The caravan jolts to a halt before a broken stone bridge. Floodwater churns across the swallowed road, carrying branches toward the old riverside shrine beyond.
Drivers shout and tug at the reins. The caravan outrider dismounts, scanning the reeds, while Verner’s crimson coat draws wary glances from behind the wagon canvas.
A mud-streaked young adult half-elf man rises from the reeds, lean beneath a soaked brown cloak. Reed fragments cling to his dark hair, and a black thorn token hangs at his throat.
Tavian Reedcloak
Valkir’s heir. I was told you would come. Erin sent me to delay this caravan before it reaches the shrine.
Tavian steps onto the broken road, keeping the floodwater at his back. The token swings openly against his chest, its thorn-and-eye mark dark with rain.
The Caravan Outrider
That is the same sign I saw among the guards at the wayhouse. If he serves them, this delay may be a trap.
Tavian Reedcloak
I will not tell you whether I took it from an enemy or received it willingly. Erin is alive, but the shrine is watched.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn whether Tavian can lead Verner to Erin
“I scout around the bridge for another crossing”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +3)
Verner leaves the halted wagons and follows the bank beneath dripping alder branches, testing the mud and watching how the floodwater bends around the ruined bridge.
Beyond a screen of reeds, he finds an old maintenance path descending to a broad shelf of stone. The water runs shallow there, swift but fordable.
Verner
The crossing is firm enough for people and wagons if they keep to the exposed stones.
The path curves around the bridge foundations and emerges on the shrine side, hidden from the road by willow roots and fallen masonry. No fresh tracks mark its approach.
Tavian Reedcloak
You found a way across. Good. The shrine watchers expect the bridge, not the riverbank.
Verner returns and points out the ford. The outrider studies the route, then signals the drivers to turn the lead wagon toward the sheltered descent.
The Caravan Outrider
We can take them over one by one. Keep the animals steady, and the caravan will reach the far bank without announcing itself.
“*Verner uses his speed to out pace the caravan and scouts ahead”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -2)
Verner launches along the maintenance path, leaving the wagons to pick their careful way across the ford. His red cloak snaps through the alder shadows as he gains the shrine road.
He keeps ahead of the caravan, vaulting fallen masonry and skimming the river’s edge. A loose stone rolls beneath his boot, scraping his shin and forcing him to catch himself against a willow trunk.
Verner
The shrine lies beyond the next rise, and someone has watched this approach recently.
From the crest, Verner sees the old riverside shrine crouched among leaning cypress trees. Three figures occupy the broken colonnade, positioned to observe the bridge and the riverbank alike.
A narrow side path leads from the shrine toward a walled orchard, its gate standing ajar. Fresh wheel ruts enter the orchard, while the shrine doors remain closed.
Tavian Reedcloak
You reached it before the wagons. Erin was taken through that orchard path, not into the shrine. If the watchers see the caravan, they will move.
Behind Verner, distant wagon wheels creak over stone. His bruised shin burns beneath the boot, but he has secured the approach and the direction of Erin’s trail before the caravan arrives.
Quest Complete
Learn whether Tavian can lead Verner to Erin
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Good→Great