Dust spills from the southern trail as a young adult woman steps between the pale stones. Seren Vale is lean and sun-browned, with dark braided hair, a weathered ochre cloak, and a torn leather map case clenched in one hand. Her other hand remains raised, empty and visible.
Seren Vale
Seren Vale. Caravan outrider. I found this among abandoned supplies, along with a fragment bearing Hadrik Voss’s trail marks.
She stops well beyond Mara’s reach. Behind Mara, Tarin remains below near the basin, while the upper passage and the route back toward the ravine stay open.
Seren Vale
Do you work for Veyra Ashhand?
Seren’s guarded gaze flicks to Mara’s journal, then to the blue reflection on the standing stones. Her fingers tighten around the map case, though she does not draw a weapon.
Seren Vale
Your answer matters. Hadrik trusted her once, or believed he had reason to. I need to know which kind of trail I’ve found.
The stones offer no answer. Tarin’s voice does not carry from below, leaving Mara and Seren facing one another in the broken crescent, with the next reply entirely Mara’s.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish whether Seren Vale’s account is genuine or bait
“"Darling, I was about to ask you the same thing." I say plainly, " Veyra tryed to fuck me over." I start asorbing in ambient magical energy.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled +2)
Mara
Darling, I was about to ask you the same thing. Veyra tried to fuck me over.
Mara begins drawing ambient magic through her channel. The pale stones answer with a cool, steady current, gathering around her without disturbing the crescent or the ground.
Seren Vale
That is not the answer of someone working for her.
Seren’s grip loosens on the torn map case. She watches the gathering energy, then looks back to Mara, keeping her raised hand empty and her distance unchanged.
Seren Vale
Hadrik said Veyra could make betrayal sound like research. If she turned on you, then his trail was more dangerous than I understood.
The ambient energy settles cleanly into Mara’s reserves, leaving the stones quiet and the blue reflection unchanged. Seren remains wary, but no longer treats Mara as Veyra Ashhand’s agent.
“" how do you know Hadrik?" I ask”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Mara
How do you know Hadrik?
Seren studies Mara across the broken crescent, then lowers her raised hand slightly. The pale stones remain quiet, holding their cool reflection between them.
Seren Vale
I ran supplies along the southern trails three years ago. Hadrik was Veyra Ashhand’s pathfinder, and I served as an outrider when her work brought caravans through the hills.
Seren Vale
He taught me which stones marked firm ground, which crossings concealed old wards, and when a safe road had become someone else’s experiment.
Seren opens the torn map case and removes a weathered strip of parchment. Hadrik’s angular trail marks cross older route signs in faded brown ink.
Seren Vale
We parted when Veyra began changing routes without warning the people who used them. Hadrik stayed with her. I left, and I have regretted neither choice.
Seren Vale
The fragment came from his abandoned supplies. I recognized his hand because he taught me to read it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify Hadrik Voss’s hidden trail
“Is Seren hiding part of Hadrik’s trail?”
YES, BUT (Likely, rolled 57)
Seren’s thumb covers a narrow section of Hadrik’s parchment. For a moment she says nothing, while the pale stones cast a colder reflection across her face.
Seren Vale
I know more than I said. Hadrik left a second trail after he parted from Veyra, and I kept it hidden.
Seren Vale
His marks led east from the standing stones, then doubled back beneath the blackthorn shelf. He was hiding a crossing, not merely mapping one.
She unfolds the covered edge. A faint angular mark appears beneath the fold, matching the altered guidance below, but its final stroke has been deliberately scraped away.
Seren Vale
I concealed the last direction because Veyra’s people searched every route Hadrik knew. If this trail is exposed, they may learn he survived longer than they believed.
The parchment’s old fold splits with a dry snap. One corner tears free and drops among the stones, taking part of the hidden mark with it; the remaining strokes still point east.
Seren Vale
That is all I kept. The rest was lost when the map case was abandoned, but the eastern turn is real, and Hadrik made it himself.
“" the last I heard, he was south of daggerford shortly after the archive system went down. He worked with verya as a grey glove." I say plainly.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
Mara
The last I heard, Hadrik was south of Daggerford shortly after the archive system went down. He worked with Veyra as a Grey Glove.
Seren goes still among the pale stones. The torn parchment trembles once in her hand, while the cold reflection sharpens the lines of her face.
Seren Vale
A Grey Glove. Then the mark was not only Hadrik’s trail sign. It was a company sign, hidden beneath his own.
She kneels and retrieves the fallen corner without touching the standing stones. Dust clings to the fragment, revealing a faint gray stitch beside Hadrik’s angular notation.
Seren Vale
South of Daggerford after the Ledgerhouse failed means he was still moving, still working, and still close enough to Veyra’s network to use its name.
Seren Vale
I believed he vanished before that. I was wrong. The eastern turn may be his escape route, or the place where he hid what he learned.
Seren folds the surviving map carefully, leaving the scraped final stroke exposed. She keeps the fragment in her palm and waits, no longer mistaking Mara for Veyra’s agent.
“" after the commotion Kynes caused in daggerford, the grey gloves got branded as outlaws." I say plainly " from my understanding him and verya ashehand are still out there somewhere."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
Mara
After the commotion Kynes caused in Daggerford, the Grey Gloves were branded outlaws. From my understanding, Hadrik and Veyra Ashhand are still out there somewhere.
Seren absorbs the statement in silence. The pale stones cast a cold sheen across her face, while the torn map remains folded carefully in her mud-stained hands.
Seren Vale
Then Hadrik’s continued movement was not rumor. He and Veyra survived the collapse of their standing, and they kept enough of the network to travel.
She turns the parchment fragment over, exposing the faint gray stitch beside Hadrik’s angular marks. The company sign looks less like allegiance now and more like a warning.
Seren Vale
Outlaws would explain the hidden crossings. They could not use ordinary roads without drawing notice, so Hadrik buried routes beneath the old ones.
Seren Vale
If they are still out there, the eastern trail may lead toward them. I will not pretend to know whether Hadrik is fleeing Veyra or helping her.
Seren refolds the fragment and holds it out for Mara to see, keeping the scraped final stroke visible. The standing stones remain quiet around them.
“" your reaction places your relationship with Hadrik as closer the an acquaintance." I say”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Mara
Your reaction places your relationship with Hadrik closer than an acquaintance.
Seren’s fingers tighten around the folded fragment. The cold light catches her face, and the guarded distance in her posture gives way to something older and more personal.
Seren Vale
Yes. Closer than that. Hadrik was my mentor, my guide, and for a time, the person I trusted most on these roads.
She looks toward the eastern turn beyond the stones, keeping the parchment pressed against her palm. Her voice remains controlled, but the admission no longer sounds like mere trail lore.
Seren Vale
I loved him as family, though I never knew whether he saw me the same way. When he stayed with Veyra, it felt like losing my brother.
Seren Vale
That is why I hid the trail. I feared finding proof that he chose her over everyone he taught.
The standing stones remain silent. Seren extends the fragment again, this time without the earlier hesitation, offering Hadrik’s hidden route as truth rather than leverage.
Quest Complete
Establish whether Seren Vale’s account is genuine or bait
Skill Upgrade: Intimidation Mediocre