Morning light reaches beneath the fallen fir, turning the damp canvas gold. Edrin warms the remaining beans while Octavius prepares the gathered onion and watercress beside the low fire.
Patter watches from beneath the cart, nose just beyond the wheel. The camp holds only the three travelers, with the abandoned road and its dead watchers far behind them.
Edrin Vale
There is enough onion to make these beans respectable, and enough watercress to pretend we planned the meal. What brought you onto this road, Octavius?
Edrin Vale
I ask because roads remember company. I once served a reeve who opposed a cruel lord, carrying messages and coin where honest couriers would not go.
Edrin stirs slowly, his expression guarded beneath the morning's warmth. He glances toward the eastern road, then checks the mule's harness before returning to the fire.
Edrin Vale
That service ended badly. Some folk I trusted vanished, others changed sides, and I learned that danger is best met with warning, patience, and an agreed retreat.
Edrin Vale
If trouble finds us again, will you tell me what you see before you act? I would rather lose a bargain than lose the road beneath our feet.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish a practical agreement with Edrin for handling future danger
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what happened to Edrin's vanished allies
“"I live out in the black-night woods." The thick, wide forest I had travelled from, named for the thick canopy and dense wilds that let not even moonlight through, and a torch can only go as far as the next low tree a few feet ahead of you. "I'm not used to travelling with others often," I say, pointing at my face, trying to ease the scowl lines that have etched themselves into place over years of only having myself to worry about. "I will gladly warn you, though. if you can forgive me acting alone- it may be a difficult habit to break..? Please?" I ask, trying to ease the scowl that always seems to sit across my brow and mouth.”
SUCCESS (Great Persuasion, rolled +0)
Octavius
I live out in the Black-Night Woods, where the canopy is so thick that moonlight dies above the next low tree. I am not used to traveling with others.
Octavius points at his face and works his fingers along the scowl lines etched across his brow and mouth. The gesture softens his expression only briefly before the habit returns.
Octavius
I will gladly warn you, though. If you can forgive me acting alone, it may be a difficult habit to break. Please?
His reaching hand clips the bean pot. It rocks against the stones, spilling a dark ribbon of broth into the fire and leaving breakfast thinner than intended.
Edrin Vale
Black-Night Woods explains much, friend. A man who survives there learns to trust his own eyes before anyone else's voice.
Edrin Vale
I forgive the habit, Octavius. Warn me when you can, and if you must act alone, give me one breath to understand what you have seen.
Edrin steadies the pot and divides the remaining beans carefully. His guarded expression eases, though his eyes now measure Octavius's hands whenever they move toward danger.
Quest Complete
Establish a practical agreement with Edrin for handling future danger