The Horned Knight has made his hall in one of the Shame's abandoned holdings; a round tower, jagged as a chipped tooth, its floors all collapsed in on one another. A great tree grows within it, spreading a canopy of burgundy leaves where the roof once was.
Inside, the grass sparkles with shards from the old heliograph mirror that once stood atop the tower. Blankets of moss have been laid over the fallen masonry that serves as the tables where the Heartwood Court holds its feast. Silent men and women serve ivy-haired dryads and stag-headed fauns. The servants move dreamily. Their eyes are grown over with moss, and flowers bloom from their skin.
Available actions[]
Note: There are 3 hours available for the feast. Each action will consume one hour.
1.
Drink clear water from a chipped glass goblet. A man dressed in hunter's green fills your cup from a silver carafe.
-1 Hour Remaining, Health set to 100, +1 Derring-Do, +10 Twilight
→The Heartwood Feast
2.
Listen to the tales the dryads tell They are steeped in the wood's secrets
-1 Hour Remaining, +(1 to 2) Woods-wise
→The Heartwood Feast
3.
Greet the Horned Knight's Lady She is a dryad, brown and wrinkled as a walnut.
-1 Hour Remaining, +(1 to 2) Rulership
→The Heartwood Feast
4.
Give the Horned Knight a gift A mirror chased with silver roses and twinkling thorns
-5 Bags of Royals, -1 Hour Remaining, +2 Authority, lose In the Horned Knight's Debt, lose Unwelcome
→The Heartwood Feast
5.
Accept a gift from the Horned Knight
(Locked if In the Horned Knight's Debt)
A box of sandalwood with the initials of the Shame burned into the lid.
-1 Hour Remaining, +1 Secret, +Scholarship, gain In the Horned Knight's Debt
→The Heartwood Feast
Once all 3 hours have been used up...
6.
The Horned Knight has a request Dusk is forgotten. The night is deep. Wisp-lights flit through the tree's branches.
→The Boon
Results[]
1.
Invigorated
The water seethes on your tongue like the pool under a waterfall. It tastes sharp, like ice and mineral from its long travels through the depths of the earth. Your skin shivers. Your fingers burn. Your wounds close and your strength rises.
2.
Legends
You hear them tell of the places where Elfroot grows in heart-leafed clumps. Of the best places to ford the river. Of the perils that keep to the heart of the wood, and the ones that dare venture into the sun. Of the Green Chapel in the Deepwoods, where wolves go to pray.
3.
Courtesies
She wears a grey-green moss coat about her shoulders and a crown of woven twigs. “Welcome, [Huntress/Scholar],” she says, taking your hands in her brittle fingers. “You are not what I imagined.”
She studies you closely. “Forgive my husband’s eccentricity. He is, by his nature, single-minded. He is a creation of the Shame, while your roots — and mine — go deeper and wider. It is my hope that the two of you will learn something from one another.”
4.
Reflection
He accepts the gift solemnly, examining his reflection at length. “Your ancestor once said that ‘a mirror has two sides; a river has two sides. But don’t jump to conclusions.’” He looks up at you. “I have only one side, [Huntress/Scholar]. I am his regret, and nothing else. The Shame conjured me, bound me, then forsook me. I believe he was trying to solve the problem with his conscience.”
The fauns look up from their feasting. They are not used to self-reflection from their lord. The wind drops. The Horned Knight’s eyes glow with the half-colors of the Fade.
The moment passes. “The truth is a harsh gift, Marquis. But one without price.”
5.
Old secrets
Inside is a bundle of the Shame’s writings. Mold has eaten away at the scratchy, impatient letters, but parts remain whole.
In one passage, he recounts a meeting with Grey Wardens: ‘...if it were directed toward something achievable, their commitment to self-destruction would be monstrous. But in the pursuit of their doomed cause, it is romantic. They are the heroes of my childhood stories. A line of grey in the dark; fighting, failing, dying. I could not deny their request.’
In the next, he recounts a journey along roads under the earth. ‘...emerged somewhere in the Vimmark Mountains. The Wardens are stuffed with more secrets than I dreamed. Their company does not disappoint.’
In the last section, he describes a ritual. He occludes the details, but can’t resist tantalising the reader: ‘...bonds had weakened almost to breaking. Only blood could renew them. Fortunately, my blood is old and heady. The Wardens will find it a costly draft. Their prisoner is unique. An impossibility. The things he has seen! They refuse to speak of him, but they cannot perform this working themselves. They need me. And I will have answers.’
Notes[]
Though Give the Horned Knight a gift only requires 3 Bags of Royals, it will deduct up to 5 if you have them.
