Warm water fills the inn’s simple bathhouse, easing the stiffness from Elion’s shoulder as steam gathers beneath the timber rafters. Beyond the wall, the inn settles into evening quiet.
After washing, Elion returns upstairs and enters the shared room. Saadia already sits on the bed, her voluminous black curls falling around her face as she reads by lamplight.
Elion Draemnor
The lamplight makes her beauty impossible to ignore, and his heartbeat quickens.
The room is modest but peaceful: two beds, a washstand, and a narrow window darkened by night. Through the thin adjoining wall, Lydia and Lioran murmur while arranging their things.
Saadia
Your shoulder looks less troublesome. Did the bath help, or are you hiding the pain again?
Saadia closes the book around one finger to hold her place. Its worn cover bears no title Elion recognizes, and her attention shifts fully toward him.
Saadia
I was reading about old roads near Karof. There is something I want to ask you before we sleep.
The faint voices next door fall quiet. Saadia leaves the question open between them, lamplight trembling softly across the pages and her expectant face.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what Saadia has withheld about the old roads near Karof
“What is your question, i ask softly.”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +3)
Elion Draemnor
What did you want to ask me?
Elion asks softly. Saadia studies him for a moment, then opens the worn book to a page marked with a narrow strip of blue cloth.
Saadia
I wanted to know whether you truly intend to take the eastern bypass at dawn, despite the warning about the ruined caravan road.
Her finger rests on a faded drawing of the stream and its dividing tracks. Beneath the ink, a newer notation identifies a concealed waystation before the bypass turns east.
Saadia
This note was added recently. If it is genuine, the waystation may offer shelter and a safer chance to verify the road before we commit the group to it.
Saadia
So that is my question, Elion. Do we follow Beren’s directions exactly, or do we investigate this waystation first? I can show you where it lies.
Verify whether the concealed waystation offers a safer route
Quest Complete
Learn what Saadia has withheld about the old roads near Karof