Stranger's Bread
Stranger's Bread. Stranger's Bread is the oldest law the wanderer knows, and the road has never broken it. Any household — any, regardless of wealth, suspicion, or history — will feed and shelter the wanderer for one night, without payment and without question. A bowl of whatever is on the fire. A place by the hearth, or in the barn if the house is full. The household does not know why they say yes. They simply do, as if the request arrives with a weight that overrides refusal. The gift works once per household. The wanderer keeps a mental list of every door they have spent, and does not return to spend it twice. They have eaten at the tables of dukes and of beggars, and the bread tasted the same in both places.