Cactusthorn reaches a ramshackle trading post crouched beside the road, its sun-bleached boards warped by heat. Dust skates over cracked earth, and the smell of mesquite smoke mingles with old leather and beans gone stale.
Inside, a thin merchant keeps his head down behind a scarred counter. He counts coins with shaking fingers, then glances hard toward the shrine road as if expecting riders any moment.
Cactusthorn
I want food, water, and supplies. I pay in coin.
The Merchant
Aye, aye, just... keep your hands where I can see them. The road has turned sour.
The merchant slides a sack of dried meal and a canvas waterskin across the counter, but his eyes keep fleeing to the open door. A mule snorts in the yard, tugging at a post.
The Merchant
If they followed him here, I am done for.
Cactusthorn
How much for the lot?
✓ Quest Accepted
Get food and water