Weeks after the Drowned Ledgerhouse fell, Mara treks alone through the Troll Hills. She carries only what she freely kept from the quay, while storm-bent grass whispers around her robes.
Between leaning standing stones, a young adult man shelters beneath a torn brown cloak. His travel-stained face is pale, one sleeve darkened by blood, and his pack lies abandoned nearby.
The Wounded Traveler
Do not come closer. Not because of me. Something has been following the blood through the grass.
The wind shifts. A broad trail presses through the wet grass beyond the stones, bending stalks toward the hills ahead. Whatever made it remains unseen, somewhere past the low ridge.
The Wounded Traveler
It is large, but quiet. I heard it only when I stopped. The path ahead is not safe, though nothing has reached us here.
The traveler keeps both hands visible and lowers his voice. Rain beads on the standing stones, whose old surfaces offer shelter but no sign of warding or welcome.
The Wounded Traveler
If you know healing, I will accept it. If not, leave me water and keep walking before the trail finds this place.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get the wounded traveler clear of Mara’s path
“I cast a healing spell”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled +0)
Mara raises her marked hand and gathers a quiet thread of restorative magic, guiding it across the stones without stepping closer or touching the wounded traveler.
Pale light settles over the wounded traveler’s blood-darkened sleeve. The torn flesh beneath closes cleanly, leaving only a tender red seam and exhausted breath.
The Wounded Traveler
That is healing. Clean healing. Thank you.
Color returns to his face as he flexes the restored arm. He keeps his distance and glances toward the bent grass beyond the standing stones.
The Wounded Traveler
You kept the spell from binding me. I felt that. Whatever follows the blood is still beyond the ridge, but I can move now.
The broad trail remains pressed into the wet grass, silent and unhurried. The wounded traveler retrieves his abandoned pack, testing its weight against his healed shoulder.
The Wounded Traveler
I will not ask you to come with me. You have given what you chose to give.
“" thanks for the information" and I follow where his blood trail came from”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Survival, rolled +2)
Mara
Thanks for the information.
Mara follows the blood trail back through wet grass, reading its scattered drops and pressed stalks while the wounded traveler remains behind the standing stones.
The Wounded Traveler
The trail began near the ridge. I was coming down when something struck from the dark.
The trail ends beneath a low shelf of black stone. Blood marks the rock, beside a torn strip of cloak and three deep grooves in the damp earth.
Mara
The blood began here, but the creature did not remain.
Mara finds the source clearly: a narrow hollow beneath the ridge where the traveler was wounded. The grass beyond bears the same broad passage leading uphill.
Behind her, the traveler calls once from the stones, then falls silent. The trail and its origin lie fully revealed beneath the storm-washed hills.
Identify what wounded the traveler
Quest Complete
Get the wounded traveler clear of Mara’s path
Skill Upgrade: Survival Mediocre→Fair
