The hall opens wide and dim, scrolls piled like little walls around Magistrate Hauer. Rain hangs in the air behind Frieda, and Ulrich stays close, hard as iron.
Magistrate Hauer
You come at last. Speak plain, chaplain. What proof do you bring against the Bishop?
Frieda lays out the seal, the ledger, and the priest’s papers on the desk. The broken red ribbon shows like a wound among the parchment.
Ulrich
I stand witness. She bears these from Waldenhof, and from the chase that followed.
Magistrate Hauer
Eisenfaust reaches even here, if this girl speaks true.
Hauer leans in, eyes narrowing as he sees the matching marks and names. His hand stills on the desk, and the room seems to wait with him.
Magistrate Hauer
Then the matter is no village scrape. If your chain of proof holds, Bishop Eisenfaust answers before this court.
“"I have brought both written evidence and witnesses in this case, and am prepared to testify myself. I have evidence that the priest Gersten was murdered by Bishop Eisenfaust's men when he uncovered these crimes. And further, that they spirited away his body to conceal their own foul deed."”
SUCCESS (Good Oratory, rolled +0)
Frieda
I bring written proof, witnesses, and my own oath. Father Gerwin was killed by Bishop Eisenfaust's men after he uncovered their crimes, and his body was hidden to cover the deed.
The hall goes still. Hauer's eyes move from the seal to the ledger, then to the priest's papers, weighing each mark like coin on a scale.
Magistrate Hauer
You speak as if you carry more than village rumor. Show me the chain, every link of it.
Frieda sets the papers in order, and Ulrich steps in at once, straight-backed and ready, as if his word has waited for this very desk.
Ulrich
I swear to what she says. I saw the chase, and I stand for her witness before this court.
At Gerwin's name, Hauer's mouth tightens. He traces the margin note, the red seal, and the broken ribbon, then looks up with a colder kind of interest.
Magistrate Hauer
Then your accusation is entered. If these marks hold true, Eisenfaust's men are named in open court, and you will testify again under oath.
Quest Complete
Present the evidence against Bishop Eisenfaust
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Great→Superb