Brandon Dubois pushes into the snow-choked road beyond Holden wake-house, and the warmth dies behind him at once. Wind needles through the seams of his armor as the lane bends out into open fields, white and empty under a hard sky.
Ahead, the way narrows between drifts and a line of black stones half-buried in frost. The distant road to High Point is no longer a path, only a pale thread vanishing into the storm.
Mara and the Lantern Keeper stand in the doorway behind him, small against the firelight, watching him go with guarded hope. The wake-house creaks in the wind, then the door thuds shut and the glow is cut off.
Brandon Dubois
The snow is deeper here, and the stones mark the route.
A new shape moves ahead on the ridge, just a dark hood and a lantern held low against the gale. Whoever it is waits where the trail pinches tight, as if the road itself has chosen a test.
Brandon sets his boots into the drift and advances toward the waiting light, sword near his side, the hidden scroll kept close beneath his cloak.
✓ Quest Accepted
Meet the hooded figure on the ridge
“I keep my hand on my sword hilt and call out to the figure through the wind.”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +1)
Brandon closes on the ridge, one hand fixed to his sword hilt beneath the cloak, the other steadying his breath against the wind. Snow lashes his face, but he does not slow.
Brandon Dubois
Halt. Who waits on the ridge?
His voice carries farther than the storm should allow. The hooded figure shifts, and the lantern lifts just enough to paint the black stones and the rim of a watching hood.
Valerius
A traveler who sees whether you flinch, Brandon Dubois.
The stranger steps down from the ridge, revealing a still, deliberate posture. Brandon keeps his hand on the hilt, and the hidden scroll remains safe beneath his cloak as the lantern glow wavers between them.
Valerius
Tell me, knight, do you guard what you carry, or the road itself?
Quest Complete
Meet the hooded figure on the ridge