Beyond the gate, a side gallery opens beneath the court’s pale stone arches. Benches line the walls, and a carved basin offers clear water to waiting petitioners.
Petitioners sit beneath tablets engraved with ancient charter clauses. Their murmurs remain low as Orien enters alone, House Veyr’s wayhouse far behind him.
Elderly Northern Visitor
Thanebroken.
An elderly visitor in a weather-dark northern cloak studies Orien’s face, then the torn sleeve and narrow stain across his cuff. No alarm follows.
Elderly Northern Visitor
I have not heard that name spoken here in many years. Your clan cast you out, did it not?
Elderly Northern Visitor
Do not mistake my question for accusation. I want to know whether the northern elders still deny what they did, or merely hope the court has forgotten.
Orien Thanebroken
The visitor recognizes the name Thanebroken.
“Indeed. I have been thrown to the wilds.”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled +1)
Orien Thanebroken
Indeed. I was thrown into the wilds.
The admission settles beneath the pale arches. Water murmurs in the carved basin, and the visitor’s gaze remains fixed on Orien’s weathered face.
Elderly Northern Visitor
Then the elders did not merely strip your name. They cast you beyond the clan’s protection and expected the wilds to finish their judgment.
A few petitioners glance toward them, recognizing the old shame-name in the visitor’s measured voice. None interrupts beneath the court’s carved tablets.
Elderly Northern Visitor
I remember the decree. It called your exile a necessary cleansing, though it named no crime worthy of such a sentence.
Elderly Northern Visitor
If you stand before the court, speak plainly. Say that Thanebroken was imposed upon you, and that the clan sent you into the wilds.
The visitor shifts aside on the bench, leaving space beneath the tablet marked PETITIONS OF THE DISPOSSESSED. Beyond the gallery, a bronze gong sounds once.
“Nod and move on. You have no interest in the courts. Perhaps it would be wisest to move south, where your name has no meaning.”
Orien gives the elderly visitor a brief nod, neither accepting the invitation nor answering the accusation. He turns from the tablet marked PETITIONS OF THE DISPOSSESSED.
Elderly Northern Visitor
Then go south, Thanebroken. The court will keep its records, whether you stand before it or not.
The visitor does not follow. Orien crosses the gallery toward the outer gate, leaving the low murmurs and bronze tablets behind beneath the pale arches.
Outside, the southern road descends from the court’s rise toward warmer fenland. Blue charter pennants fade behind him as he passes beyond the court’s walls.
The path bends through reed beds and open grass, carrying no northern crest and bearing no sign that House Veyr’s records have reached this far.
Orien Thanebroken
The southern road leaves the court behind.
By late afternoon, the court’s pale hall has vanished into the haze. Orien continues south beneath a broadening sky, his imposed name thinning into distance with every mile.
✓ Quest Accepted
Find a southern settlement where Orien can begin anew
“See about purchasing a horse.”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled +0)
Near dusk, the southern road reaches a fenland market hamlet. A fenced yard beside the common green holds three saddled horses beneath a thatched awning.
Orien Thanebroken
I am looking to purchase a sound riding horse.
Mara Pell
Then you want the dun gelding. Steady on bad ground, patient with poor roads, and not so foolish as the others.
The horse lowers its head as Orien approaches, accepting his inspection. Its hooves are sound, its tack worn but serviceable, and its coat bears no hidden injury.
Mara Pell
Eight silver crowns, including saddle and bridle. I will take seven for the road-worn cloak clasp at your belt, if it has worth.
The bargain settles without spectacle. Mara counts the silver, then places the reins in Orien’s hand and records the sale with a charcoal mark on her board.
Mara Pell
He is yours. Keep him watered before sunrise, and he will carry you south without complaint.
+ New Item Acquired
Dun gelding
“Thank Mara and continue riding south”
SUCCESS (Great Health, rolled +0)
Orien Thanebroken
Thank you, Mara. The gelding will serve me well.
Mara Pell
Ride safely, then. Southward roads are kinder than northern ones, if you keep to the raised ground.
Orien mounts the dun gelding and gathers the reins. Mara remains beside the fenced yard as horse and rider leave the market green behind.
The southern road runs between reed beds and open grass, its packed earth firm beneath the gelding’s measured steps. Evening light settles gold across the fen.
Orien Thanebroken
The road continues south, and the horse carries steadily.
Behind him, the hamlet’s thatched roofs sink into dusk. Ahead, scattered lanterns begin to glow along the road, marking distant homes and waystations.
Orien continues south beneath the widening sky, the reins resting lightly in his hand as the dun gelding bears him beyond the market’s last fence.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach a southern waystation
“Is there a waystation or other sort of shelter nearby?”
YES (VeryLikely, rolled 61)
The scattered lanterns resolve into a low wayhouse beside the raised road. Its whitewashed walls and broad thatched roof stand above the surrounding reeds.
A timber sign creaks beneath the eaves, painted with a steaming cup and a sleeping horse. Light spills through shuttered windows onto a fenced yard.
Wayhouse Keeper
Rider, the night is coming on. If you seek shelter, bring your horse inside the eastern rail and speak your business at the door.
The dun gelding slows as the road rises toward the gate. Within the fence, a stable lantern burns steadily, and stacked firewood leans beneath the awning.
Wayhouse Keeper
A stall and a pallet remain. Supper is plain, but the roof holds, and no fen water reaches the sleeping rooms.
Beyond the wayhouse, the southern road continues into darkness between reed beds. Here, the lanterns mark a settled refuge rather than distant homes.
The wayhouse gate stands open, its keeper waiting beneath the eaves while the gelding’s hooves tap softly against the packed yard.
“Stay the night.”
Orien guides the dun gelding through the eastern rail and into the wayhouse yard. The keeper takes the reins while lanternlight warms the horse’s damp coat.
Wayhouse Keeper
He will have fresh water and hay. Leave the saddle there, and I will keep it dry through the night.
The keeper settles the gelding into a clean stall, then leads Orien inside. A trestle table holds coarse bread, root stew, and a clay cup of well water.
Wayhouse Keeper
Eat while it is hot. The pallet is yours until sunrise, and the road will still be waiting when you wake.
Orien eats beneath the low rafters as wind moves softly through the thatch. Outside, the wayhouse lantern shines over the quiet fence and sleeping horse.
The night passes without disturbance. Before dawn, gray light enters through the shutters, and the keeper leaves fresh water beside the gelding’s stall.
The wayhouse remains warm behind him as Orien prepares to continue south, with the raised road pale beneath the first morning light.
Quest Complete
Reach a southern waystation