The taproom glows with firelight and fresh barley steam. Bobinko Kozlov sits by a rough oak table, the new batch of ale between him and Lazlo, while rain ticks softly at the shuttered windows.
Lazlo leans over his cup, squinting into the foam as if it might answer him. The room is mostly quiet, just a few late drinkers hunched near the hearth.
Bobinko Kozlov
The ale is still warm from the cask.
Lazlo
Good head on it. Better than last week’s lot. You brought real barley this time?
Bobinko’s heavy hands rest near the mug while Lazlo waits, trying for easy talk but watching him closely.
Lazlo
You look like a man with a worry he cannot sell. Is it the Tryars again?
The name hangs in the smoke. Across the room, a barmaid slows her polishing, and even the late drinkers seem to listen.
Lazlo
Their riders were asking after your boundary stones this morning. If they press again, do you mean to answer with law, steel, or stubbornness?
✓ Quest Accepted
Answer the Tryars' pressure over the boundary stones
“My family been working this land since way before they built their castle emerged. Im not leaving without a fight”
SUCCESS (Great Intimidation, rolled +0)
Bobinko Kozlov
My family works this land long before their castle rises. I leave only if they drag me off it.
Lazlo goes still. The barmaid lowers her cloth, and the room seems to hold its breath around Bobinko's words.
Lazlo
That sounds like a man who means it.
Lazlo
And that kind of man draws trouble like a lantern draws moths.
Bobinko’s mug scrapes the table as he sets it down harder than he means to. Ale sloshes over his knuckles, and the nearby hush turns sharper.
The Barmaid
If the Tryars come stomping in here, I’d rather know which side to keep my board on.
Lazlo lifts both hands, half appeasing, half impressed, while the fire pops in the hearth and rain needles the shutters.
Lazlo
So tell me plain, Bobinko, do you want witnesses, or a warning carried back to them?
Quest Complete
Answer the Tryars' pressure over the boundary stones