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Having never taken a life before, having never even wielded a weapon beyond your fishing spears, you must brace yourself to honor Ragnvald's dying wish. You take the offered sword, surprised at its easy weight, and let Ragnvald set the point at his heart. He tells you to "strike true and fast". You take one last moment to thank him for all he has done and to ask him if he has any last words he would have passed on to a loved one. However distant they may be, you swear to him that you will deliver them.
He shakes his head at this (though he seems quite touched by your oath), stating that he has no one left. It does however make him remember something, which he quickly passes on to you: the location of a secret compartment on his boat, wherein he has stored some "treasure". There is one item in particular he would be "buried in", but the rest he leaves in the reeve's keeping, to "repay the life-debt" he owes him.
Finally, the moment comes. Despite all your resolution, you must in the end close your eyes to do the deed. Ragnvald, for his part, makes little noise, merely a sharp gasp as the point enters his flesh. Blood dribbles down his mouth and he dies almost the instant the blade-point penetrates his heart. His face wears a peaceful look, one he never showed while he was living. Though it is perhaps blasphemous, you hope this act delivered him to his warrior Gods.
With sword in hand you return upstairs to check on the man in the surcoat. When you come to the room in which you left him, he is nowhere to be found. You are immediately on alert and it is for this reason alone that you are able to parry the surprise attack that comes at you from behind. Though limping on one leg, the man had attempted to stab you in the neck with the very knife that was recently in his own flesh. Seeing you survive the ambush, however, forces him to capitulate and beg for your mercy. His manner of speech is quite refined and even his begging has a dignified air.
His name is Renault. He asks for the right of ransom, citing an uncle, a viscount, who favors him as much as his own sons, and who will pay handsomely. He asks you to take him to his horses and promises, on his word of honor, that you shall receive a just reward. The horses, you tell him, are long gone. The Haroldson cousins used them to ride toward the castle. He then implores you to hide him, feed him, and bring a physic to tend his wounds, promising sums of gold and silver that would make any commoner's head spin.
You decide to:
>Kill him on the spot
>Help him in exchange for his ransom
>Help him in exchange for the return of the captives
>Write-in
