Surazal slips out through the broken gate and into the raw plains wind, still half in shadow, still trying to shake the alleyway’s memory from his heels.
Behind him, Captain Harlen’s boots crunch on hard earth from the city road, while a hooded cultist moves with unnerving silence farther out, guided by the violet pulse hidden under Surazal’s robes.
Oren
They have you now. The lawful one is close, the other is closer than he should be.
Oren stays near the gate shadow, watching both approaches, his brass token catching a faint glint as he tracks the hunters instead of the hunted.
Surazal
Two hunters. One wears the law, one wears a hood.
Captain Harlen
Surazal, stop. Surrender the relic and your lies end here.
Malakor
The bone calls to its master. Hand it over, and the road stays open.
For a heartbeat, the open ground between city and plain becomes a trap made of distance, with Surazal standing at its center, both hunters finally revealed.
✓ Quest Accepted
Escape the city to a secluded location
“"captain and here I thought we were good friends?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -3)
Surazal
Captain Harlen, and here I thought we were good friends?
Captain Harlen
Friends do not bring forbidden relics to my gate, mage.
Harlen’s sword hand loosens by a finger’s width, not trust, but a pause. The edge of his gaze stays fixed on Surazal, measuring the tone more than the words.
Captain Harlen
Still, you speak like a man who expects a hearing, not a hanging.
The hooded cultist keeps closing from the plain, silent as a stain. Oren watches from the gate shadow, unreadable for once, as if this small opening might matter.
Captain Harlen
Walk away from the city line, Surazal. Give me the relic, and I let this end cleanly.
Surazal gets his opening, Harlen’s suspicion softening into a guarded bargain, but the strain costs him. The white heat in his ribs flares, and the hidden relic’s chill leaves his hands numb for a beat.
Isolate one pursuer for a lethal strike
Quest Complete
Learn who is tracking Surazal
New Gift: Shadow Sight