Rain taps the sagging awning behind the cooper’s yard. Theodore scans the lane while Dotti keeps the sealed record hidden beneath her clothing, and the tavern remains safely behind them.
Wolf King Theodore
Magnus’s name cannot be avoided now. He knew the Crown’s commands were not sovereign law, but delegated orders passed down from the First Regent.
Theodore lowers his voice as a lantern glides past the lane’s entrance. Water threads from the awning, carrying sawdust toward the gutter.
Wolf King Theodore
He knew the hidden authority behind the throne could rewrite bloodline oaths, summon old seals, and erase inconvenient records. That knowledge made him useful, and dangerous.
Wolf King Theodore
The Thorned Wyrm’s courier points to the salt gates. If anyone survived the First Regent’s record-keeping, it would be a witness among those warehouses.
Beyond the cooper’s yard, the lane divides toward the salt warehouses and the sleeping city. Theodore steps aside, leaving the choice of direction open to Dotti.
“I ask Theodore what he is withholding and ask why he even needs to. "We need to trust each other implicitly. I will both bind us as family".”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Dotti Nightshade
Theodore, what are you withholding, and why do you need to? We need to trust each other implicitly. I will bind us as family.
Theodore studies Dotti beneath the dripping awning. Rain darkens his cloak as the lane lies quiet, but his guarded silence finally breaks.
Wolf King Theodore
I withheld that the salt gates were once a private passage of the First Regent’s household. Magnus used them to move sealed orders and witnesses beyond the Crown’s ledgers.
Wolf King Theodore
I need the truth because my blood opened the chains, and the First Regent may believe that makes me a rightful keeper of what follows. I do not accept that claim.
He removes a narrow silver clasp from his collar and places it in Dotti’s hand. The clasp bears a wolf entwined with a broken crown, warm with old magic.
Wolf King Theodore
Family, then, by choice and witness. Keep this clasp, and I will withhold nothing relevant again. Its magic has one cost: it will announce our bond to anyone bearing the First Regent’s mark.
The clasp tightens once around Dotti’s palm, leaving a shallow red impression and a brief pulse of heat. Somewhere beyond the lane, a lantern pauses, then moves on.
Learn what the First Regent concealed at the salt gates
Quest Complete
Learn what Theodore knows about Magnus and the Crown
Skill Upgrade: Intimidation Mediocre→Fair
+ New Item Acquired
Wolf-crown clasp