Blackwake Pier lies under a low veil of rain. The cobalt barge is gone, but wet ropes, empty mooring posts, and blue-stained planks show where it rested three nights ago.
Ēlbālis moves along the quay with deliberate care, studying warehouse chains, deep hoof marks, and cargo tally boards while dockworkers watch Alsōrivō and him from beneath their hoods.
Ēlbālis
No barge, no honest unloading record, and fresh wagon tracks leading inland. Someone moved the cargo after the pier quieted.
The tracks cut away from the warehouses toward the old pilgrim road. Beside them, a broken crate lies split open, its boards darkened by rain and cobalt dust.
Ēlbālis kneels without touching the fragments. On one plank, beneath the blue stain, the familiar blacksmith’s mark remains sharply impressed.
Ēlbālis
That is my forge’s mark. The crate was made for us, but I never saw it leave the shop. My brother may have arranged this shipment.
Ēlbālis
We can follow the wagon road now, or question the dockworkers before they decide we have learned enough.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish whether Ēlbālis’s brother deliberately left the trail
Director's note
Looks for any unique tread in the wagon rut as we follow it
Alsōrivō turns from the broken crate toward Ēlbālis, then crouches beside the wagon ruts. Rain has softened the road, preserving each impression.
Alsōrivō
The left wheel carries a split iron rim; its mark repeats every few paces.
One rut bears a distinct crescent cut, while the other wheel presses deep and clean. Blue grit fills the sharper track, matching the crate’s stain.
Ēlbālis
You found something. My forge fitted split rims to heavy wagons, but that crescent was not our standard work.
Ēlbālis leans over the impressions without stepping into them. Beyond the quay, the tracks narrow between dripping walls and turn toward the old pilgrim road.
Ēlbālis
A damaged wheel slows the team. If we keep the mark ahead of us, we can follow without asking the dockworkers to warn anyone.
The rain deepens, blurring ordinary footprints, but the crescent tread remains clear in the mud. Ēlbālis falls in behind Alsōrivō as the trail leaves Blackwake Pier.
Director's note
Runs parallel to the ruts
Alsōrivō turns toward Ēlbālis while keeping parallel to the wagon ruts, his boots on firmer ground beside the road. He studies each impression without entering the trail.
Alsōrivō
The split rim leaves a crescent mark, but the deeper track carries the blue grit.
Rain gathers in the ruts and runs around the raised edges. Every few paces, the damaged wheel stamps the same crescent into the mud, then fades where stones interrupt it.
Ēlbālis
That pattern is enough to follow, if the rain holds. My brother chose heavy transport, not a courier cart.
Ēlbālis keeps several steps behind, matching Alsōrivō’s line beside the trail. He watches the road ahead while Alsōrivō tracks the repeating tread along the old pilgrim road.
Ēlbālis
There. The crescent turns sharply near the wall. The wagon left the main road briefly, perhaps to avoid a gate or meet someone unseen.
Beyond the bend, the pilgrim road narrows between moss-dark stones. Fresh blue grit marks the deviation, leading toward a low arch half veiled by rain.
Director's note
Examines the forest trail
“let’s go then.”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled -3)
Alsōrivō
Let’s go, then.
Alsōrivō follows the blue-gritted deviation, running parallel to the ruts while keeping his boots on firmer ground. He studies each crescent imprint as the trail passes beneath the low arch and enters the rain-dark forest.
The wagon’s damaged wheel leaves a repeating crescent, but its companion track reveals three narrow cuts from a repaired iron band. Alsōrivō reaches the forest trail with the tread pattern intact in his memory.
A slick stone gives beneath his boot. He catches himself against the moss-dark wall, scraping his right palm and tearing one glove finger, but keeps the wagon trail in sight.
Ēlbālis
Your hand is scraped, but you kept us on the mark. The wagon turned beneath these trees, and the blue grit continues inland.
Ēlbālis steps through the arch after him, careful not to disturb the ruts. Beyond the trees, fresh crescent impressions cross wet needles toward a low stone shrine.
Ēlbālis
My brother’s cargo came this way. We can follow the tread through the forest now, before the rain fills it.