Grachus drives through the square toward the gate. The rider is still half off his horse, shouting over the din. Dust darkens the road beyond the wall, and the first line of marching feet shakes the ground.
The Rider
Three banners. Maybe four. I see them through the dust, but not the spears after them.
The Council Elder
Then we count what we can and bar the gate now.
Town Guard
The seam holds, but the gate will not if they strike it hard enough.
The Stranger
Three banners is not a raid. It is a claim.
The rider points weakly down the road. Grachus reaches the gatehouse as the sun sinks into the dust, and the village’s wounded strength gathers around him, waiting for his choice.
✓ Quest Accepted
Gauge the approaching army's strength
Grachus leaves Village gate behind and arrives at the approaching army.
“Bar the gate behind me, I am going to go access the force coming towards the town.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +3)
Dust hangs low over the road, turning the fields bronze and blind. Grachus slips beyond the wall into the edge of that haze, where trampling feet have pressed the earth hard as stone.
Ahead, the column comes into view in broken slices, pikes, shields, and three high banners snapping through the murk. The front ranks are disciplined, not a mob.
Grachus
Three banners. A full war host, not raiders.
Grachus shifts along the ditch to the side of the road, using the slope and dust for cover. His cut knuckles sting where he grips his blade.
The Stranger
Count the center banner first. That is the command mark.
From the field edge, The Stranger steps into clearer view, still calm amid the grinding march. He points once, precise and unhurried.
The Stranger
They carry siege carts behind the infantry. This is an assault, not a warning.
Grachus sees it at last, hulking shapes in the dust behind the foot soldiers, slow enough to miss at a distance. The road to the village is already being claimed.
Quest Complete
Gauge the approaching army's strength