Aldren
Bren, I thank you. Without your hand on this road, I might still be hiding from my own name.
Aldren inclines his head toward Bren, then turns toward the open doors. Morning light lays a pale strip across the chapel floor, and the village sounds gather beyond the walls.
Father Hallowell
Go in peace, Aldren. Your father's burden is not yours alone now.
Aldren takes one last breath, squares his shoulders, and steps out into the yard. He departs down the chapel path, the packet kept close beneath his cloak.
The Clerk
I have the record. The matter is entered, and I will keep it so.
The clerk folds his tablet against his chest and slips after the mayor's party, eager to be gone from the chapel's quiet. Father Hallowell remains by the altar, watching the doorway in thoughtful silence.
“I follow Aldren into the yard. "Where do you go now?"”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled +2)
Bren steps through the doorway and into the yard, the morning air cooler on his face. Aldren has only just reached the path, cloak gathered tight, and Bren's question follows him out into the light.
Bren Riverglade
Where do you go now?
Aldren
Home, first. Then Northmere proper, with this in hand. I will speak to the chapel there before I do anything else.
Aldren
You have already done more for me than I can repay. If the road gives me trouble, I will remember this doorway and keep walking.
Aldren slows at the edge of the yard and looks back once, not in fear now, but in steadier resolve. Behind Bren, the chapel remains open and quiet, Father Hallowell a still shape near the altar, while the clerk's haste fades beyond the path.
Father Hallowell
Go with honesty, Aldren. And you as well, Bren Riverglade, remember that mercy is not softness alone.
The yard holds its breath after the words. Aldren waits a final moment for Bren's answer, one hand resting over the hidden packet as if to steady it, and the road beyond him lies clear and unhurried.
“I shake Aldren's hand and say goodbye, bidding him to go in peace.”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +0)
Bren crosses the last step of the threshold and meets Aldren beside the path. The yard is quiet enough to hear the chapel door breathe on its hinges behind them.
He reaches out, and Aldren takes his hand at once, the cloth-wrapped packet tucked close under his cloak.
Bren Riverglade
Go in peace, Aldren.
Aldren
And you, Bren Riverglade. You gave me back my name before God and men. I will not forget it.
Their hands part. Aldren bows his head once, then turns toward the road with a steadier step than when he first came to the chapel.
Aldren
If I keep my promise, I will speak of you at Northmere proper, and of Father Hallowell too. Both of you deserved better than silence.
The words settle between them like a small gift. Aldren lifts one hand in farewell, and the morning light catches the edge of the hidden packet before he goes on.
When he reaches the bend, he looks back once more, waiting to see whether Bren remains in the open yard or returns to the chapel's shadow.
✓ Quest Accepted
Return to the chapel's silence
“I smile and wave as Aldren leaves and turn back into the chapel doors.”
Bren lifts a hand in farewell, then turns back toward the chapel doors as Aldren goes on toward the road. The open doorway waits in the morning hush.
“I turn to Father Hallowell. "I have also come to pay respect to the chapel, as the Seminary Master has sent me on the road North for a pilgrimage."”
SUCCESS (Superb Theology, rolled +0)
Bren turns fully to Father Hallowell and speaks his errand with care, naming the Seminary Master’s charge and his road north as a pilgrimage of service.
Father Hallowell
Then you come in good faith, seminarian. Northmere needs such travelers, if they carry mercy as well as duty.
At the mention of the Seminary Master, Hallowell’s sternness eases. He studies Bren for a breath, then gives a small, approving nod toward the chapel door.
Father Hallowell
A pilgrim to the north should not depart empty. You have my blessing for the road, and my thanks for speaking plainly before me.
Bren Riverglade
The chapel feels quieter now that the truth is spoken.
Hallowell rests one hand against the stone beside the threshold, the open door behind him holding the morning light like a hush made visible.
Father Hallowell
Before you go, tell me, Bren Riverglade, what asks more patience of you on that road, the bodies you may mend, or the soul you must keep in order?
“"I have always felt a calling to heal the sick. Keeping the strength to maintain my vows is harder."”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +2)
Bren Riverglade
Healing has always felt like my calling. Keeping strength enough to keep my vows is harder.
Father Hallowell
That is a clean confession, and a hard one. The road tests both hands and heart, Bren Riverglade.
Father Hallowell
If you keep mercy before pride, the vows do not become chains. They become a measure.
Hallowell’s hand leaves the stone and settles at his side. The open doorway throws a pale band of morning across the yard, and the chapel behind him seems to listen.
Bren Riverglade
The chapel is quiet enough to hear the birds in the eaves.
Father Hallowell
Then take that measure north with you. When you kneel to the sick, remember you are not asked to burn yourself to ash.
The words land softly, and the yard holds still around them. Hallowell watches Bren without pressing further, leaving the answer to rest between them.
✓ Quest Accepted
Speak with Father Hallowell about Bren's healing calling
“"Thank you, Father. If I may, what called you to holy orders? Are you a healer as well?"”
SUCCESS (Superb Theology, rolled -2)
Bren Riverglade
Thank you, Father. What called you to holy orders? Do you heal the sick as well?
Father Hallowell
A fever took my mother when I was young, and I have not forgotten the sound of helplessness since. I took orders because prayer is not enough, unless hands follow it.
Father Hallowell
I have dressed wounds, set bones, and sat through many nights with men who feared the dark more than the pain. Not all cures come cleanly, but mercy is work, not ornament.
Hallowell draws a slow breath and shifts his weight. The hem of his sleeve catches on the stone, and a dusting of grit marks the yard where he has been standing since dawn.
Father Hallowell
You ask wisely, Bren Riverglade. That question cost you your quiet, though, and mine as well.
He glances toward the open doorway, then back to Bren, letting the chapel hush gather around them again.
Father Hallowell
Come, then. If you would learn the shape of a healer's calling, tell me what part of it frightens you most.
Quest Complete
Speak with Father Hallowell about Bren's healing calling
“"I think I fear the day where I must choose who I am able to help and who I am not. And the day that making that choice no longer troubles me."”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +1)
Bren Riverglade
I fear the day I must choose who I can help, and who I cannot. I fear even more the day it stops troubling me.
Father Hallowell
That fear is not weakness. It is the wound that keeps a healer honest.
Father Hallowell
If mercy costs you sleep, so be it. If it costs you pride, better still. But if it ever costs you your seeing, then name it at once.
Hallowell folds his hands over the vellum and prayer strip, then lets them rest against his robe. The chapel yard seems to listen with him.
Father Hallowell
There will be days when your hands are not enough. There will be days when your prayer is not enough. On those days, you must still choose, and choose plainly.
Bren Riverglade
The choice is not only whom to serve, but how to remain merciful while serving.
Father Hallowell
Good. You have named the burden without flinching. That is where a healer begins, Bren Riverglade.
“I take a deep breath and sit on a pew, considering Father Hallowell's words in the chapel silence.”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +2)
Bren lowers himself onto the nearest pew, the wood giving a small, honest creak under his weight. His religious text settles in his lap, and the chapel hush gathers around him at last.
He draws one slow breath, then another, letting Father Hallowell's words cool in him like water over stone. The morning light rests across the aisle and the altar in pale bands.
Father Hallowell
You sit as one who has heard more than one lesson, Bren Riverglade.
Father Hallowell
That is good. A healer must learn when to labor, and when to be still enough to listen.
Hallowell remains by the doorway with the vellum and prayer strip in hand, but his posture eases. The chapel yard behind him is quiet, and no one else comes to trouble it.
Bren Riverglade
The silence here is deeper than the yard.
Father Hallowell
Take this silence with you when you go, if you can. It is a hard thing, but a useful one.
“I sit quietly and pray.”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled -2)
Bren inclines his head and folds his hands over the text in his lap. The chapel’s quiet gathers tighter around him as he bows forward, settling into prayer.
Bren Riverglade
The chapel is still enough to hear my own breath.
He stays there, motionless, while the words of his prayer pass inward rather than outward. The last of the yard sounds fade beyond the stone.
Father Hallowell
A good silence, Bren Riverglade. Not empty, just honest.
Hallowell lowers the vellum and prayer strip to the nearest ledge, then steps back from the doorway as if not to disturb the moment. A thread of dawn light slips across the pew between them.
Bren’s prayer settles him, but it costs him the warmth of one shoulder, where the rough wood edge has rubbed it sore. When he lifts his head, the chapel feels unchanged and newly his to answer.
Father Hallowell
When you are ready, come tell me what this silence asks of you.
Quest Complete
Return to the chapel's silence
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Good→Great