Mara and Nera reach the weathered standing stones beyond the first rise. Gray fibers mark a narrow path between them, while Ashbridge and Chief Raska’s camp remain behind with Orren and the joint council.
Nera
These strokes are chalk, not a ward. Veyra used them when training us to observe without crossing, to notice a message without mistaking it for an order.
Nera crouches beside faint white marks arranged in three broken arcs. They show a gaze, a boundary, and an empty space where no conclusion should be forced.
Nera
The first arc says someone looked. The second says where they looked from. The empty space is the lesson: no claim follows from being seen.
Before she can continue, a long whistle rises from the northern slope. A shorter note answers from somewhere beyond the stones, carrying clearly through the pale grass.
Nera
That is communication, not command, unless we let fear supply the missing words. Someone is announcing a position, or asking whether anyone listens.
Nera stands and keeps both hands visible, studying the slope without reaching for her hooked staff. The gray-marked path remains open, and the unanswered whistle fades into waiting silence.
“I answer the whistle openly and wait.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +2)
Mara answers the long whistle with a clear, measured call of her own, carrying across the pale grass without imitating either signal. Then she waits beside Nera.
The stones hold the sound and return it softened. Nera keeps her hands visible, while the gray fibers stir along the open path between the standing stones.
Nera
Good. No challenge, no threat. Whoever called now knows we are listening without pretending to command.
After a long silence, a figure rises on the northern slope: a young adult woman with a lean build, russet-brown hair tied at her neck, and a weathered green cloak.
She carries no visible weapon. A white strip tied around her wrist answers the broken arcs beneath the stones, and she remains well beyond the marked boundary.
Elian Voss
I heard you answer. I will stay here. The northern path is watched, but no one is being summoned.
Nera
Then speak what you witnessed, and leave the rest unclaimed. We are here to listen, not to turn your signal into permission.
“"what my friend ment to ask was watched by who dear." I say plainly”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Mara
What my friend meant to ask was: watched by who, dear?
Mara’s plain question crosses the stones without pressure. The green-cloaked woman studies her, then lowers the white-marked wrist in acknowledgment.
Elian Voss
By two Grey Gloves scouts, farther north. They watched the burial path and the old road, not Ashbridge or Raska’s camp.
The green-cloaked woman points beyond the slope, where pale grass bends around a shallow hollow. No footprints approach the standing stones, and no hidden signal answers.
Elian Voss
One carried a gray-thread badge. The other used Veyra’s observing method, but neither crossed the boundary or gave an order. They watched me watching them.
Nera
Did they know Mara would come?
Elian Voss
No. They expected Ashbridge to send someone after the marked slate. Your arrival changed their lesson, so they withdrew north before your call.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn why the Grey Gloves scouts are watching the burial path and old road
“I draw soulcatcher “Soulcatcher, dance with me.” With a second flourish, I invoke, “Tultië i Tirila Filicion”—Summoning of Tracking Sparrows. And send them forth to track the two men.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled +1)
Mara
Soulcatcher, dance with me. Tultië i Tirila Filicion.
Soulcatcher arcs through Mara’s hand in a silver-black flourish. Two spectral sparrows unfold from its wake, their bone-pale wings edged with violet light.
The sparrows circle once above the standing stones, catch the paired trails, and shoot north over the pale grass without disturbing the boundary marks.
Elian Voss
Those are tracking spirits. You found their trail without crossing ours.
Nera
They will show where the two scouts withdrew, if their traces remain. Observation, not pursuit, unless Mara chooses otherwise.
One sparrow follows gray-thread residue toward the burial path. The other traces the faint observing weave farther east, keeping both trails distinct as they vanish beyond the ridge.
Elian Voss
They separated after leaving me. The gray-badged scout went north, while the spellworker turned east. Your birds have them.
✓ Quest Accepted
Confirm where the two Grey Gloves scouts withdrew
“" let's go dear, I have questions." I follow the direction of the closet sparrow. " And your name ?" As I pass the green cloaked women.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +0)
Mara
Let’s go, dear. I have questions. And your name?
Mara follows the nearer sparrow north, crossing beyond the standing stones while Soulcatcher keeps the gray-badged trail distinct. The green-cloaked woman walks beside them at a respectful distance.
Elian Voss
My name is Elian Voss. I watched the scouts because they were watching the burial path, and because someone should remember what they actually did.
The sparrow dips toward a shallow hollow where bent grass and a single gray thread mark the scouts’ withdrawal. No footprints approach the old boundary.
Nera
Elian Voss. You stayed visible, kept your distance, and gave us only what you witnessed. That is a better record than most.
Elian Voss
The gray-badged scout left north toward the burial stones. The spellworker turned east, then erased her last sign. I do not know why they separated.
The nearer sparrow settles briefly on a pale stone, its violet-edged wings pointing north. The trail remains open, and Elian’s name now rests plainly among the witnesses.
Quest Complete
Confirm where the two Grey Gloves scouts withdrew