Spartacus enters Castra's academy beneath its iron standards. Armored instructors clear the central yard, driving cadets and training squads toward the surrounding colonnades.
Hadrian waits beside a campaign table in gold-plated armor, Commander Titus motionless at his shoulder. Maximus remains in Arcadia City with the council's ledgers, while Cerberus continues east.
Hadrian Marcius Majoris
King Spartacus. The northern report is fresh. Our scouts found organized movement beyond the road, but no confirmed attack.
Titus sets a sealed packet on the table and breaks its wax. Inside, a charcoal map marks repeated tracks, measured campfires, and watchers who withdrew whenever Castran scouts approached.
Commander Titus
The signs are disciplined. Numbers remain unknown. They avoided contact, but their patrols recognized our route and changed position accordingly.
Hadrian Marcius Majoris
A controlled approach could reveal whether these frost people answer with words, warnings, or weapons.
The cleared yard falls quiet around them. Beyond the academy walls, horses stamp in the cold, while the report offers Arcadia its first deliberate chance to learn how Frostenstiege receives outsiders.
✓ Quest Accepted
Make peaceful contact with the frost people
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine whether the frost people intend hostility
“I go with Hadrian and try to find these people and talk peacefully with them”
FAILURE (Good Persuasion, rolled +2)
Spartacus rides north with Hadrian and Commander Titus, leaving Castra's iron standards behind. Snow thickens across the road, and unfamiliar tracks cross the frozen ground.
At dusk, figures appear beyond a low ridge: three adult men and women in layered white and gray furs, carrying bows lowered but ready. Their pale faces remain half-covered against the cold.
Spartacus Praetor
We come under peaceful intent. We seek words, not battle.
The frost people do not approach. Instead, they raise a polished horn and sound one long note. Hidden watchers answer from the ridge and the dark pines.
Hadrian Marcius Majoris
They heard us, but they refuse the ground between us. Advance no farther without knowing their custom.
Commander Titus
Their patrols are arranged to withdraw, not surround. The horn is deliberate. It may call a speaker, or mark our offer for others.
A fur-wrapped figure places a blue cord on a stone, then retreats with the others. The marked stone points toward a narrow pass, offering a controlled meeting place rather than open approach.
“What was that I wish for you to take me to your leader”
FAILURE (Good Persuasion, rolled +1)
Spartacus Praetor
What was that? I wish for you to take me to your leader.
The frost people remain beyond the marked stone. A tall adult woman steps forward, her pale face framed by white fur, gray layers, and a blue cord tied at her wrist.
Aurora
Your words reach us, Arcadian. Your feet do not yet cross the speaking boundary.
She points first to the blue cord, then to the snow beside it. The other bow carriers keep their weapons lowered, watching Hadrian and Titus without advancing.
Aurora
A ruler may request the voice of the high speaker. He does not summon it. Place your sign beside ours, and remain until the horn answers.
Hadrian Marcius Majoris
They offer a custom, not an audience. Accepting it may open the pass without placing our force beneath their roof.
The woman withdraws one measured pace, leaving the blue cord and the narrow path plainly visible. The frost people have refused escort, but revealed the ritual that can bring their leader to the meeting.
Quest Complete
Make peaceful contact with the frost people
Skill Upgrade: Persuasion Good→Great