. I will record that they can proceed safely without our assistance.
The refugees gather their belongings and begin north together, steady and unhurried. Their safe route is settled, leaving Tuiwen and the courier free to turn toward the dragon’s eastern trail.
“Does the third refugee have wings like an angel?”
NO (VeryUnlikely, rolled 68)
The third refugee remains an older woman wrapped in gray wool, her ordinary shoulders visible beneath the cloak. No wings, feathered or otherwise, rise behind her like an angel’s.
Refugee 3
No, Princess. I have no wings. I am only a woman of the northern roads.
Her answer establishes nothing supernatural about her body or lineage. The gray wool hides no folded pinions, and the road dust marks her as a traveler, not a winged messenger.
the Woodland courier
Recorded plainly: the third witness has no wings and made no claim to possess them.
The young man glances toward her, then back to the eastern trail. Nothing in the testimony changes the dragon’s path, its sealed burden, or the uncertainty surrounding its purpose.
The refugees remain ordinary witnesses to an extraordinary passage. Their account stands: the dragon, an adult female fire dragon with a broad, muscular build and ember-red eyes, walked east, favored its left side, searched near water, and carried something dark beneath its wing.