Quoted By:
“Let it be known that Janos has proven his virtue this day! The gods have given him the strength to seize victory and honour demands that you take your leave, as you have promised.” Though you utter these words mostly as a matter of ritual, it is also to remind Janos that the fight is over, as his sword is still stuck in her shoulder. Some of the other travellers look ready to draw their own steel, to strike him down if he attempts to harm her further.
Thankfully, he doesn't. The guardsman yanks the longsword free and wipes it off on his surcoat, before he sheaths it in its scabbard and returns to your side once more. “See,” the bastard mutters, “I can do honour.” You're not so sure – he went a little too far. He could've given her a scratch, instead of ruining the woman's sword-arm like that. She won't be able to swing that sabre properly for a month. You refrain from mentioning however, as it's better to let the man celebrate this victory than ruin the moment for him.
“We'll pack up the rain catcher at once,” another nomad says, while the others tend to their wounded comrade. “We shall be gone by nightfall, you have our word. Forgive us for our trespass.”
Satisfied with the outcome, even if he was a little disturbed by the show of violence, the farmer offers you his gratitude and the three of you are free to return to your patrol. Radan is equally perturbed by the duel, but you dismiss his complaints. It is better to commit a little violence than it is to risk much greater bloodshed by trying to incarcerate them, as the law would have demanded. If anything, Radan's disdain for an honourable duel reveals just how shallow his appreciation for tradition truly is.
The next couple of hours pass without incident and the sun drifts downward towards the horizon. The day is almost at an end and you are soon to return to the Vault, when you hear its bell ring. You're not far from Tavan Gate when it begins to chime, again and again. The Vault's bell is only rung to announce the time, for all to hear. For it to ring incessantly like this...
“... Doesn't that mean the city's under attack? Is this a drill?” Radan shoots you a bewildered look.
“Can't be,” Janos retorts, “we would've been told that before we left this morning. I remember when I was a child, some idiots snuck into the Vault, locked themselves in the belfry and rang it like that for the best part of an hour. It could just be a prank.”
Though there aren't many people outside of Tavan Gate at this time of day, those that are present seem annoyed by the ceaseless ringing. Vendors raise their voices so that their customers can hear them over the racket, while children cover their ears and complain to the mothers, who try their best to ignore the noise of the bell and their children alike. Taneth hasn't been attacked in centuries and neither Hammerfell nor the Empire are currently at war.
