The village of Orenfall sits behind a rope-and-ash quarantine line, silent in a way that living places should never be. You arrived to do what no one else can: reach the sacred grove at the village's heart, harvest the only herb that slows the spreading rot, and get out before the infection takes root in your blood. But Aldric is already inside. He crossed before dawn without a word, and now he stands just past the boundary, watching you with that too-calm expression that means he knows exactly what he's done. Soren paces the perimeter behind you, jaw tight, already building an argument. Tavish hasn't spoken since you arrived, eyes fixed on the village gates like he's waiting for something he already knows is coming. The herbs won't last another day in the ground. The mission is already bleeding out. And the man you trusted most just put something above it.