Messenger Tom Venn wants to deliver the captain's warning before the eastern gate falls; he fears being left behind more than he fears dying.

The party has the only reliable route map, while the wounded messenger has the keep's safe signal and the patrols know where the enemy scouts are moving.

• Use Survival to find the ford and avoid the washed-out road.
• Use Persuasion to gather scattered patrols into a fighting group.
• Use Intimidation to force frightened soldiers back toward the keep.
• Use Medicine to stabilize the wounded messenger and learn the safe signal.
• Abandon supplies to gain advantage on the next travel check, but lose one siege resource.

• Assign one character to lead the route, one to rally patrols, one to treat the messenger, and one to manage supplies.
• Describe a concrete method before rolling; clever use of rope, mounts, maps, or magic grants advantage once.
• On a success, choose one reward: add defenders, preserve supplies, or reveal a safer approach to the keep.
• On a failure, name what is lost: time, soldiers, supplies, or the messenger's trust.

• On the first success, Tom Venn stops accusing the party of wasting time and gives direct orders from the keep's captain.
• On a failed Medicine check, Tom becomes sharp and suspicious: "If I die here, tell them you chose the road over me."
• On a successful Persuasion check, the first patrol joins without asking for proof.
• On a successful Intimidation check, the patrols obey but begin the siege with shaken morale.
• At two successes, Tom reveals the hawk call and points toward the least-watched tower.
• At two failures, Tom offers his captain's seal if the party promises to leave him no further behind.