The party enters the hamlet common together, Bren leading the mule while Kynes, Slaan, and Nhal keep an easy pace beside her. Ordinary afternoon work continues around them.
A stone trough stands beside the road, fed by a clear spring. Beyond it, a bakehouse sends warm bread-smell across the common, while a weathered notice board leans beneath an ash tree.
Slaan
Water first, then the board. We can learn the road without making ourselves memorable.
A farmer carries folded linen toward a cottage, two children gather kindling near a fence, and the bakehouse door opens briefly to release a plume of flour and heat.
Bren
The trough is public, the notice board is public, and neither requires a story. We can leave as quietly as we arrived.
Nhal
There is a handbill for a southbound caravan. The route passes near the Fields of the Dead, though it looks like a notice for merchants, not travelers.
The handbill lists departure days, guarded waypoints, and a worn sign marking the southern road. No one nearby pays the party unusual attention, leaving the common open for water, study, or departure.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure enough water for the journey
“" aye lass, the city and outside merchants trade goods in the field of the dead. We haven't seen any walkers coming from the crypt. So maybe the one back home was the only one?" I pause thoughtfully " I still want to know why another nation is sending their people to get my attention." I say”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Kynes
Aye, lass. The city and outside merchants trade goods near the Fields of the Dead, but we have seen no walkers coming from the crypt. Perhaps the one at home was the only one. I still want to know why another nation is sending people to get my attention.
Kynes pauses beside the trough, his gaze resting on the southern handbill. Around him, the hamlet continues its ordinary work, indifferent to distant crypts and foreign designs.
Slaan
That is possible. One walker may have been a messenger, not the beginning of a procession. As for the foreign agents, attention is valuable when someone wants to measure what you know.
Nhal
They may be seeking the person they believe you were, rather than the person standing here. A mistaken identity can still draw very deliberate hunters.
Bren
Then we do not help them correct the mistake. We keep our account plain, learn what this road carries, and leave before curiosity turns into questions.
The handbill offers no names, only merchant marks and guarded waypoints toward the southern road. The absence of walkers from the crypt remains unchallenged, but the question of foreign interest sharpens.
Slaan
We can ask at the bakehouse whether caravans have seen unusual travelers, without asking about crypts. Ordinary questions often uncover extraordinary habits.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn whether foreign agents have passed through the hamlet
− Story Quest Removed
Reach Warlock's Crypt
− Scene Quest Removed
Secure enough water for the journey
“" you guys secure the water for the trek, I'm going to the bakers" I tell the three”
Kynes
You three secure the water for the trek. I am going to the bakers.
Bren
We will fill the waterskins and keep them covered. Ask what you need, then come straight back.
Bren turns toward the stone trough and begins arranging the empty skins. Slaan watches the common while Nhal remains near the notice board, keeping the group’s presence unremarkable.
Slaan
If the baker has heard anything about southern caravans, listen more than you speak. Bread invites conversation better than suspicion.
Kynes crosses the common toward the bakehouse. Warm air rolls through the open doorway, carrying the scent of crust, yeast, and woodsmoke into the afternoon.
The Baker
Afternoon. If you are after bread, the fresh loaves are cooling, and the day’s honey cakes have not yet gone.
Behind him, water splashes softly into the first skin. The baker waits beside the counter, flour dusting her sleeves, while the hamlet continues its quiet work.
“" aye, four honey cakes and 2 loaves if you please." The as I'm getting out my coin to pay , " must be a quite place to be" I smile and put 4 silver coins on the counter”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +0)
Kynes
Aye, four honey cakes and two loaves, if you please. Must be a quiet place to be.
Kynes smiles and places four silver coins on the counter. The baker gathers the cakes and loaves, wrapping them in clean cloth while the oven crackles behind her.
The Baker
Quiet enough, most days. We get farmers, drovers, and the occasional merchant, but folk here prefer keeping their own counsel.
She sets the wrapped food before Kynes and slides two extra crusts alongside it, still warm from the oven.
The Baker
There you are. Four cakes, two loaves, and a little kindness for the road. You heading south, or keeping to the northern farms?
Outside, Bren finishes filling the waterskins while Slaan watches the common. Nhal remains near the notice board, and no one appears interested in the bakehouse exchange.
The Baker
If you want quiet, stay north. The southern road sees more wagons, and more strangers asking questions than anyone here enjoys.
+ New Item Acquired
Wrapped bread and cakes
“" I guess more then when the bread is done eh?" I tease as I take the package”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Kynes
I suppose there’ll be more when the bread is done, eh?
Kynes teases as he takes the wrapped cakes and loaves. The cloth is warm against his hands, and the baker’s extra crusts add a pleasant weight to the parcel.
The Baker
There might be, if you keep smiling like that. Come back tomorrow and I may even charge you honestly for it.
The baker gives him a dry look, though amusement softens her face. She tucks the remaining crusts beneath the counter as the oven settles into a low crackle.
Bren
Careful. At this rate, the bread is going to become our most complicated negotiation.
Outside, Bren secures the filled waterskins while Slaan waits near the trough and Nhal keeps the notice board in view. None of them draw attention.
The Baker
Safe travels, northbound or otherwise. Just remember, the best bread is usually gone before noon.
“I wave with a smile and return to the group.”
Kynes lifts a hand in farewell, smiling as he gathers the wrapped bread and honey cakes. He turns from the bakehouse and crosses the common toward the others.
The Baker
Safe travels, then. And mind you come back before noon if you want the good crusts.
The baker disappears behind the counter as Kynes rejoins the group. Bren has secured the waterskins, Slaan stands beside the trough, and Nhal keeps the notice board in view.
Bren
That was quick. Did the bread provide anything besides lunch?
Slaan
He has returned with four cakes and no new obligations. I call that a successful negotiation.
Nhal
The southern road remains busier, and the northern farms remain quieter. Nothing else here demands our attention.
Bren takes the parcel and settles it among the packs. Together, they leave the common without haste, following the northern road while the hamlet returns to its ordinary afternoon.
“" between nhal's observations and what the baker said, north is the way we go." I take the map out and show how the southern road is a direct rout , the north road will go around warlocks crypt. And then a path that will go to warlocks crypt. " People are said to ask questions on the South road. And it seems no one is heading north." I say plainly”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
Kynes stops beyond the common and draws the map from beneath his cloak. He spreads it across a flat stone, weighing its corners with the wrapped bread and a waterskin.
Kynes
Between Nhal's observations and what the baker said, north is the way we go.
His finger follows the southern road, a direct route toward the Fields of the Dead, then shifts to the northern track as it bends around Warlock's Crypt before joining a narrower path toward it.
Kynes
The southern road is direct, but people are said to ask questions there. The northern road goes around the crypt, then gives us a path toward it. No one seems to be heading north.
Bren
Then north preserves both our cover and our choice. We can keep walking as travelers bound away from trouble, while still reaching the crypt.
Slaan
A longer route with fewer curious eyes is preferable. The map supports it, and the hamlet has given us no reason to hurry south.
Nhal
North, then. We follow the quiet road, watch for the turning beyond the farms, and keep our destination private until the path itself requires otherwise.
“I cast a psycomatry charm to see if I can sence if anyone from warlocks crypt has passed through town.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled -2)
Kynes rests two fingers against the map and releases the psycomatry charm. The common’s ordinary impressions thin into lingering traces of movement, fear, and guarded purpose.
Kynes
Someone from Warlock’s Crypt passed through town, but not as part of a caravan.
The impression resolves around the southern road and the bakehouse, carrying the cold stillness of the crypt. One cloaked traveler came through recently, alone, asking about northern departures.
The charm snaps shut with a sharp pressure behind Kynes’s eyes. A thin line of blood touches his nose, and the map’s ink blurs beneath one trembling hand.
Bren
Kynes. Sit for a moment. You have the answer, but the spell took more from you than it should have.
Slaan
A lone traveler from the crypt, recently arrived and already gone. That explains the empty northern road, and gives us something useful to watch for.
Nhal
The trace did not linger at the common. Whoever it was left by the southern road, then turned north beyond the farms. We can follow without changing our story.
Learn whether the lone crypt traveler is tracking the party
Quest Complete
Learn whether foreign agents have passed through the hamlet
New Gift: Foreign-Agent Reader