Rain streams from Orien’s cloak beneath House Veyr’s gate arch. The sealed warning rests against his side, while the blue reed mark remains faint on his skin.
A mud-streaked traveler stumbles from the southern road and raises a broken reed token, its split shape matching the mark from Reedmere’s drowned crossing.
Mud-Streaked Traveler
Mara Pell! Call Mara Pell of the fen hamlet. The old road has broken open, and she must know before the water rises again.
The gatewarden lowers his bar across the inner passage. His gaze shifts from the token to Orien’s sealed message, measuring which warning holds precedence.
Low Fen Gatewarden
No one enters the inner hall carrying an unaccounted token. The message first, traveler, and the reason you summon Mara Pell.
Aldren Veyr steps onto the charter stairs, rain darkening his shoulders. Recognition sharpens his face when he sees Orien, then fixes on the broken reed.
Aldren Veyr
Thanebroken, keep the seal closed for the moment. Gatewarden, admit neither of us until we know whether these warnings share one road.
“Is all this, the warnings, the bad weather, the sudden fen-spirit activity, all what precedes a great flood in this region?”
NO, AND WORSE (VeryLikely, rolled 97)
The broken reed token shivers in the traveler’s hand. Rainwater flowing beneath the gate turns black, carrying tiny blue reeds against the current.
Mud-Streaked Traveler
It is not a flood coming from the fen. The flood is already beneath us.
A deep crack rolls through the causeway. Beyond the gate, the stones settle by a finger’s breadth, and water wells up between their seams.
Aldren Veyr
Then the warnings are not forecasts. They are signs of a boundary failing.
The sealed message grows cold against Orien’s side. Its outer wax splits without being touched, revealing the silver reeds and crown beneath.
Low Fen Gatewarden
Bar the inner doors. If that water reaches the charter foundation, the crossing becomes a channel.
From below the causeway comes a second sound, not thunder but a distant ringing, answered by a tremor beneath every stone. The rain intensifies, and the gatehouse lanterns gutter blue.
“I present the warning before the seal breaks”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled -2)
Orien draws the sealed warning from beneath his rain-darkened cloak and holds it out across the charter steps, before the loosened wax can open further.
Aldren Veyr
There. The warning is presented under witness. Gatewarden, read the outer seal and record its condition.
The gatewarden accepts the message without breaking its seal. The blue reed mark on Orien’s skin flares sharply, leaving a narrow burn across his palm.
Low Fen Gatewarden
I witness the warning unopened, bearing the silver reeds and crown. No hand here has altered it.
At once, the split wax gives way on its own. Silver reeds unfold across the parchment while black water pulses beneath the causeway stones.
Aldren Veyr
Now we know the order of events. The message reached the house before the seal answered the breach.
The gatewarden thrusts the opened warning toward the inner hall, while rain and blue lanternlight wash over the witnesses gathered beneath the arch.
Quest Complete
Bring the warning to a southern charter house
Skill Upgrade: Riding Good→Great