The party reaches Albany’s headquarters yard with the sealed papers beneath Phillips’s coat and the flour, powder, meat, and blankets tied fast. Two red-coated sentries; the sentry on the left is a young adult man with a lean build, ruddy skin, a freckled face, and a russet-brown queue beneath his black cocked hat level their muskets across the entry.
William Hendrick Phillips
We are Mohawk volunteers bound for Captain Robert Rogers’s Rangers. The papers bear Albany’s seal, and our provisions remain untouched.
Royal Sentry 1
Stand aside, then. Keep the powder clear of the cookhouse, and bring those orders to the officers.
The sentries admit them into the yard. Captain Robert Rogers steps from a timber office with Lieutenant James Rogers beside him, both turning their attention to the sealed packet and the travelers.
Captain Robert Rogers
William Rogers? By God, I know that family. James, see the seal. Phillips, tell me what brought you east.
Lieutenant James Rogers
The orders are sound, Robert. These men are listed as volunteers, and the provisions match the allotment from Schenectady.
A regimental surgeon, an elderly man with a narrow face, iron-gray hair, and a dark blue waistcoat, his lean frame also clad in a long gray coat and cream breeches, with a deep scar beside his left eye, his lean frame also clad in a long gray coat and cream breeches, with a deep scar beside his left eye, unwraps the coarse cloth and examines William’s untreated arm beneath the torn sleeve.
Dr. Elias Mercer
This must be cleaned and dressed before Portsmouth. Hold the arm still, Mr. Rogers. Captain, your new volunteers will wait here a short while.
“thank you Sir what do I owe you?”
SUCCESS (Fair Reasoning, rolled +0)
“thank you Sir what do I owe you?”
SUCCESS (Fair Reasoning, rolled +1)
William Rogers
Thank you, sir. What do I owe you?
William keeps his arm still as the surgeon rinses the wound and applies a clean dressing. The Albany yard murmurs beyond the office, but the treatment is careful and unhurried.
Dr. Elias Mercer
You owe me nothing, Mr. Rogers. The army owes its men sound care, and a clean dressing costs less than losing a useful arm.
He binds the cloth snugly without drawing William’s arm tight, then ties the knot where it will not chafe beneath the sleeve.
Captain Robert Rogers
Hear that, William? Keep the dressing dry, and you will repay him by reaching Portsmouth ready for service.
Dr. Mercer gathers his basin and linen. The arm is properly dressed at last, and the sealed orders remain safe with Phillips for the journey onward.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure acceptance into Rogers's Rangers
Quest Complete
Reach Albany
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Good→Great
+ New Item Acquired
Clean arm dressing
“I'm here enlist cousin where do I sign. the pay is twice that of a regular private I hear, what are you going to teach us?”
FAILURE (Fair Reasoning, rolled -2)
“I'm here enlist cousin where do I sign. the pay is twice that of a regular private I hear, what are you going to teach us?”
FAILURE (Fair Reasoning, rolled -1)
William Rogers
I am here to enlist, cousin. Where do I sign? I hear the pay is twice a regular private's. What will you teach us?
Robert’s eyes narrow at the bundled papers, then flick toward the office where James has been checking the orders. The question has found the proper men, but not yet the proper book.
Captain Robert Rogers
You sign at the muster, not in my office. James will enter you when the company’s roll is opened. As for pay, twice a private’s is a recruiting promise, not a blanket rate. Rank and the establishment decide it.
Lieutenant James Rogers
Your Albany papers place you among the volunteers, but they do not state your rank. That must be settled at muster before any pay is claimed.
Captain Robert Rogers
I teach men to move unseen, read a trail, shoot from cover, and live by forest rule. The Mohawk with you already know much of that. We will make it soldier’s work.
Robert takes the sealed papers from Phillips and taps the blank space where a rank should stand. He turns them toward James, leaving William’s enlistment open but directing the next step to the formal muster.
Captain Robert Rogers
Go with James to the muster table when he calls it. You will at least see the terms plainly, and learn whether your woodsman’s skill earns you more than a common place in the ranks.
Learn the terms of service
“I'm here enlist cousin where do I sign. the pay is twice that of a regular private I hear, what are you going to teach us?”
FAILURE (Fair Reasoning, rolled -3)
James folds the sealed papers and carries them from the office toward the muster table. Robert remains by the doorway, watching William with guarded approval.
Lieutenant James Rogers
Come along, cousin. I will have your name entered as a volunteer, but no rank or pay is settled until the muster officer records it.
At the yard’s covered table, James lays out the Albany orders beside a blank company roll. The ink, quill, and open space make the distinction plain: William is not enlisted yet.
Captain Robert Rogers
You will learn the woods as a soldier learns them: silent movement, scouting, marksmanship, and the discipline to return with your information.
Lieutenant James Rogers
First, answer the muster plainly. Name, place of birth, age, trade, and whether you can furnish the arms required for service.
James dips the quill and waits over the first line. Robert’s promise of instruction now stands beside a formal examination, while the question of pay remains for the completed roll and established rank.