The camp settles beneath a stand of silver-barked trees. Lydia feeds the fire while Lioran arranges bedrolls, and the evening air carries pine, damp earth, and distant river-song.
Saadia sits just beyond the brightest ring of firelight, her dark curls stirring in the breeze. For once, no trail, enemy, or urgent rumor presses against the quiet.
Lydia
No watch rotations for the next hour. Anyone who argues can explain why the stars are less trustworthy than they are.
Lioran
I have no argument. My feet have been threatening mutiny since noon.
Saadia
Then let them rest. The night is gentle tonight, and gentleness is rarer than most treasures we chase.
Lydia gives a low laugh and leans back against her pack. Firelight glints across her mace, but it remains untouched beside her, harmless in the peaceful camp.
The flames crackle softly. Conversation fades into comfortable silence as the companions breathe the clean night air, leaving Elion space to decide how he spends the rare stillness.
“I admire Saadia’s face as she falls asleep. Lost in her beauty, i feel someone looking at me. I turn, and Lioran is looking at me, smiling. He says nothing and goes back to sleep. Embarrassed of being caught, i simply decide to lay down, waiting for sleep to hug me like a mom would hug her child, reflecting on the adventures awaiting us”
Saadia’s breathing settles into a quiet rhythm beyond the firelight. Her dark curls frame her sleeping face, softened by silver moonlight and the fading amber glow.
For a while, the camp disappears from Elion’s attention. The stillness, her beauty, and the promise of roads yet untraveled hold him motionless beside the warmth.
Then Elion feels someone watching. He turns and finds Lioran awake, smiling knowingly from his bedroll.
Lioran says nothing. His smile lingers for one quiet heartbeat before he turns onto his side and lets sleep claim him again.
Heat rises in Elion’s face. With no defense against the silent witness, he lowers himself onto his bedroll and draws his cloak close.
Elion Draemnor
The fire is nearly ash, and tomorrow waits beyond the trees.
The river murmurs in the distance while Elion reflects on the adventures ahead. Gradually, the night’s gentleness gathers around him, and sleep embraces him beneath the silver-barked trees.
“I sleep and prepare for tomorrow”
Sleep takes Elion beneath the silver-barked trees. The last warmth of the fire fades against his cloak while the river keeps its quiet, patient rhythm.
The night passes without disturbance. Saadia remains still beyond the firelight, and Lioran’s breathing rises and falls from his bedroll nearby.
Elion Draemnor
The air is colder before dawn.
Pale morning gathers between the trunks. Dew beads on the grass and silver bark, while the embers glow faintly beneath a veil of ash.
Lioran stirs first, shifting beneath his blanket. Across the camp, Saadia opens her eyes to the changing light, her dark curls touched by dawn.
Elion rises rested and prepares for the road, securing his belongings and settling his cloak over his shoulders. The quiet camp is ready for tomorrow’s journey.
Morning wind moves through the branches as the first clear light reaches the trail. Another day waits beyond the trees.
“While stretching, i ask who’s gonna shower in the river nearby first. While Yawning, Saadia says that she’ll go first. Lydia wakes up a bit after and with a tired voice says that she’ll go with Saadia. Elion, confused, asks if it’s not weird to shower with someone else. Lydia answers that it’s okay since they’re both girls. She continues and asks Elion if he’s jealous, with a smirk, knowing clearly about her friend’s feeling for Saadia. Elion, shocked and embarssswd by the question, doesn’t say a word and goes deeper into the near woods to give privacy to the girls. Saadia, embarrassed as well too, takes her stuff and goes to shower in the river. Lioran and Lydia, both laughing, join their friends: Lioran goes to rejoin Elion and Lydia goes to shower with Saadia”
SUCCESS (Fair Reasoning, rolled +0)
Elion Draemnor
Who’s going to shower in the river first?
Saadia
I will. Give me a moment to wake properly.
Lydia
I’ll go with you. A little company will make the morning less miserable.
Elion Draemnor
Isn’t it strange to shower with someone else?
Lydia
We’re both girls, Elion. It’s fine. Unless you’re jealous?
Lydia’s smirk leaves Elion speechless. Embarrassed, he turns and walks deeper into the nearby woods, giving the women privacy while Saadia gathers her things. The detour costs him several minutes, and the trees hide whether the riverbank is fully secluded.
Saadia hurries toward the river, equally flushed. Laughter follows from camp as Lydia joins her, while Lioran approaches Elion through the trees, shaking his head with fond amusement.
“Lioran catches up to me, smiling and laughing, jokingly and still embarrassed, i ask that he leaves me alone. He laughs even harder and says he’ll stop, lifting both hands in the air. Then, more seriously, Lioran suggests that we should look into routes to take for our first adventure while the girls are bathing. I nod and tell him that it’s a great idea. We sit down, and we began analyzing our map to see where to go next”
FAILURE (Fair Reasoning, rolled -2)
Lioran
There you are! I wondered how long you planned to hide among the trees.
Elion Draemnor
Leave me alone, Lioran.
Lioran
All right, all right. I’ll stop.
Lioran lifts both hands, laughing harder before schooling his expression. From the river, Lydia and Saadia’s distant voices drift through the trees, keeping the morning’s embarrassment alive.
Lioran
Seriously, though, while they bathe, we should study the routes for our first adventure.
Elion Draemnor
That’s a great idea.
They sit beneath the silver-barked trees and spread their packs between them. The map is nowhere inside Elion’s belongings, however, and Lioran’s search finds no folded parchment either. Without it, roads blur into guesses, leaving their destination undecided until they can return and locate the missing chart.
✓ Quest Accepted
Find the map
“Could the map be back at camp?”
YES (Likely, rolled 30)
Lioran pauses over the scattered packs, then glances toward the pale glow between the trees. A corner of folded parchment lies visible beneath the blanket near the dying fire.
Lioran
Wait. We brought the map to camp. It must still be beside the fire.
He rises and hurries back through the silver-barked trees, leaving the packs open beneath the morning branches. The map’s edge disappears again as the blanket shifts in the breeze.
Lioran
Found it! We were searching everywhere except where we had actually stopped.
Lioran returns with the folded chart held carefully between both hands. Ash dusts one corner, but the inked roads and landmarks remain clear enough to guide their choice.
Lioran
Now we can choose properly. Once Lydia and Saadia return, we can decide which road leads to our first adventure.
“Lioran hands me the map. I discuss with Lioran and the most logical place would be the nearest village of Karof, about a day and half of walk from where we are. I then tell Lioran that we could ask the village if they have bounty requests, concerns about a criminal group or groups, rumours or stuff like that. You could also use that time to make more Medical researches and make more healing potions like you wanted to do! I add. Lioran nods and tells me i’m right and it’s an excellent idea.”
FAILURE (Fair Reasoning, rolled -2)
Lioran folds the map once more and offers it across the open packs. Elion accepts it, weighing the parchment while the morning light reveals its faded roads.
Elion Draemnor
The nearest village is Karof, about a day and a half from here. It is the most logical place to start.
Elion Draemnor
We can ask whether they have bounty requests, concerns about criminals, or useful rumors. You could also spend the time on your medical research and make the healing potions you wanted.
Lioran
You’re right. That is an excellent idea, Elion.
Lioran bends over the chart beside him, tracing the road toward Karof with one finger. His approval fades when the inked path reaches a jagged mark in the hills.
Lioran
There is a problem. This map marks the only pass to Karof as impassable, and the note looks recent. We cannot simply follow this route and expect to arrive.
The plan remains sensible, but the chart offers no reliable alternate road. Karof is now a destination to verify from elsewhere, not a journey the companions can safely begin today.
Reach Karof
Quest Complete
Find the map
+ New Item Acquired
Map