The knock lands like a hammerblow. Butch's porch boards shiver, and the front door swings wide on its own.
A figure stands in the threshold, draped in heavy, mud-stained robes. One hand holds out a scroll, its seal pulsing in the same cruel rhythm as the sigil on Butch's chest.
The Messenger
Butch of the moor. By debt and mark, you are summoned.
Sable moves half a step in front of Butch, shield angled and jaw set. The kettle rattles louder from the hearth, as if the house itself is listening.
The Messenger
Take the writ, or I take your house's peace with it.
The scroll trembles above the messenger's palm, and the seal flares against Butch's chest, dragging the air tight and cold.
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect the house from the messenger
“With quick instinct Butch lunges forward and grabs the messenger by the throat, lifting him high above the ground with one hand and demanding him to leave”
SUCCESS (Legendary Strength, rolled +0)
Butch moves first. He seizes the messenger by the throat and hauls them clear off the porch boards, the scroll arm jerking uselessly at his side.
Butch the Wereboar
Leave. Now.
The Messenger
...Then your peace is counted as refused.
Sable holds her ground in the doorway, shield still raised, while the hearthlight catches on the seal trembling in the messenger's free hand.
The Messenger
This writ stands, even if your hands do not take it.
Butch's grip keeps the messenger pinned high and breathless. The house stays open behind him, waiting for the next move, while the sigil on his chest pulses against the cold in a steady, ugly rhythm.
Quest Complete
Protect the house from the messenger