The party remains gathered beneath the fallen stone: Captain Veyra and her six guards hold the ridge, while Caldus and the elf watcher stay near the emberlit hollow with Astrid.
A mud-streaked young man stumbles from a narrow side fissure beneath the stone. He is lean and pale, with tangled brown hair, a torn gray coat, and a bloodied ledger clutched to his chest.
Merris Vauldren
Do not loose an arrow. My name is Merris Vauldren. I fled the abandoned hall, and the lone bearer was not the only survivor.
Captain Veyra raises her hand, stopping the guards. The ledger's cracked black leather bears a faded broken-crown seal, while dark blood stains its lower edge.
Brother Caldus
Merris Vauldren? No. Your house was accounted for. I saw the hall's judgment sealed and witnessed its surrender.
The Hidden Watcher
I watched the hall for three nights. No survivor left by the road. What is written in that book?
Merris Vauldren
The ledger records who ordered the judgment, who profited from it, and who still hunts the bearer. The other survivor stayed behind to delay them.