A small fishing boat beaches hard beside the drying racks, scattering shells and seawater. The pilot, a weathered middle-aged man in a patched blue coat, leaps ashore with the Quartermaster close behind.
The Pilot
Navy cutter offshore, coming east with the tide. Press gangs are questioning every boat they can reach along the coast.
Quartermaster
Our carriage seals remain untouched, and the dispatch chest is secure. But officers who know nothing of the Viscount’s endorsement may judge the whole fishery before they listen.
Mara turns from the guarded carriage toward the water, one hand resting near the papers recording every seal. The mounted escort tightens formation around the chest without drawing weapons.
Mara Trevithick
Then the danger is not merely seizure. It is confusion. A lawful envoy may look like another desperate traveler when the officers come ashore demanding answers.
Beyond the racks, fishermen pause over their nets and glance toward the gray water. The castle’s authority is present only in sealed parchment, disciplined escorts, and the envoy standing beside them.
The Pilot
They will reach this shore soon, sir. If you mean to travel, choose whether the Crown sees a protected envoy or finds an unprepared party waiting in the open.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep the misled hunters pursuing the puzzle
“I will offer the pilot a day's extra wages to take his boats past the view of the Navy Cutter, deliberately appearing to change course directly away from the larger ship as if to evade detection, to be stuck with the pilot's choice of explanations if they take the diversion's bait and stay offshore just an hour more or so, long enough to get our horse-led caravan far down the maze of inland roads from a coastal vessel's shipboard troops not yet ashore to leave a comfortable margin of distance away from our mission en route.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Deception, rolled +3)
Arrus Gandon
Pilot, I will pay you a day's extra wages to draw the cutter's eyes offshore while our carriage takes the inland roads.
The Pilot
Done, sir. I will turn east as though fleeing their questions, then keep them watching my wake while your party disappears inland.
The pilot pockets the promised wage and shouts orders toward the boat. Its patched sail fills, angling deliberately into the cutter's view as the navy vessel holds offshore.
Mara Trevithick
Then move the carriage now. I will keep the seals and chest covered until the road bends inland, beyond any shipboard eyes.
Mara climbs aboard, and the mounted escort drives the guarded carriage inland. The cutter follows the pilot's feigned evasion, while the fishery and its press-gang questions recede behind them.
The Pilot
There is an old drovers' lane ahead, sir, hidden behind the alder banks. It will put your carriage onto the London road without bringing you near another landing.
The diversion succeeds completely. By the time the cutter's sailors realize the boat has led them away from shore, Arrus's caravan is deep among inland lanes, with the pilot's hidden route offering a faster, safer connection onward.
“Once we are far ahead of danger, I will shift focus towards paying closer attention to the expedition's horses, riders, and horse-draw carriages' fitness for travel until reaching the best sighted location to camp overnight a short journey behind large landmarks and terrain features and physical obstacles that can conceal the light of a campfire, and far enough from the main road to keep our quiet voices without singing to be heard or seen from the road. We will travel in care and deliberate secrecy as quickly as possible, avoiding travel through towns or large villages besides sending a single rider for supplies wherever available for a pair of them to purchase them with doubly secure custody to our cautious journey along the countryside's road towards our reception at the King's Palace in as short a travel time as possible to traverse overland without exposing ourselves to populated areas wherever avoidable and side roads were available alternatives. No strangers trusted by default.”
SUCCESS (Superb Stealth, rolled +0)
The inland lane carries the carriage swiftly beneath alder banks. Arrus checks the horses’ breathing, the riders’ spacing, and each wheel’s steady passage over ruts while Mara watches the sealed chest.
Arrus Gandon
The horses are sound, but the off-road pace will demand fresh water before dusk.
At a fork screened by pine and gorse, the Quartermaster reins in and reports no broken harness, lame mount, or loosened seal. The party chooses the narrower track away from the London road.
Mara Trevithick
The horses can make the next rise, but not carelessly. We will water them, inspect every trace, and let the road remain empty behind us.
They pass the nearest village unseen, sending no one among its houses. Near dusk, Arrus selects a hollow behind a wooded ridge, where stone and heavy brush conceal the camp from road and distant eyes.
The carriage settles beneath the ridge, horses watered and rubbed down, while the escort muffles tack and speaks in low voices. No fire is lit until the terrain hides its glow.
Mara Trevithick
This camp will hold until dawn. We have preserved speed, secrecy, and the strength to continue toward the Palace without exposing ourselves to needless notice.
“Though all good fortune is ever welcomed, I will insist on a night watch to be stood over the intelligence cache, rotating men in and out of a four-hour shift rotation, so that no minute passes without vigilant eyes kept on our secretive cargo throughout the journey. I will personally stand the cold late watch shift before dawn and a quick, hot meal drives our mission back down the swiftest roads at speed.”
SUCCESS (Superb Perception, rolled +2)
Arrus establishes four-hour watches over the sealed intelligence cache. The Mounted Escort divide the night cleanly, rotating sentries while the carriage, horses, and dispatch chest remain under constant eyes.
Quartermaster
The first watch takes position now. Each relief will inspect the seals before and after changing places, and no one will leave the cache unattended.
Mara records the watch changes beside the journey accounts, then checks the chest herself before settling beneath the ridge. The camp remains dark, disciplined, and quiet.
The first relief gives way without disturbance. Hours later, Arrus takes the cold watch before dawn, standing beside the carriage as frost whitens the grass and the horses breathe pale clouds.
Mara Trevithick
You have the watch. I will wake the cook and have the meal ready before the next relief is due.
Mara returns with steaming broth, bread, and coffee. The final seals are checked once more, and the rotating watch continues as the camp stirs beneath the paling sky.
After the quick hot meal, the carriage rolls out at speed. The cache has passed through an unbroken night of vigilance, and the party takes the swiftest road toward London.