Four weeks pass. Near Saint Orra, Maurice works the roadside hospice, watching the approaches while pilgrims, drovers, and wounded travelers seek shelter beneath its rain-dark eaves.
A young adult woman arrives beneath a plain brown traveling cloak. Her silver throat mark is visible, and a leather document case hangs sealed at her belt.
Elianor Vale
Maurice Headsman. I have lawful papers, and no one owns my passage now. I came because my freedom has not made the road easy.
She stops several paces away, keeping her hands visible. Mud stains her hem, but her posture is steady, and the hospice bell sounds softly behind her.
Elianor Vale
I tried to establish myself in Saint Orra’s market quarter. Three households withdrew their offers after hearing whose former claim protected me.
Elianor Vale
I ask you to escort me to the western convent lands, where a reeve has offered honest work, and to stand witness while I present my papers.
She waits in the road without stepping closer, leaving the request between them. Behind her, the hospice doors remain open, while distant riders move along the ridge.
✓ Quest Accepted
Escort the bride to the western convent lands
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the bride’s acceptance into honest work
“Ask the bride her name”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled -2)
Maurice Headsman
What is your name?
The question carries across the wet road. Behind the bride, one of the distant riders, a young adult human man in a dark hooded riding cloak, his lean silhouette visible at this distance slows on the ridge, turning briefly toward the hospice bell and the halted travelers.
Elianor Vale
I am Elianor Vale. The name was mine before the baron’s household tried to make it part of their claim.
She touches the sealed document case at her belt, then lowers her hand. The rider continues watching, and the pause has made their meeting visible from the ridge.
Elianor Vale
You may write Elianor Vale in your witness statement. I want the convent reeve to receive me under my own name, not beneath anyone else’s protection.
The hospice doors remain open behind Maurice, offering shelter if needed. On the ridge, the rider finally turns away, but the encounter has cost them privacy.
“Do you want to learn the executioner's trade while we walk?”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled +1)
Maurice Headsman
Do you want to learn the executioner's trade while we walk?
Elianor studies Maurice for a moment, then steps from the road toward the hospice path. The ridge rider is now hidden beyond the wet rise.
Elianor Vale
Yes. Not because I want a life of killing, but because I want to understand the work that carried you through my danger.
They leave the hospice eaves together, keeping to the muddy western track. Elianor gathers her cloak, while the bell fades behind them in the rain.
Elianor Vale
Teach me what the law requires first. What must an executioner know before he ever raises a hand?
Elianor Vale
If I understand the duty, perhaps I can recognize the difference between lawful authority and a cruel claim.
The western road bends between dripping hedges. Elianor walks beside Maurice beneath the grey sky, ready to learn the trade's burdens, limits, and obligations.
“The duty is to extract the truth and punish those that defy the law, harm others, or try to obtain unholy power through evil means. Usually a trial is required first.”
FAILURE (Good Reasoning, rolled -2)
Maurice Headsman
An executioner serves the law, not his own anger. His duty is to uncover the truth, then punish those who defy lawful judgment, harm others, or seek unholy power through evil means. Usually, a trial must come first.
Rain beads on the hedges as Maurice’s lesson travels along the western track. Elianor listens closely, her document case tapping softly against her hip.
Elianor Vale
Then truth must be more than an accusation, and law more than a seal. How does an executioner know the difference?
Maurice Headsman
By evidence, witnesses, and proper authority. A sentence belongs to a court or lawful power. The executioner carries it out, not invents it.
The answer gives Elianor a rule, but not the certainty she sought. Ahead, the western track divides around a flooded ditch, and both branches bear recent hoofprints.
Elianor Vale
That is the part I still cannot trust. The baron had seals, witnesses, and a ritual. If obedience is not enough, what must I examine first?
Elianor Vale
Teach me to test the authority itself before we choose a road. I will not mistake a stamped claim for justice again.