Artania travels directly from the guild toward Westmere, Al pacing beside him. The sealed Ashdown ration case rests securely with the guild-sealed survey contract beneath his light protective binding.
Before the day fully opens, the old waystation appears beyond the road’s pale rise. Its weathered buildings stand intact, their doors and windows marked with undisturbed sealing wax.
A broad-shouldered elderly dwarf woman waits beside the road markers, wrapped in a russet cloak over gray work clothes. Her iron-streaked hair is tightly braided, and one cloudy eye watches the approaches.
The Waystation’s Keeper
You are the silver-ranked surveyor, then. The station remains sealed as required, but study the approaches carefully. Something has disturbed the boundary marker to the east.
The keeper indicates three marked roads branching from the waystation. Their routes are clear enough to map, yet faint scuffing circles the eastern marker without crossing the sealed ground.
Al
The scent is old, small one. Something passed near the stone, but I find no fresh trail leading into the station.
The survey begins at once: the structures remain untouched, the road approaches await mapping, and the unfamiliar disturbance rests just beyond the eastern boundary marker, inviting careful observation without trespass.
Complete the Westmere boundary survey