The last rocky path gives way to the foothills, and the High Spire looms behind them in the fading light. Below, town lanterns glow warm and steady. Joi trots close to Derick’s leg, calm again at last.
Derick Force
We should take the inn tonight. Rest first, then the duel tomorrow. You are both welcome to stay with us.
Garth
A proper rest sounds wiser than stubbornness. I accept, Derick. And I intend to make you earn every step tomorrow.
Kellan
That is a kinder road than the one we have walked. I will come, if only to see how peace sits on all of you after so much stone and shadow.
The path levels out, and the three of them slow to an easy walk. Garth’s shoulders loosen, and Joi’s tail gives a small, satisfied wag as the scent of hearth smoke reaches them from town.
Derick Force
Kellan, I have one last question. When you said the Spire recognized me, what did you see in it?
Kellan
I saw a lock answering a key, but also a road opening beyond it. Ask me what you want, Derick, I am not in a hurry now.
“"Were you the one to place that job on the bounty board in town just so you could draw me in?" You say with a smile. "After all, you did know i played a big part in your personal quest. "”
SUCCESS (Superb Persuasion, rolled -1)
The path bends around a shoulder of dark stone, where the wind dies for a moment. Derick asks his question with an easy smile, and the words hang in the cold air between the three of them.
Kellan
Yes. I placed it there.
Kellan
Not to corner you. To be sure the message reached the right hands, and the right sword.
Kellan lifts their chin toward Derick, then lets their gaze drop to the town lights below. Joi pauses at Derick’s side, ears pricked, as if waiting for the shape of the answer to settle.
Kellan
Your part in my quest made you the only one I could trust to notice what was hidden in plain sight.
Garth
A tidy trick, then. I wondered why the board felt too deliberate to be chance.
Kellan gives a small, relieved breath, and the tension in their shoulders eases at last. The foothill trail opens ahead, the inn’s glow waiting below like an invitation.
Kellan
You came of your own will. That was the point. Now tell me, Derick, do you want the full shape of what I was trying to say?
“You state plainly, "No, i think the spire told me all that was needed, but now that i know the truth, i feel an apology is owed. I did see you as an enemy in the beginning and destroyed your ritual site. I will be one to vouch for your innocence, as you had your reasons for doing things the way you did. "”
SUCCESS (Superb Persuasion, rolled +1)
Derick lets the apology settle into the cold air as the trail narrows beside him. The town lights below wink steadily, and the wind stays low, as if giving the words room to land.
Derick Force
I judged you as an enemy at first. I tore down your ritual site. That was my mistake.
Kellan
Kellan’s head dips, then lifts again, eyes bright with relief. “You name it cleanly. That is more than most would do.”
Derick Force
If anyone asks, I will speak for your innocence. Your reasons deserve to be heard.
Garth
Garth gives a small, approving huff. “That is the sort of witness a hard truth needs.”
Kellan
“Then I can stop bracing for blame,” Kellan says, shoulders easing at last. “I did not mean for my silence to become suspicion.”
Joi shifts closer to Derick’s leg, calm and watchful, while Kellan reaches into their cloak and draws out a folded strip of parchment.
Kellan
“Take this. If the town’s questions turn sharp, it shows where the truth began. Will you carry it for me when we go in?”
+ New Item Acquired
Folded parchment
“You accept the parchment and read it to yourself, agreeing once finnished”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +2)
Derick takes the parchment from Kellan with a quiet nod, the fold warm from their hand. He turns it under the last gray light and begins to read in silence.
The first lines are plain enough, a trail of names, dates, and where the tale began. Then the wording shifts, and the message points past blame toward intent, toward the reason the truth was hidden at all.
Derick Force
This is a witness, not a trap.
A small mark at the bottom catches his eye, a careful seal pressed in dark wax. It matches the edge of the strip with the same deliberate hand that framed the rest.
Kellan
If the town hears it from me too late, they will hear it badly. That page gives them a cleaner beginning.
Garth
Then we carry it in before night deepens. Better to walk in with proof than with guesses.
Joi rises from Derick’s side and looks downhill, alert to the lights ahead. Kellan waits with both hands free now, watching Derick for the answer that decides their next steps.
“"To the captain of the Guard! with Garth as a second witness, good word will spread by the morrow! " You say and lead everyone to town to the guards barracks.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +2)