Rain needles the gravel road as Frieda hauls herself up from the muddy track. Ahead, the Carthusian walls loom dark and blind, and the iron gate stands a finger-width open.
A monk in gray appears in the gap, hood drawn low. He freezes at the sight of her cloak, then of the packet in her hand.
The Monk
State your errand, sister. The enclosure is closed to all but those sent.
Frieda
I bear proof for the Inquisitor. I need the route that reaches him now.
The Monk
If she is halted here, the Bishop's men may catch her before she is heard.
He steps aside at once, one hand lifting the gate wider. Beyond him, a narrow cloister path glistens with rain, leading toward the monastery's inner offices.
The Monk
Come quickly. If the Bishop's riders are on your heels, this is the last quiet door before the court.
Frieda crosses the threshold, the gate yawning open behind her as the monastery becomes the next step on the road to the Inquisitor.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the Inquisitor through the monastery
“Having no choice, she follows the mon's instructions.”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled +0)
Frieda follows the monk at his urgent pace, boots whispering over wet stone. The gate swings shut behind her, and the road noise falls away at once.
The Monk
Keep your head low. The yard is for work, not voices.
He leads her beneath a dripping arch into a narrow cloister walk, where a lantern burns behind rain-dark glass. The forged packet stays tight in Frieda's grip.
Frieda
The silence here is deliberate.
A second monk crosses the far side of the walk and stops dead, staring at the evidence before bowing his head and hurrying on without a word.
The Monk
Hold to me. If the riders come, the enclosure answers to its own rules.
He opens a side door and angles her toward the inner offices, where a faint murmur of copying and the scrape of a chair drift through the timber. Frieda steps inside as the quiet closes around her like a locked veil.
“She looks for the Inquisitor.”
SUCCESS (Superb Perception, rolled -2)
Frieda scans the inner offices, and her gaze catches on a plain door ajar beside a desk stacked with prayer books. Beyond it, a candlelit study waits in uneasy stillness.
Frieda
That room is occupied.
She steps to the threshold and sees a narrow table, a seal press, and a figure bent over parchment. Ink gleams on the page. A second chair stands half turned, as if someone has just risen.
The Monk
Master, the lay sister with the packet is here.
The seated man looks up. His sleeves are plain, but his posture is trained and wary, and the candle throws his face into sharp relief. He reaches at once for the papers on his desk.
The Inquisitor
Bring it here. Quickly.
The monk holds the door open for Frieda, but the study feels suddenly narrow, all silence and scrutiny. The packet is still in her hand, yet the seal on the desk tells her she has found the right man.
As Frieda crosses the threshold, the corner of the packet snags on the door latch and tears a thin strip of wax away. The Inquisitor notices the sound, and his eyes fix on her hand before she can lower it.
Quest Complete
Reach the Inquisitor through the monastery
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Great→Superb