To the Cairn
Cold open 17 · Seeran scouts come through Nonne’s village and put up a race, and the village boys drag him into it against Haxami
At a Glance
- Who’s in it
- Nonne and Haxami, each playing their past self. The DM voices Captain Bram Toller, the village boys, the village man and Aldric Ashby. Trill and Marellius watch.
- When
- Nonne’s village on the outskirts of eastern Tohsa, in House Seera’s wildlands. Both of them young. Haxami is freshly posted to the scouts after Get This to the Sergeant. Just before the trip in cold open 18.
- Running order
- Nonne’s cold opens run backwards. This runs after 18 and before 4.
- Status
- Shape settled 2026-10-12. Boxes not written yet. Working title.
- Runs
- Five to ten minutes
- Boxes
- Four, numbered below
- Rolls
- The opening climb, three race legs for both players, and Perception (the reach)
- Reveals
- What the village says about the Ashbys, and that Nonne and Haxami met as boys
Behind the screen
The village man’s line hints at the Shifter blood without naming it (Jack, 2026-10-12). The family hid the blood from Nonne. See candidate G.
Aldric is alive here, and he is the second self. Where the figure stands, if anywhere, is the DM’s call at the table.
The opening
The opening line
You’re climbing.
Right away, to Nonne: DC 12 Athletics or Acrobatics, player’s choice — how well he gets up onto the roof to watch the scouts, which he has been told not to do. Then read box 1.
Read-aloud 1 — the square from the roof
Not written yet.
What happens
Beat one — dragged in
The scouts are recruiting. Captain Bram Toller puts up a race from the square up the ridge to the marker cairn and back, for any of the village’s young. The prize is a scout’s knife. Haxami runs it as the scouts’ pacer. The village boys find Nonne on the roof and drag him into the race to make fun of him. Read box 2 at the start line.
Read-aloud 2 — the start line
Not written yet.
Beat two — the race
Three legs. Both players roll each one. Whoever wins two legs wins the race. The dice decide who wins — an exception to the cold-open rule, set by Jack 2026-10-12, because nothing in canon rests on the result.
- The scree — Athletics.
- The stream — Acrobatics or Athletics.
- The cairn and back down — Athletics or Survival.
Read box 3 at the cairn.
Read-aloud 3 — the cairn
Not written yet.
Beat three — what the village says
Back in the square, the knife goes to the winner. A village man says something about the Ashby boy to Captain Toller. Roll Perception for how much of it Nonne hears. Aldric arrives and takes him home by the collar. Read box 4 and stop.
Read-aloud 4 — home by the collar
Not written yet.
What’s rolled
On the sheets in front of them. The race result is the one thing in this cold open the dice decide.
| Who & what | DC | Success carries | Failure carries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonne — Athletics or Acrobatics the opening line |
DC 12 | He is up and flat on the roof before anyone looks round. If it carries: a Dream Inspiration die. | He gets up, and the whole square hears the tiles. If it carries: 1d4 damage on waking, and a mark that never goes away. Which mark is still open. |
| Nonne and Haxami — each race leg beat two, three legs |
Contest | Higher roll takes the leg. Two legs wins the race and the knife. | Lower roll loses the leg. Ties go to whoever has the higher modifier. |
| Nonne — Perception the reach, beat three |
DC 14 | A fact carried out: he hears the words. He keeps them, and he does not understand them. | He hears the tone and not the words. Serrin, who has read this memory, heard both. |
What it reveals
What the village says about the Ashbys, and so why his parents kept him from them.
Nonne and Haxami met as boys. They raced each other in this village.
Still open
Decide before you run it — none of these are invented here
The four boxes, and the village man’s line. Jack writes them.
Whether they remember. Nobody’s Responsibility has them knowing each other slightly a month before the campaign. Whether either knows it was this boy, this scout, is open.
The knife, if Nonne wins it: whether he keeps it, and whether it is still on him.
The failure mark on the opening check.
New facts this page adds. Captain Bram Toller leads the patrol. The scouts recruit with a race to a marker cairn. Nonne and Haxami met as boys. All Fluid until played.