Holden’s cemetery lies under a low gray sky, its stone markers rimed with cold. Brandon Dubois stands among the mourners as the last clods of earth settle over his mentor’s grave.
The funeral cloths shift in the wind. His mentor’s wife keeps one hand pressed to the edge of the coffin, refusing to step back.
The Mentor's Wife
He was more than a husband to me. He was a shield to this house, and a father to Brandon Dubois in all but blood.
Beside her stand several of his mentor’s companions, each wrapped in mourning and travel-worn silence.
The First Companion
We rode with him through sleet and bandit country. He never left the weak behind.
The Second Companion
And now Nordenfell gathers its breath, with Iska sharpening its knives beyond the border.
The words hang in the cold air. A rustle moves through the wreaths, and every face turns toward Brandon Dubois.
The Mentor's Wife
You were invited here as our son. Will you stand with us one more time, and bear his sword to the wake?
+ Story Quest Added
Bear the mentor's sword to the wake
“I bear the sword to the wake”
SUCCESS (Fair Willpower, rolled +1)
Brandon Dubois steps forward and takes the sword with both hands. The widow’s fingers leave the hilt slowly, as if she is handing over a memory instead of steel.
The Mentor's Wife
He trusted your hands. That is no small inheritance.
The First Companion bows his head, watching Brandon as the blade settles against his palm, solemn and exact.
The First Companion
He would have smiled to see you carry it. He always said you learned faster than you spoke.
The Second Companion exhales a thin cloud into the cold and shifts his cloak tighter, eyes fixed on the grave and then on the road beyond the fence.
The Second Companion
A knight’s work never ends at the burial line. War or not, the living still need guarding.
The widow lets her hand fall from the coffin lid and folds it over the other, grief softening into tired dignity. The sword rests with Brandon now, accepted and witnessed by all.
The Mentor's Wife
Then come with us to the wake, Brandon Dubois. Stay long enough to let him be remembered properly.
Quest Complete
Bear the mentor's sword to the wake
+ Scene Quest Added
Pay respects at the wake
+ New Item Acquired
mentor's sword
“I stay for the wake”
SUCCESS (Fair Willpower, rolled -1)
The cemetery falls into a hush that feels held, not empty. Brandon Dubois remains with them as the cold settles over the fresh earth and the funeral cloths stir faintly in the wind.
The Mentor's Wife
He hated grand speeches. Said a steady hand meant more than a loud one.
The First Companion
And he was right. He judged people by what they did when no one was looking.
The First Companion glances at the sword in Brandon Dubois's grip, then toward the grave, as if measuring memory against metal.
The Second Companion
He would have liked this. Not the burying, never that, but the fact that we still stand here to speak his name.
The Mentor's Wife
He spoke of you often, Brandon Dubois. Not as a tale, as a promise kept.
She draws a slow breath and smooths the edge of her veil, grief softening into something steadier. The sword remains quiet between them, accepted and witnessed.
The Mentor's Wife
Come inside with us. Sit by the fire, and tell me one thing you remember about him.
Quest Complete
Pay respects at the wake
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Fair→Good
