Event·Wasteland

The Traveler's Grave

A cairn of flat stones beside the trail, clearly deliberate - someone's grave. A wooden marker leans at an angle, the name weathered past reading. At the base, a small collection of offerings: a tin cup, a handful of spent brass casings, a faded ribbon.

The grave is recent. The soil hasn't fully settled.

Choices

1
Pay your respects and move on. The dead don't need your curiosity.
no requirement
Success
You stand for a moment, straighten the marker, and continue walking. You didn't know them. But someone did, and they took the time to bury them properly. That counts for something out here.
Failure
2
Check the offerings. The dead don't need them, and the living might.
no requirement
Success
The tin cup has a maker's mark you recognize - a settlement forge. The brass casings are unfired, left as a symbolic offering. You take nothing from the grave, but the maker's mark tells you which direction the burial party came from. Useful information.
Failure
You reach for the tin cup and feel a sharp sting - a small scorpion sheltering under the offerings. It scurries away. Your hand throbs for an hour. The dead have opinions about their belongings, apparently.
3
The soil displacement and stone placement tell you how many people buried this person, and how long ago.
Mining Mastery lv 4
Success
Two diggers, based on the spoil pattern - different shovel widths. The stones were carried from a wash about sixty meters south. The soil has settled roughly four days. Two people buried their companion here less than a week ago and continued traveling. You straighten the marker and clear debris from the base. If you run into a pair of travelers ahead, you'll know to ask if they need anything.
Failure
You estimate the burial at two weeks old based on the soil, but the ribbon is barely faded - it's been here days, not weeks. Your timeline is off. Either the grave is newer than you think or someone revisited it recently. You can't tell which.

UUID