As Frieda clears the arch, the Clerk hurries through the rain, ledger clutched tight. He shoves the damp pages toward her and demands one last verification before the packet goes out.
Frieda scans the lines. The words are not the same. Her testimony has been recast, subtle but clear, from witness account to quarrel, as if she stirs trouble in the court yard.
The Clerk
Only a formality, lady chaplain. Sign here, and the record is clean.
Rain drums on stone. Beyond the arch, boots approach somewhere out of sight, lost under the hiss of water and the rattle of the clerk's breathing. The old confidence in his face is gone.
The Clerk
If the phrasing stays this way, Hauer can set her aside later. Just keep her moving.
Frieda has only a pen stroke, or a challenge, before the false record hardens into law.
✓ Quest Accepted
Expose the Clerk’s forgery
“She takes the ledger and tears out the falsified passages. "Thank you for the evidence of your treason. I will add it to the report I present to the Inquisitor."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Frieda takes the ledger from his hands and snaps it open over the rain-dark stone.
With one hard tear, she rips out the altered passages and holds the ragged pages where he can see them.
Frieda
Thank you for the evidence of your treason. I will add it to the report I present to the Inquisitor.
The Clerk
No, wait, that is only the draft. The clean record is still in the packet.
The torn lines flutter in the rain at her feet, and the clerk's quill hand goes rigid.
Beyond the arch, the approaching boots slow as if someone has heard the words and measured the danger.
The Clerk
If she carries this to Hauer, I am finished.
Quest Complete
Expose the Clerk’s forgery