Councilor Brinna Stonebraid
Hold your positions. No guard leaves this chamber, and no hand goes near that case without my order.
The guards remain stationed at the barred doors and along the walls. Elian sets ink and parchment before him, while Brinna keeps her silver-braided head turned toward the sealed case.
Councilor Elian Vey
I will record the testimony precisely. Ranger, take this water. Your account is worth little if exhaustion blurs its edges.
Elian crosses only as far as the table, offers Valornor a plain clay cup, then returns to his notes. The captive stays beside the council attendant, watched but unbound.
the captive
Before you decide what to do with me, I need a private word with the ranger. There is one detail about the case I concealed.
Councilor Brinna Stonebraid
Speak here, unless the detail concerns a living accomplice or a danger that could spread. Haven has no patience for secrets that endanger its walls.
the captive
It concerns the case's origin. I feared Haven would seize it, or cast me out, so I told you only what the raiders wanted.
No alarm follows. The chamber holds its guarded silence, leaving Valornor time to question her, accept the pause, or let the council press for the missing truth.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn the concealed truth about the case's origin
“Setting down the cup of offered water. Valornor instead, takes a drink from his own waterskin. Saying to all. "How could this violet power follow me here? What is in that case, was dug up in the western ruins. Where I have never been." Then he said to the Captive. "There is no need for privacy. Say what you have to say for all to hear."”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled +1)
Valornor sets the offered clay cup untouched upon the table. He draws his own waterskin, drinks, and lowers it without leaving the councilors' scrutiny.
Valornor Gladewarder
How could this violet power follow me here? What is in that case was dug up in the western ruins, where I have never been.
Valornor Gladewarder
There is no need for privacy. Say what you have to say for all to hear.
the captive
It did not follow you. The case was opened before I found it, beneath a ruin west of the old sally road.
The captive steps closer to the table but keeps her hands away from the iron case. Councilor Elian Vey's quill pauses above the parchment.
the captive
Inside is a broken fragment of a larger seal, still carrying a direction through the stone. The raiders believed it could lead them to what lies beneath Haven.
Councilor Brinna Stonebraid
Then the stain is not pursuing the ranger. Someone has brought a piece of an old lock to our walls, and expects it to open something here.
Quest Complete
Learn the concealed truth about the case's origin