The next morning, I saddled up Keo and repacked my supplies for the journey South. Before I set out, however, a rangy young man dressed in a forest green jerkin and pants approached to have a word with me.

“My name is Broga, the Forest Fled. I am the one who recognized the wounded interloper’s clothing and reported it to the Overseer. I’d like to accompany you on your mission.”

We shook hands.

“Well met, Broga. I see you likely have an affinity for hunting,” I said, indicating the longbow slung over his shoulder.

“But what business have you to want to hunt an Elder Beast?”

He explained that he travelled from his home village of Thornwick in the northern Hinterlands, bordering the underside of the Tempest Hills.

He failed to complete an initiation ritual of sorts, to slay a massive bear that threatened a shrine to his people’s god, Owar, called the “Bark Tomb.”

In so confronting the Beast, he fled, and now seeks to regain his honor, and complete the ritual by tracking down and slaying an Elder Beast.

Swear an Iron Vow (Extreme): Find and Slay the Elder Beast
Heart 2 + Action 5 + Bond (Longstead) 1 = 8
Challenge 1 & 4 = Strong Hit
Momentum +2 and Broga gathers enough information from the wounded wretch to give us a clear path forward

Broga and I swore on the village’s ceremonial pieces of iron to find and slay the Beast claiming an abandoned tower to the South to make its lair.

According to my new ranger friend, the wretch who first encountered the Beast claims it will likely seek to expand its territory across the Flooded Lands and move North to threaten the settlements there.

Undertake a Journey (Dangerous)
Wits 1 + Action 4 + Bond (Longstead) 1 = 6
Challenge 4 & 7 = Weak Hit
Mark progress & -1 Supply

With our path now set before us and rations to sustain us on the journey to the tower, we set forth for another adventure.