Dawn pales the windows as Nadia returns to the Elders’ Meeting Hall. The sealed black ledger rests beneath her coat, heavy with Ferric’s confession and the truth of his death.
Zey Yeni rises first. Around the central table, the elders of Emerald, Ruby, Lapis, and Amethyst lean over the cipher wheel and recovered materials while Maelin aligns the ledger’s red-marked seal.
Zey Yeni
Nadia. You returned before the council finished its work. What have you brought back from the Imperial camp?
Maelin’s hands still over the ledger’s open clasp. Lute studies Nadia’s face, and the room notices the silence before any explanation, along with the concealed weight beneath her coat.
Maelin Voss
That ledger was not among the materials we recovered. Its seal matches the campaign authorization marks, but the binding is Imperial field command. May I examine it?
Lute
You have the council’s attention, Nadia. Whatever this evidence is, set it before us and let the clans judge its meaning together.
No one yet knows Ferric is dead. The ledger waits beneath Nadia’s coat, and every elder watches her hands as Maelin’s unfinished decoding leaves the next truth entirely hers to reveal.
“of course you figured out my plan.. Nana Yeni... *she'd smile at Zey, before turning her attention back to the room* This is true... my disappearance last evening. was not by accident. I ventured to the Royal Guard's Raid Camp.... and confronted Ferric... *she pauses* the first thing you should know.... he is dead... by my katana. *another pause* second... Voss, I have confirmed the worst... The War Council was the initial sender... He told me firsthand, before I took his life. *she then turns to the entire room* Third. The Empire takes us as a threat, not because we are Demi's, but because they are making moves for expansion into the Neutral Territories...and the Mystic Forest. That is why we were first. And why their Campaign listed our clans as targets. *she turns back to Voss* The ledger contains those orders... and the names of Warlords, Generals, and all who were involved in ratifying these orders are there... they were in Ferric's Command Tent.”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +0)
Nadia Veyas
Of course you figured out my plan, Nana Yeni. My disappearance last evening was not by accident. I went to the Royal Guard raid camp and confronted Ferric.
Nadia smiles at Zey, then turns back to the table. The elders remain still around the recovered materials, waiting for the truth beneath her coat to be named.
Nadia Veyas
The first thing you should know is that Ferric is dead. He is dead by my katana.
Maelin Voss
You confronted the captain alone, and returned with his ledger. Then tell us what he confessed before you killed him.
Nadia Veyas
The War Council was the initial sender. Ferric told me so himself. The Empire marks us as a threat because it intends to expand into the Neutral Territories and the Mythic Forest.
Nadia Veyas
That is why our clans were first, and why the campaign listed them as targets. The ledger contains those orders, along with the names of the warlords, generals, and others who ratified them.
Silence settles over the hall. Maelin draws the ledger fully into the lamplight, while Zey studies Nadia with grave recognition and Lute looks toward the gathered elders.
Director's note
Nadia awaits for Voss to speak or an inquiry from her or from one of the elders.
Maelin Voss
Then the ledger may confirm the confession, but we must separate Ferric’s claims from what the orders themselves establish. Let me read the seal and opening entries.
Maelin turns the ledger toward the nearest lamp without touching the pages. Red markings run beneath the war council’s seal, followed by columns of names, dates, and destinations.
Zey Yeni
Read only what the ledger can prove, Maelin. Nadia has given us a confession, but the clans need evidence that survives beyond this hall.
Maelin Voss
The first entry names the War Council as authorizing force against the four clans. The following signatures belong to military officials, and the destination marks expansion routes through the Neutral Territories.
A restrained murmur passes among the elders. Lute leans closer as Maelin traces the inked routes, while Zey keeps one hand braced against the table beside Nadia.
Lute
Can the ledger connect those signatures to the order against Amethyst, or does it only record a broader ambition? We need the exact chain before we accuse every hand named here.
✓ Quest Accepted
Prove the War Council authorized the attack on Amethyst
“Voss already explained that the order was against all four, Elder Lute. Respectfully, open your ears; you're a Wolsurian for Altis sake! That includes my Clan. *Nadia snaps back at Lute Hillus for the already answered question; they cannot be answering repeated questions in this kind of situation*”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Nadia Veyas
Voss already explained it, Elder Lute. The order targeted all four clans, including Amethyst, my clan. Respectfully, open your ears. You are Wolsurian, for Altis’s sake.
Nadia’s voice cuts through the hall without rising. Her fixed stare holds Lute across the table, and the gathered elders fall silent around the ledger.
Lute
You are right, Nadia. I asked for a distinction Maelin had already made, and in doing so I ignored the clan standing before me.
Maelin Voss
The ledger’s first entry names all four clans together. Amethyst is not an inference from the wider ambition. It is written among the direct targets.
Maelin turns the page toward Lute, revealing the four clan marks beneath the authorization seal. Zey’s hand settles beside Nadia’s on the table, steady and warm.
Lute
Then the record is plain. The order includes Amethyst, and Nadia has every right to demand that we stop circling an answer already given.
Zey Yeni
Let Maelin continue from that certainty. We will test the signatures and routes, but no elder here will ask Nadia to prove that her clan was named.
Quest Complete
Prove the War Council authorized the attack on Amethyst