113: Olara and Brom

The rest of the trip is uneventful.

Read to everyone:

Olara’s home is a cave at the top of a worn trail. A large boulder blocks sight of the entrance until you’re almost inside it. There are otherwise no trail markings, fires, or any sort of indicators. The entrance isn’t much more than a crack in the mountain face, barely wide enough to admit one person at a time.

Olara calls out in a soft voice as she steps into the darkness. “Brom? I’m back. I’m safe. I brought some friends to stay with us for the night.”

The split in the rock curves around several times in uncomfortable darkness, before opening up to reveal a room lit with a single candle on a crude table in the center of the chamber. A handful of supply crates, filled with assorted machine parts, and a pair of stools take up much of the rest of the floor space.

Another split in the rock at the far end flickers with candlelight of its own. From it steps a man who is maybe a little older than Olara, with a well-kept beard peppered with what seems to be an early gray. He looks sleepy and stops mid-yawn when he sees you.

Before he can say anything, Olara crosses the room and takes his hand. “Brom, these are some friends who kept me safe on the way home. They’re going to sleep in here for the night, if that’s okay with you?”

Brom shrugs, but otherwise doesn’t say anything. He shuffles back into the far chamber.

With Olara’s help, you manage to stack enough of the crates to make room on the floor for your party. Olara disappears into the far chamber for a moment, returning with a number of knitted blankets. “Thank you again,” she says. “We’ll talk in the morning, okay?”

Observing the crates with your Focus will reveal that most of the machine parts are in good condition. Most of the parts are from Lancehorns.

The perceptive in your party will notice the space looks recently occupied. Olara and Brom have set out a number of decorative items, but they are piled in unorganized tangles.

A few moments of quiet listening reveal the muffled sound of gently running water coming from the rear chamber. Observing the room your Focus does not show the source of the sound, but does show the outlines of Olara and Brom already asleep on a pair of raised surfaces of some kind. The Focus does not show anything else of interest.

In the morning, you’re up and moving and eating a light breakfast when Olara and Brom join you. There’s not much room to move around, so Olara suggests that they walk you back down the trail a bit and talk.

When asked why they live alone up here, she explains:

“Brom was cast out from the Nora for a mistake he made years ago. I don’t want him to live alone.”

When asked how they survive, Brom jumps in, excited:

“Olara’s really good at taking down Lancehorns. Much better than I could ever be, but I can help disassemble them. On my good days. And Olara is good at trading the parts for the things we need.”

Brom has a running commentary about Lancehorn components, fair trades, anecdotes about the Nora, and other miscellaneous topics. His tone becomes heated with the talk about his time as an outcast, but each time Olara is able to calm him with a few words.

Characters may make a perception check against Moderate difficulty to notice that Brom’s attention and affect change constantly. One moment he’s attentive, but the next he loses track of the conversation and is captivated by the trail. Each shift of attention seems to come with a new set of emotions, shown as shifts from smiles to frowns and back again. He walks ahead of the group and keeps his head down for much of the trip, so it’s not obvious.

When asked if there’s anything else you can do for them, both decline. They seem genuinely content.

As the ground begins to flatten out, Olara puts a hand on Brom’s shoulder, bringing them to a stop. She tells you the base of the mountain will take you straight back to Mother’s Watch. She thanks each of your party in turn before taking Brom by the hand and walking back up the trail.

If you brought IASO with you, continue on to 123. Otherwise, continue on to 124.