After traveling from the Stonemetal Hills, Kynes and Bren enter Neverwinter quietly, their rolled house plans tucked beneath Bren’s cloak. In the craftsmen’s quarter, nearby stalls display dressed stone, treated beams, slate, and iron fittings.
Bren identifies a timber-framer’s yard behind a low plank fence. Its owner is a broad-shouldered middle-aged man with weathered hands, ash-brown hair, and a green work apron, measuring cedar beside a stack of beams.
The Timber-Framer
If you are seeking a town house, my yard is busy. If you are seeking secluded rural work, I may have time, provided the road and the terms are sensible.
Bren
We are seeking a small private build beyond the usual roads. The location stays undisclosed until trust is earned, but the work will be honest and paid.
The framer studies Bren’s cloak, then the rolled plans without reaching for them. Beyond his shoulder, a slate merchant, a middle-aged woman with a sturdy build, sun-browned skin, dark hair wrapped in a blue scarf, and a gray work dress beneath a leather apron, argues over delivery, while an ironworker, a young adult man with a muscular build, soot-dark skin, cropped black hair, and a brown leather smithing apron over a red shirt, tests fittings against a wooden hinge.
The Timber-Framer
Name’s Halven Rusk. I can recommend stonecutters and haulers, but discreet delivery costs more than ordinary work. What sort of deposit are you prepared to place?
Bren glances toward Kynes, leaving the answer and the size of any meaningful deposit to him. Halven waits beside the measured cedar, patient but plainly attentive to their terms.
“I offer Halven a deposit and strict delivery terms”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +3)
Kynes steps to a nearby exchange stall and trades a minor personal arcane ornament for coined silver, securing the deposit without exposing their destination. He returns with the money openly in hand.
Kynes
I offer this deposit now. Delivery goes only to a location I provide directly, in covered loads, with no public marking, no questions to bystanders, and no disclosure of the route or destination.
Kynes places the coins on the measured cedar, then indicates the rolled plans beneath Bren’s cloak. His terms are precise, protective, and plainly backed by immediate payment.
Halven Rusk
Accepted. The deposit reserves my work, and your conditions make sense for a rural build. I will use my rear yard for loading and tell the crew only what each person needs to know.
Halven counts the coins, then marks a private appointment in the margin of his work slate rather than entering a destination. The timber-framer’s manner shifts from cautious assessment to committed business.
Halven Rusk
You also gain my best rural hauler’s help. He knows the back roads north of the city, and I will reserve him before another contract takes the slot.
Bren gives Kynes a quiet approving glance. Their first builder is secured, their privacy terms are accepted, and a reliable route to the future site is now available.
✓ Quest Accepted
Depart without exposing their plans
“I inspect the slate merchant's and ironworker's fittings for our build.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Crafting, rolled +0)
Kynes approaches the slate stall and borrows two displayed samples, setting them beside the ironworker’s fittings. He compares thickness, grain, weight, and the cleanest edges for the roof and waterworks.
He tests the slate against the drawn roof pitch, then checks each iron hinge, brace, and fastening against the timber-framer’s proposed construction. The materials reveal exactly which sizes will endure rain and repeated use.
A thin slate sample snaps at its edge during the final stress check, and one small iron bracket bends beyond use. The loss is modest, but both pieces must be replaced before the order is complete.
Slate Merchant
That break tells you more than a perfect sample would. Use the heavier grade for the river-facing roof, and I can set aside sound pieces from the same cut.
Ironworker
The larger braces will hold the raised base. For the doors and sluice, take these thicker pins instead. I will replace the bent bracket when I finish the next batch.
Kynes returns the surviving samples with clear specifications for the build. The inspection succeeds: the order now has suitable slate and iron dimensions, though the broken sample and bent bracket add a small replacement cost.
Obtain the specified slate and iron fittings
