Contents
Prologue: A Silence of Three Parts
Overview
As dawn approaches, the Waystone Inn is defined by three layered silences: absence of ordinary life, a furtive movement through the building, and the profound hush of the red-haired innkeeper’s despair. This prologue establishes a somber tone and hints at hidden histories and impending reckonings.
Summary
Dawn nears at the Waystone Inn, which is defined by three distinct silences. The first is an empty quiet formed by what is missing: no storm, no travelers stirring, and no music to break the stillness.
A dark-haired man slips in from the back, moving through the kitchen, taproom, and down to the basement with practiced care. His stealth adds a small, secret hush that intertwines with the larger, echoing quiet of the empty inn.
A deeper, third silence suffuses the innkeeper’s room, the walls, and a dark chest at the foot of a narrow bed. It centers on a red-haired man lying awake, eyes distant, who has long given up on sleep.
This greatest silence belongs to the innkeeper himself and contains the others, heavy and patient. It reveals his state of resignation and the grim expectation of a man who is waiting to die.
Who Appears
- Red-haired innkeeperOwner of the Waystone Inn; lies awake before dawn, distant and resigned, waiting to die.
- Dark-haired manMoves silently through the inn to the basement, adding a furtive hush to the larger quiet.