The cellar door bangs open, and cold air knifes through the dust. A heavy-set merchant strides in with a ledger tucked under one arm, already mid-breath like he owns the room.
The Merchant
Release him to me. He works off his debt in my service, and I will settle the matter cleanly.
The Half-Orc Outcast turns sharply, jaw tight. Elowen’s gaze hardens, measuring the newcomer as if he is another problem the cellar has decided to grow.
The Half-Orc Outcast
Debt? You arrive late and call it justice?
Elowen
State your claim plainly. Who owes you, and why is this stranger in chains?
The Merchant
Kaelen. I hold his bond, his mark, and witness enough to prove it. The ledger speaks before any blade does.
The stranger lifts his head at that, anger flickering across his face. Darago stands between old vengeance and fresh greed, while the new chain anchor glints in the lantern light like a quiet answer waiting to be used.
“I say to the stranger dont if you act reckless now it may cost you your own life”
SUCCESS (Poor Persuasion, rolled +1)
Darago
Don't act recklessly now. It may cost you your life.
The Stranger
His anger tightens, but it does not break. He glances from Darago to the merchant, weighing the warning.
The Stranger
So you think I should stand still and let this ledger decide me?
The remark lands. The stranger eases one shoulder back from the wall, less like a cornered beast and more like a man listening.
The Merchant
A man with sense can keep breathing and work off a debt. Refuse, and you make a harder bargain.
Elowen
Enough. If there is to be judgment, it will be spoken plainly, not wrestled out of the dark.
For a beat, the cellar holds still. The half-orc keeps his blade low, the merchant keeps his ledger open, and the stranger looks from face to face as if Darago's warning has given him room to choose.