Jae reaches for his cloak as the inn door bangs wide. Freezing rain and wind burst in, and a drenched scout stumbles across the threshold.
She catches herself only long enough to see the hearth, then collapses beside it, soaked hair plastered to her face, breathing hard. The napkin map on the table shivers in the draft.
Elowen
The canyon path is gone. Stone came down in a single violent fall, sealed tight. You will not pass that way.
Horgar
By the forge... all that planning, and the mountain closes its fist on us.
The Young Half-Orc
Then we stop staring at the dead route and find another. Scout, can you walk? Tell us what you saw.
Elowen
I can walk if I have warmth. Name's Elowen. I saw a break in the upper shelf trail, hidden by the wind. There may still be a safer climb, if you move before night deepens.
Horgar and the half-orc exchange a grim look, then both turn toward Jae, the new map suddenly feeling like a trap and a lifeline at once.
✓ Quest Accepted
Help the scout recover from the storm
“I ask Elowen about the upper shelf trail,that anything that stands out to her as odd or out of place, could be critical.”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled -1)
Jae leans in by the hearth, keeping his voice low over the crackle of wet logs.
Jae. Stormland
I ask Elowen what stands out on the upper shelf trail, anything odd or out of place that could matter.
Elowen
She rubs rain from her eyes and nods once. A black split in the stone, higher than the rest. The wind should not be able to whistle there, but it did. And near it, I saw pale cloth caught on a thorn bush, not traveler’s wool. Something moved through before the fall.
Horgar
Horgar’s jaw tightens. Tracks?
Elowen
Too slick for tracks. But there was scrap on the rock, fresh enough to shine when the lightning hit.
The half-orc straightens and points toward the open door, while the storm throws a hard white flash across the room.
✓ Quest Accepted
Investigate the upper shelf trail
− Scene Quest Removed
Help the scout recover from the storm