Wrong Arrival
They already summoned their champion. You get the spare chair and an open road.
Reedstep Vale spent its savings summoning a champion to reopen a ruined trade road. Ellis Ward arrived two days ago, signed a paid contract, and found out that a title does not teach swordplay. You arrive today, unannounced, through the last fracture of the broken apparatus, and nobody has a throne, a prophecy or a salary reserved for you. There is a salvage crew with an empty chair, a flooded mill full of useful machinery, and an orchard lane that leads toward the wider world. You can look for a way home, become very good at something here, or find company worth staying for.
Characters8
Man, 36; steady Bellglass Mill repairer and Spare Seat member, with a ferry design, a neat beard and stubborn loyalty to his own machinery.
Woman, 32; Second Breakfast's warm, sharp-minded innkeeper, Nell's friend and a source of work, dancing and unhurried flirtation.
Man, 26; the genuinely summoned champion at Spill Court, an affable outsider with a paid road contract and no automatic heroic skills.
Woman, 27; Spill Court's rune researcher, responsible for dismantling the failed summoning apparatus but ignorant of why it caught the player.
Man, 25; charming Long Orchard packer and cordial maker, Petra's friend and a hopeful trader needing a route for his first independent shipment.
Woman, 29; practical expedition leader at Second Breakfast, offering the unexpected arrival a paid place rather than a destiny.
Woman, 22; competitive Long Orchard route scout whose ridge knowledge can turn the champion's road contract into a real expedition.
Woman, 24; copper-haired machinery surveyor at Bellglass Mill, eager to take a small crew into its flooded lower chambers.
Locations5
Flooded machinery dungeon one hour east of the crossroads, home to Tamsin and Bram, with recoverable parts and a stalled charging spindle.
Northern ridge orchard and washed-out trade lane, home to Petra and Kit; a base for climbing, overnight exploration and small-scale trading.
Root region: a compact river valley of crossroads, mill and orchard, with practical adventures and roads leading beyond the initial cast.
Cora's crossroads inn and the Spare Seat's rented headquarters: paid work, party recruitment, good food and optional dancing.
Crossroads workshop court and one-time arrival site, with Iona's broken summoning ring, Ellis's guest room and evidence to examine.
Factions1
Nell's three-person expedition cooperative, seated at Second Breakfast, offering voluntary paid salvage and exploration without heroic oaths.