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
“After I pay for the food and water and recharge. Ask the merchant if he knows of any big houses around? Then steal the mule in the night, using your stealth and skills.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Stealth, rolled +2)
Cactusthorn
How much for the food and water, and what big houses are nearby?
The Merchant
Two bits. The sack, the waterskin, and no questions in front of my door.
Coin changes hands fast. The merchant jerks his chin toward the road and names a broad adobe estate beyond the mesquite, set back from the trade track and watched by hired hands.
The Merchant
If you mean to go there, go by night. The place has a high wall and richer locks than this shack.
By dusk, Cactusthorn has the sack and waterskin tied tight. The merchant turns away to count again, and the yard falls quiet except for the mule shifting at its post.
Long after dark, the post sleeps. Cactusthorn slips into the yard, the mule’s ears flicking once before it settles under his touch. He leads it free without a sound.
Quest Complete
Get food and water
+ New Item Acquired
sack
+ New Item Acquired
waterskin
+ New Item Acquired
mule