Several days after the tribunal, Myk reaches Ashen-Hold’s Solder-Smithy with Elyra and Eli. Copper smoke rolls beneath the ribcage, while dwarf smiths hammer safer fittings for the witnesses’ covered carts.
Elyra
The witnesses leave by separate routes at dusk. These smiths can reinforce the cart axles without making the departure look like an evacuation.
Eli
And if anyone asks, we are repairing mining gear. Ashen-Hold believes whatever keeps the marrow moving.
A figure emerges through the forge smoke: a slim young drow woman with ash-stained skin, long white-silver hair, and faintly glowing amethyst eyes. Her damaged rune-blade hangs low in one hand.
Zalise Zephyr-Ashe
Elyra’s trail was subtle enough for allies and irritating enough for everyone else. I followed it because Moa’s agents are pressing my people near the town.
Zalise Zephyr-Ashe
I am Zalise Zephyr-Ashe. I have proof of their next move, but I cannot return safely without help. My people need you before the agents close their net.
The forge hammers continue, masking distant voices beyond the smithy walls. Zalise places a scorched strip of marked hide on the anvil and waits for Myk’s answer.
✓ Quest Accepted
Help Zalise return safely to her people
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect Zalise’s people from Moa’s agents
“Work out a plan with Eli Elyra zesh and zalise on how to help zailise why asking zesh why she wanted to meet up”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
Zesh emerges from the forge’s rear shadow, her presence familiar and controlled. Myk’s trust in her and Elyra lets the meeting close around Zalise without suspicion or ceremony.
Myk
Zesh, why did you want us to meet here? Then we make a plan for Zalise and her people.
Zesh
Because I found the same pressure Zalise did. Moa’s agents are mapping movements around Ashen-Hold, and I wanted your eyes on the meeting before anyone committed to a rescue.
The second witness ledger clarifies routes and names, while Reads Pursuers separates genuine patrol patterns from planted trails. Marked sorcery muddies the conclusions, but Myk’s disciplined reasoning finds the reliable path.
Zalise Zephyr-Ashe
Three ash camps hold my people near the old slag road. The agents rotate at dusk. I can open the first camp, but I need a diversion and a way to carry the freed people out.
Elyra
I will draw the patrols west with Eli. Zesh can guide the escape through the dry culverts, and Myk can reach the captives before the agents understand the movement.
Oathbound Negotiator turns the proposal into clear terms: Zalise opens the camp, Zesh leads the people out, Elyra and Eli divert pursuit, and Myk guards the breach. His inability to lie leaves every risk plainly stated, and Zalise accepts the plan.
“You introduce everyone to each other explain how you know them and what each person is to you then follow the plan as discussed”
FAILURE (Good Willpower, rolled -3)
Myk
Zalise, this is Zesh, my oldest ally and a former assassin. Elyra and Eli are sisters I trust completely. They are my allies, and I stand with you against Moa.
Myk makes the introductions plainly, but his poor accent mangles Zalise’s title and blurs which sister will draw the patrols. His inability to lie leaves every risk exposed despite Oathbound Negotiator arranging the duties into clear terms.
Zalise Zephyr-Ashe
I understand the purpose, if not the introductions. I will not open the first camp while names and duties remain uncertain. Take me to the culvert mouth instead.
Zesh
A cautious change, but a useful one. We observe the rotation first, then choose the breach without repeating Myk’s charmingly disastrous introductions.
The failed introduction changes the rescue into reconnaissance. Zalise keeps the marked hide, while Elyra and Eli prepare to shadow the western patrol and Zesh checks the dry culvert’s hidden exits.
Elyra
Then we move quietly. Eli and I take the west ridge, Zesh takes the lower culvert, and Zalise shows Myk the first camp from a distance.
They leave the smithy by separate shadows, abandoning the immediate rescue but preserving its chance. Beyond Ashen-Hold, three ash camps wait under dusk patrols, now to be studied before anyone opens the first gate.
“I move with Zalise to the first ash camp with zesh stealthy following”
SUCCESS (Legendary Stealth, rolled +2)
Myk and Zalise move beyond Ashen-Hold beneath the bruised dusk, keeping low among slag ridges. Zesh follows several paces behind, her footfalls swallowed by the ash wind.
Marked by Sorcery clouds Myk’s sight with false tracks and phantom silhouettes, but Reads Pursuers cuts through the deception, revealing which patrol glances belong to real watchers.
Zalise Zephyr-Ashe
There. The first ash camp lies beyond that broken ridge. Three sentries watch the approach, and two more circle the cages.
Zalise leads Myk through a shallow wash where gray dust hides their boots. Behind them, Zesh matches each pause and turn, remaining unseen even when the wind drops.
Reads Pursuers finds the patrol’s blind interval and guides Myk to a shelf overlooking the camp. Marked Sorcery offers three false openings, but he rejects each without exposing the movement.
Zalise Zephyr-Ashe
You brought us cleanly to the overlook. From here, we can study the rotation and choose where my people can be freed.
The first ash camp settles below them, its guarded cages and watch paths fully visible. Zesh reaches the overlook without alerting anyone, and the reconnaissance position is secure.