The forestbound town crouches beneath black pines, its palisade gates barred while villagers crowd the ramparts and shuttered doorways. A wagon rolls in through the narrow opening.
Mud streaks the newcomers’ cloaks. The watch counts them aloud, matching faces against a weathered ledger as the gate chains groan behind them.
the watch captain
Eight strangers entered. Eight. Keep them together until the reeve has heard their names.
No one celebrates their arrival. Beyond the walls, the forest road vanishes beneath mist, and several empty places wait beside hearths that have gone cold.
the watch captain
Mara Venn, the charcoal burner, and the two shepherd brothers never returned. Neither did the reeve’s courier. That makes five.
A woman presses a charm of twisted black root to her lips. Its carved sigil matches the forbidden mark recorded in the inquisitorial reports concerning the cult Jackal hunts.
the watch captain
Stranger, state your business before the gate opens again. The forest has taken enough from us.
✓ Quest Accepted
Expose the cult presence within the town
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine the fate of the missing villagers and courier
“i study the newcomers for any signs, circling around them "i am jackal willow, a investigator, i am here to see what is the cause of these...missing people, and solve it"”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Perception, rolled +0)
Jackal circles the newcomers beneath the gate lamps, studying hems, hands, boots, and the wagon boards. Mud hides ordinary travel, but not every trace.
jackal
I am Jackal Willow, an investigator. I am here to discover the cause of these missing people and solve it.
His examination finds black pine resin beneath one wagon axle, fresh despite the road’s wetness, and pale ash ground into three newcomers’ cuffs. The same forbidden root-sigil is scratched inside the wagon bed.
the watch captain
You circle them like a magistrate’s hound. What, precisely, have you found?
A newcomer shifts uneasily. Beneath her collar, a thin cord bears the black-root charm, while her boots carry fern spores from a hollow beyond the eastern trail.
the newcomer with the charm
Those marks prove nothing. We passed through the forest road, same as any traveler.
Jackal’s findings establish a link between the newcomers and the forbidden cult’s trail toward the eastern hollow. The cost is immediate: the captain’s suspicion hardens, and two guards move closer.
Quest Complete
Expose the cult presence within the town
“"then what are the marks and charms? what do they mean? what do they do? why do you have them? they are scratched on, and i do not think i have seen them before in my study"”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Diplomacy, rolled +0)
jackal
Then what are the marks and charms? What do they mean, what do they do, and why do you have them? They are scratched on, and I have not seen them in my study.
the newcomer with the charm
They are root-signs, older than the kingdom. The charm marks a sworn bearer. The scratches open a path when pressed with ash, but they do not summon anything.
Her denial falters beneath the captain’s stare. She draws the cord from beneath her collar, revealing a black root twisted around a splinter of pale bone.
the newcomer with the charm
We carry them to keep the hollow from finding us. The forest takes names, faces, and memories from those who enter unmarked. We were told the signs would shield us.
the watch captain
Told by whom? And why does your wagon bear the same sign inside, where travelers would never see it?
the newcomer with the charm
By the veiled cantor beneath the eastern pines. We were promised passage, not worship. The cantor said the missing people had already crossed beyond recall.
The captain’s suspicion becomes command: guards seize the wagon reins and bind the newcomers’ hands. In the motion, the charm’s cord snaps, and the bone splinter falls into the mud.
“"eastern pines...very well, guard captain, keep your men here, on guard for wolves or any other threats, i will go venture into the eastern pines and find out what those cantors know"”
SUCCESS (Fair Survival, rolled +2)
jackal
Eastern pines... very well, guard captain. Keep your men here, on guard for wolves or any other threats. I will venture there and learn what these cantors know.
the watch captain
You will not go alone. Take the eastern trail, and return before the mist thickens. My men hold the gate and watch the forest.
Jackal leaves the guarded gate and follows fern-spattered stones beneath the black pines. Mist gathers between the trunks, muffling the town behind him.
The root-sigil appears on bark and stone, guiding him into a hollow ringed with pale standing roots. A veiled cantor waits beside a cold fire.
the veiled cantor
The inquisitor comes at last. We know why the villagers vanished, and what the hollow has taken beyond recall.
The cantor lifts a bone-white mask, revealing no face beneath its veil, only darkness threaded with faint green light.
the veiled cantor
The missing were offered names by the Root Below. Those who accepted became its witnesses. Their memories now guard the path to an older power.
Quest Complete
Determine the fate of the missing villagers and courier
Skill Upgrade: Diplomacy Mediocre→Fair