Tuiwen slips from the thick trees to the cracked edge of the Old Forest Road. Moss swallows the stones, and a fallen log lies half-rotted beside the verge.
Behind it crouches a man in weathered leathers, one hand lifted in warning. His eyes flick to the road, then to the dark between the trunks.
The Scout
Low, my lady. Keep your head down.
He shifts aside just enough to make room, never rising above the log.
The Scout
I am Eldred, from the western holds. I have watched that same dark shape for three days, circling the road as if it knows a prize waits here.
Tuiwen
...
Eldred
If you mean to pass, do not go alone. It keeps to cover, and it is cleverer than wolf or warg.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what the dark shape is
✓ Quest Accepted
Gain Eldred’s aid against the shadow
“"Then we shall see which of us is the more clever." She readies her bow and prepares a spell of blinding light, planning to first blind the thing, then skewer it with an arrow. She waits patiently for it to show itself.”
SUCCESS (Great Ranged Weapons, rolled +0)
Tuiwen lifts her bow in a smooth, practiced motion. Pale light gathers at her free hand, thin as moon frost, while the white bark snagged on the thorn flashes in the dark brush ahead.
Tuiwen
Then we shall see which of us is the more clever.
She waits without moving, the nocked arrow steady. The forest answers with a scrape in the undergrowth, then a sudden stumble into the open road.
Eldred
Now, my lady, now! It wears a man’s cloak, but it is no man.
Tuiwen’s light bursts white and hard across the verge. In that glare, the shadow recoils, and a woodland shape twists into sight with too-long limbs and a face that is wrong in the manner of a mask.
Eldred
By the green hills... it is guiding us. I have seen its marks near the Woodmen’s path, always before trouble follows.
Eldred rises from behind the log, arrow half-drawn, no longer hiding. The thing jerks back into the trees, but not before one hand points east, toward the Woodmen lands.
Eldred
Let me come with you, lady of the halls. If this creature is planting fear along the road, we strike at the lie together.
“"As it happens, I am headed west, not east. I do not follow the advice of nameless shadows. It may follow me if it dares. Your company would also be welcome."”
SUCCESS (Good Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Tuiwen
As it happens, I am headed west, not east. I do not follow the advice of nameless shadows. Your company would be welcome.
Eldred
Then I come west with you, my lady. If it misleads the Woodmen, I would rather meet it with my bow than hear of it from a burned home.
Eldred
Three days I have watched it. Too patient for an ordinary beast, too clever for a mere spy.
He lowers the drawn arrow and steps from behind the fallen log, keeping his gaze on the dark trees as if they might answer him back.
Eldred
I have seen its marks near the Woodmen’s path. It turns fear itself like a knife. If you seek the source, I know where it presses hardest.
The white glare fades to a cool, trembling wash. The twisted shape is gone, but the bark on the thorn still gleams like a small warning tooth.
Eldred
We should not stay rooted here. Tell me, lady of the halls, do you want the road west, or the place where its lies begin?
Quest Complete
Gain Eldred’s aid against the shadow
Skill Upgrade: Ranged Weapons Great→Superb