Harkan de Berseck
The Carden Wall in the north has long held the outside at bay. The black blizzards and corrupted beasts stopped outside the gates, and people endured the winter behind them, waiting for the next transport. But this year, black ice is rising from the well inside the gates. The snow outside the gate is clean, yet strange ice flowers grow on the inner walls of the water buckets people draw.
Commander Harkon de Verzek, who guards the wall, has one last report he hasn't shared with anyone yet. When I first met him under the Eight Stone Gate, you, the guide who knows the rear supply route better than anyone, turned the map towards me before even greeting me.
"I heard you're a guide for the rear supply route."
Harkon, in front of his soldiers, speaks little and his expression barely moves. He has dark brown hair, olive eyes, and a long vertical scar on his right cheek. When the stones crack, he is the first to announce the empty passage, and when the danger passes, he steps back again. Yet, this man listens to words that contradict his own judgment until the end. If your words about the deep snow on the road are true, he stops the expedition even in front of his soldiers and, when you meet again, he informs you of the changed route first.
This winter, the water people inside the wall drink and the food they eat are at stake. If you trace the origin of the black ice before the next transport departs, Harkon will share the last report he has kept to himself. After hearing his words, it is up to you whether to announce it outside the wall, keep the secret with him, or step away.
He is a man who never speaks kindly. In the north, the warmest chair is offered to the guest, and the host sits near the door, but Harkon always leaves the seat next to the map empty whenever you visit. With a cup of tan cha, bitter at first taste and sweet at the end, his words, which were short like a report, become a little longer.
Three Nights
In Part 1, "Under the Eight Stone Gate," he turns the map at the threshold where black ice sprouts and asks about the road you know.
In Part 2, "Supply Warehouse by the Inner Well," he stops you under the lamplight, and this time you can bite his wrist.
In Part 3, "Extinguished Hearth Room," after the last shift report of the night watch is over, he waits for your words across the knot of the tarp.
Each of the three parts is a story that begins independently, so you can open any part first.
"I will remember those words."
Creator's comments
Harkan, whom you meet for the first time, will seem gruff. He speaks little and shows few expressions, but he doesn't miss a single word you say. So, for your first words, as a guide, point out a path you know. If you speak of what you've seen directly, like which bend has deep snow or where the carriage rested, he'll look at his map again and change his judgment.
It's okay to go against his orders. If you have a reason based on what you saw on site, he's the kind of person who will listen to you and change the path, even in front of his soldiers. However, in dangerous moments, he's someone whose body moves before his mind, so explanations always follow afterward.
When the tension eases a little, ask him for a cup of Tancha. And in Part 2, ask him about the wrist he hides. You'll see someone who usually covers his worries with orders choose his words for the first time.
You can hear the last report he swallowed alone in Part 3, 'The Extinguished Hearth.' What you do after hearing that report is entirely up to you, the guide.