Kynes and Bren step into the town’s ordinary market traffic, leaving the closed inquiry and filed evidence behind. Traders haggle beneath striped awnings while travelers shoulder past with packs and baskets.
The Hall’s others remain behind with the records and its daily work. Only Bren accompanies Kynes into the crowded street, keeping close without trying to steer him.
Bren
It feels strange to walk away from a finished crisis and hear people arguing over onions instead of custody law.
Bren touches the folded letter inside her coat, then checks the signet secured beside it. Her attention moves from the market stalls to Kynes, weighing what should be said aloud.
Bren
The letter still points toward someone who expects an answer, and the signet gives them a way to recognize us. We should decide whether that is invitation or bait.
Bren
And there is the Hall. It is home, but it does not have to be our only refuge. We could leave for a while without abandoning anyone.
A spice seller calls out a price nearby, and a pair of travelers pause over a road map. Bren waits beside the market fountain, leaving the next choice open to Kynes.
“" what in the letter, do you know?" I ask”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Kynes
What is in the letter, do you know?
Bren studies Kynes for a moment, then draws the folded letter from her coat without opening it. Market noise rolls around them, ordinary and loud.
Bren
I read it twice. The writer claims to know what happened at the quarry and says the Gray Glove was only one layer of the problem.
Bren
They ask us to come to Daggerford, quietly, and speak with someone who keeps records of displaced witnesses. No names are given in the letter.
She turns the paper over, showing the plain wax seal and the signet beside it. Neither bears a house crest, only a small image of an open doorway.
Bren
The writer promises information about the missing witness-name, but offers no proof. The signet is meant to get us past the first refusal, not compel anyone.
Bren
I do not want to mistake a careful invitation for safety. But I also do not want fear deciding our road for us.
Quest Complete
Determine what the letter and signet seek from Bren
Skill Upgrade: Thievery Superb→Legendary
“" Daggerford eh, just us two?" I give her a grin”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Kynes
Daggerford, eh? Just us two?
Kynes gives her a grin beside the fountain, the market’s bustle passing around them. Bren’s guarded expression eases into reluctant amusement.
Bren
If that is what you are asking, yes. Just us two, unless we decide otherwise.
Bren
The others can keep the Hall running, and we can send word before we leave. No secret departure, no grand procession.
She folds the letter carefully and returns it to her coat, keeping the open-door signet in her palm. The choice becomes a road plan rather than a summons.
Bren
We take the quieter road, use the signet only at the first refusal, and meet this record-keeper on our terms. If it feels wrong, we turn back.
Bren
Just us two sounds less like a risk when he says it that way.
✓ Quest Accepted
Meet the record-keeper who wrote the letter
“" then my dear my only question is how fast do you wish to arrive, after we deal with this we can go for an adventure away from here." I say with a smile”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
Kynes
Then, my dear, my only question is how quickly you wish to arrive. Once we deal with this, we can go seeking an adventure away from here.
Kynes says it with a smile beside the fountain, while carts creak past and the market’s ordinary noise fills the space between them.
Bren
I want enough time to notice if we are being followed, but not so much that caution becomes another chain. Three days, perhaps, by the quiet road.
Bren’s smile answers his, warmer now. She closes her fingers around the open-door signet and looks north through the moving crowd.
Bren
We send word to the Hall, gather food before dusk, and leave at first light. After Daggerford, we choose somewhere neither of us has seen.
Bren
An adventure with him, chosen freely and without anyone else’s timetable, sounds like a future worth walking toward.
“" well we can use the hall of welcomes portal that is between here and talon Tower, then it will be three days from there to daggerford" I explain plainly to Bren.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +0)
Kynes
We can use the Hall of Welcome's portal between here and Talon Tower. From there, it will be three days to Daggerford.
Bren considers the route, then glances toward the Hall’s distant roofline beyond the market awnings. Her fingers tighten briefly around the open-door signet.
Bren
That shortens the uncertain part without hiding our departure. Three days from Talon Tower gives us time to watch the road and keep our story simple.
A cart rattles between them and the fountain, carrying sacks of grain toward the western gate. When it passes, Bren is already studying the northern road.
Bren
We send word, gather provisions, and use the portal before dusk if the Hall agrees. Then we walk from Talon Tower at first light.
Bren
A clear route, a shared plan, and no one else choosing our pace. That is enough to begin.
Bren
Come on, then. Let us tell them where we are going, and make Daggerford the next honest step.
“" I've been running through my past memories of reiterations." I say, "Sil'thalis was kind of an asshole" I state.”
Kynes
I have been running through my past memories of reiterations. Sil’thalis was kind of an asshole.
Bren pauses beside the fountain, the open-door signet resting in her palm. Market voices and wagon wheels continue around them, leaving his admission among ordinary noise.
Bren
That is a remarkably concise assessment of someone who apparently left you so many memories to sort through.
She studies his face, then glances toward the Hall’s distant roofline. Nothing in the crowded street answers for the past, and no hidden summons interrupts their plan.
Bren
Was he cruel, or merely convinced that being clever excused treating everyone else like pieces on a board?
Bren
You do not have to defend him because he was you. A memory can be accurate without becoming an obligation.
Bren folds the letter back into her coat and keeps the signet visible between her fingers, waiting for Kynes to decide how much of Sil’thalis deserves an answer before they return to the Hall.
“"I am am still not sure how iteration reiteration works other then what Mara discovered from Ilyd." I pause " I know he is part me and part his own person. I also know he did things he wasn't proud of." I pause again to gather my thoughts. " He did what he thought was right while being in the system. While I don't excuse him, I do feel for him."”
Kynes
I am still not sure how iteration and reiteration work beyond what Mara discovered from Ilyd. I know Sil’thalis is part of me and part his own person.
Kynes
He did things he was not proud of. He did what he thought was right while inside the system. I do not excuse him, but I feel for him.
Bren listens without interrupting. The market continues around the fountain, but her attention stays on Kynes and the distinction he is trying to make.
Bren
Then perhaps an iteration is a life lived through the same pattern, while a reiteration is the pattern returning with its memories altered by what came before.
Bren
Sil’thalis was not another soul hiding inside you. He was a version of your life, with his own choices, fears, and consequences. Those choices remain true without becoming commands.
Bren
Feeling for him does not pardon what he did. It means you can see the person caught inside the system without surrendering your judgment to him.
She closes her hand around the signet, then lets it rest at her side. The road to Daggerford remains ahead, waiting while the past takes a more honest shape.
“" I'll send word to the hall of our departure." I say”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +1)
Kynes
I’ll send word to the Hall of our departure.
Kynes takes paper and ink from his travel pouch, writing that he and Bren will use the portal before dusk and walk from Talon Tower at first light.
Bren
Add that we expect to reach Daggerford in three days, and that the Hall should not delay its ordinary work for us.
Kynes folds the note and seals it plainly. A middle-aged courier woman, broad-shouldered, with ruddy skin, an iron-gray braid, and sturdy black boots, in a brown cloak waits near the fountain, her weathered satchel marked with town routes.
Kynes
Take this to Rowan at the Hall of Welcome. Tell him it concerns our departure, and that we leave before dusk.
The courier accepts the sealed message, repeats the destination, and disappears into the market traffic toward the Hall. The warning is on its way.
Bren
There. They know our route, our timing, and that we are choosing this openly. Now we can gather food without leaving anyone guessing.
“We gather what we'll need for a three day trip”
SUCCESS (Great Survival, rolled -1)
Kynes and Bren move through the market stalls, choosing dried bread, smoked meat, hard cheese, apples, and enough grain to cover three days from Talon Tower to Daggerford.
Bren
Water first, then food that keeps. We can replace anything delicate along the road, but we should not depend on finding a village.
They fill waterskins at the public fountain and buy a small sack of oats, lamp oil, salt, and a spare cord. Bren checks each bundle before tying it shut.
Bren
No unnecessary weight. The signet, letter, bedrolls, journal, and records stay protected, while the rest must earn its place.
A patient stallholder, a broad-built adult woman with warm brown skin, cropped black hair, and a green wool apron over a russet dress, wraps the provisions in waxed cloth and accepts Bren’s coins. The packed supplies settle neatly between their traveling bags, balanced for walking.
Bren
That is enough for three days, with a little margin. We can leave before dusk, use the portal, and begin the road rested at first light.
With food, water, and practical supplies secured, Bren lifts one pack and looks toward the Hall, ready to return and confirm their departure.
+ New Item Acquired
Smoked meat
+ New Item Acquired
Hard cheese
+ New Item Acquired
Apples
+ New Item Acquired
Sack of oats
+ New Item Acquired
Lamp oil
+ New Item Acquired
Salt
+ New Item Acquired
Spare cord