Dawn pales the curtains of the west inn. The room’s warded latch holds, and the woven journal rests wrapped among the party’s few belongings.
A hurried knock breaks the quiet. When the door opens, a stablehand stands outside, hat clutched in both hands and mud darkening their boots.
The Stablehand
The pack mule is gone. Vanished before sunrise. No broken stall, no tracks past the yard. The travelers are stuck at the gate until someone finds another beast.
They produce a scrap of grey cloth caught on the mule’s empty tether. A tiny spider mark has been stitched into its edge.
Bren
That is no stable theft. Someone removed the mule to hold the road closed.
Slaan
The handoff pattern points toward Daggerford, but this mark points farther south. Warlock’s Crypt. They are delaying us while the next report changes hands.
Beyond the curtained window, the town gate remains crowded with stalled wagons and anxious travelers. The missing mule has turned a simple departure into a narrow choice: question the stable, secure another animal, or leave on foot before the Gray Glove can arrange a second delay.
“" sir, I do not know what your on about. Me and my family arrived on foot, so not our mule, not our problem" I tell the man plainly”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +1)
Kynes
Sir, I do not know what you are on about. My family and I arrived on foot. It is not our mule, and it is not our problem.
The plain denial lands without a tremor. The stablehand studies Kynes, then looks past him at the packed road gear and the undisturbed room.
The Stablehand
You came on foot. Aye... I believe you. The mule was taken before your party ever reached the inn.
Their grip loosens around the grey scrap. The accusation drains from their posture, though fear still keeps their eyes fixed on the spider stitch.
Bren
Then tell the gate master the delay is not ours. We will not have our cover turned into town gossip.
Outside, a wagon bell rings twice, followed by a rising knot of voices. The stalled line is beginning to press against the gate guards.
The Stablehand
I can vouch for your story, but someone must speak to the gate before the crowd decides its own version. Do I say the mule was stolen, or that it simply strayed?
“" simply, if you did your job, it was stolen. If you didn't. Then it strayed."'i shrug as I gather my gear getting ready to leave.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +2)
Kynes
Simply, if you did your job, it was stolen. If you didn't, then it strayed.
Kynes shrugs and gathers his gear, tightening straps and lifting his staff from beside the bed.
The Stablehand
Stolen, then. If I failed to secure it, that is the plain report.
They fold the grey scrap into their palm and step into the hall, calling the truth toward the gate before rumor can reshape it.
Inside, Bren checks the room while Slaan keeps the woven journal beneath the travel cloth. Nhal watches the gate through the narrow gap in the curtain.
The Stablehand
The gate master wants the travelers named. Your delay has drawn eyes, whether the mule was yours or not.
“"sure." We leave and as we make our way to the gate master. Nhal, slaan and I all hit him with a befuddle spell”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled +1)
Kynes
Sure.
Kynes steps into the hall, and the party moves with him toward the gate master's desk. The inn's witnesses part reluctantly, eyes following the grey cloth in The Stablehand's hand.
Slaan
Keep walking. Let the spell look like ordinary fatigue.
At the gate office, the gate master reaches for his register. Kynes, Slaan, and Nhal cast together, quiet befuddlement settling over the official's attention like a veil.
The Stablehand
The mule was stolen before sunrise. These travelers are delayed, not responsible.
The gate master blinks at the page, loses the thread of his questions, and waves toward the road with an impatient, uncertain hand. The party has passage, but several gathered onlookers have seen the delay.
“We continue on our way out of town with a shrug.”
Kynes gives a small shrug and walks through the gate. Slaan falls into step beside him, while the office, witnesses, and the stolen mule recede behind them. By the time the gate swings shut, the party is beyond town, moving together without further delay.