Druk steps into the outer yard with the three wooden crossbows tucked under one arm. Crisp mountain air cuts through the forge heat, and the straw targets wait in a neat row beside the wall.
The Crossbow Leader
Good. Let me see which one the armory should copy.
He takes the selected prototype with both hands, turning it toward the light. Bruk stays back at the stone wall, watching the shape of the weapon more than the people around it.
Bruk
The broad guard is the useful part. That is what will save a hand.
The Crossbow Leader nods once, then gestures at the targets. The yard feels calm, busy, and orderly, with no alarm beyond the soft clink of gear and the wind over the yard.
The Crossbow Leader
If you want, Druk, we can sight it in here before the smiths make the next batch.
Bruk shifts his shoulder against the wall, still studying the lines of the stock. Druk stands between the waiting targets and the men who want to learn from the new weapon, the whole yard paused around the choice.
✓ Quest Accepted
Negotiate debt repayment with Bruk
“I mention bruks debt for attackings us, threarening our lives, i ask if he would be willing to stay and help us build stone structures out side the castle, surrounding the farm, proud wall around our territory and the farm. But not in chains, complying and unbound”
SUCCESS (Legendary Leadership, rolled -1)
Druk lowers the three prototypes to the packing crate and lets the yard go still. The Crossbow Leader waits, open-handed, while Bruk straightens from the wall to listen.
Druk
Bruk, you owe for the attack on us. Stay and help build stone walls around the farm, no chains, no binding, just work.
Bruk
That is a fairer payment than a cell. Stone holds better than pride, and I have already seen your walls need both.
The Crossbow Leader gives a slow, approving nod, then looks from Bruk to the yard beyond the gate, as if measuring the line of a future wall there.
Bruk
If I lend my hands to that work, I want the others to know it is chosen. Not mercy. Not shame. Service.
Druk's terms land cleanly. Bruk squares his shoulders, already imagining courses of stone, while the Crossbow Leader's grip loosens on the prototype as the idea settles in.
The Crossbow Leader
Then we start with a survey, and a line of markers. If he is building, he should know where the wall stands before the first stone is cut.
Bruk glances toward the farm bowl, then back to Druk, his expression warmed by the blunt offer. The quiet yard holds on his answer, waiting for where he will put his hands first.
Quest Complete
Negotiate debt repayment with Bruk