Kaelen the Scout vaults onto the central beam, boots scraping wood as he throws his arms wide. The tavern’s fury stutters. Heads turn. Fists hang in the air.
The Free-Black Sailor
Now, then. Let him stand there while I take what is owed.
Jorvan Vale
You call this fair? I call it a mob with witnesses.
Docksend has a brief opening in the lull, with the overturned benches and spilled ale still slick beneath the fighting feet.
Kaelen the Scout
Easy, all of you. I am not here for your debts. I am here because a room in this kind of mood loses more than teeth.
The warning holds the crowd just long enough for the pressure in the room to shift. Jorvan edges tighter behind the barricade, while the sailor keeps his focus locked on him.
For one tense beat, Parrot Falls becomes a ring of staring faces, a broken table, and a single man balanced above it all.
✓ Quest Accepted
Draw the room’s ire onto Docksend
“I shove the barricade aside to expose Jorvan and provoke the sailor.”
SUCCESS (Great Strength, rolled -1)
Docksend puts his shoulder to the barricade and heaves. The shoved table lurches sideways, splintering loose from the slick floor.
Jorvan Vale stumbles into full view behind it, all open space and bad luck. The sailor’s stare snaps from the wrecked wood to the man it was hiding.
The Free-Black Sailor
There. Now you have nowhere to hide, Jorvan.
Jorvan Vale
You are mad if you think this ends clean.
A ripple goes through the room. Chairs scrape. Hands tighten on tankards, knives, and broom handles.
Kaelen cuts a sharp look toward Docksend, then toward the crowd, as if measuring how fast the peace is burning off.
Kaelen the Scout
Well done. Now everyone can see the trouble plainly.
Quest Complete
Draw the room’s ire onto Docksend