The four searchers remain disarmed in the muddy yard, their cudgels and blades scattered beneath the apple trees. Erin keeps Joren sheltered behind the farmhouse pantry wall.
The Masked Leader
Our orders came through paid couriers. No name passed from one hand to the next, only directions to seize Erin and silence witnesses.
The masked leader slowly reaches inside her oilskin coat, then extends a small sealed token between two fingers. Its dark wax bears an obsolete magistrate’s mark.
The Masked Leader
This was delivered with the last instruction. I know the mark is old. Whoever uses it still expects doors to open.
Erin
Do not trust a seal merely because it belonged to a magistrate. Joren heard the transfer orders, and the couriers may know more.
A long horn sounds from the orchard, answered by a shorter call near the road. The surrendered searchers exchange uneasy glances, realizing someone waits for their report.
The Masked Leader
That is our signal. If no answer comes, the waiting party will search this farmhouse themselves.
✓ Quest Accepted
Obtain the obsolete magistrate seal
“*I take the obsolete seal and examine its dark wax and magistrate mark.* You , *Verner points at their leader* You will give Ashen Thron a message from me. Tell him, that when I've finished training the daughter of Valkir, we will challenge him.. together!”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +0)
The masked leader offers the sealed token. Verner takes it, turning the dark wax beneath the gray morning light; the obsolete magistrate’s mark is genuine, though deliberately scarred across its center.
Verner
You will give Ashen Thorn a message from me. Tell him that when I have finished training Valkir’s daughter, we will challenge him together.
The words leave Verner steady, but the effort of holding his grief and resolve behind them costs him a visible pause. His fingers tighten around the seal before he extends it back.
The Masked Leader
Ashen Thorn. So that is the name you give the hand behind these orders. I will carry your challenge, exactly as spoken.
Erin
Then train me quickly. I will not have my father’s name used as a promise while I stand behind a wall.
Another horn sounds beyond the orchard, nearer now. The masked leader rises carefully, and the other surrendered searchers watch Verner, waiting to learn whether this exchange buys them passage.
“I lead Erin and Joren through the farmhouse exit”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +1)
Verner signals Erin and Joren toward the farmhouse’s rear exit, keeping his blades ready while the surrendered searchers remain gathered in the muddy yard.
Erin
Joren, lean on me. Keep low, and do not look toward the orchard.
Erin supports Joren through the kitchen passage. Verner lifts the bar without a sound and guides them into a narrow lane behind the farmhouse.
Joren Pell
There is a dry ditch beyond the herb garden. It leads toward the river road, away from the shrine.
They cross the herb garden and slip into the ditch’s shelter. The farmhouse disappears behind hedges as horns call from the orchard and road.
Erin
He moves like Valkir described. If I learn even half of that discipline, I can face whoever ordered my capture.
From the ditch, Verner leads Erin and Joren toward the river road, placing the farmhouse and its watchers behind them while the morning mist closes over their passage.
Quest Complete
Obtain the obsolete magistrate seal
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Good→Great