Carmin turns the copied page beneath the lamplight. The altered farm entry aligns with the shrine mark, the red twine, and the suppressed record of the Rhukkhadevata.
Carmin
The older strokes were hidden beneath the rewritten name. This is not a family notation. It records an erasure, then disguises the payment that made the erasure possible.
Coldcock
The crown paid to silence the Rhukkhadevata. The shrine received those deliveries through bloodline rites, and the farms served as the chain between coin, offering, and disappearance.
Arthur stands beside the door in militant gear, helmet tucked beneath his arm. Coldcock remains over the page while Carmin keeps one finger beside the matching marks.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine why the crown is involved in Rhukkhadevata’s disappearance.
Maryam's turn“I am in utter shock. "The- The Rhukkhadevata..? Why would... What does the crown have to do with their destruction?? C- Captain Coldcock, what did they do to my people?" I stutter out in desperation.”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled -1)
Maryam
The... the Rhukkhadevata? Why would... What does the crown have to do with their destruction? Captain Coldcock, what did they do to my people?
The question tears through the room. Maryam’s composure falters after she forces it into words, and the hesitation is plain to everyone at the table.
Coldcock
They were marked as a threat by the crown. Their bloodline, their alliances, and their refusal to submit made them inconvenient. The payments ordered their silence.
Carmin
Captain, you are saying the destruction was deliberate. Not a raid, not an accident, but a sanctioned erasure.
Coldcock
Yes. The crown used intermediaries, altered records, and religious offerings to bury its hand. The people who carried it out were rewarded for leaving no account behind.
Arthur
The captain’s report was sealed above ordinary guard authority. I was ordered to preserve it, not question the order.
Coldcock finally lifts his gaze from the page. He does not soften the truth, and the silence afterward leaves Maryam with the crown’s guilt stated plainly before her.
Quest Complete
MaryamDetermine why the crown is involved in Rhukkhadevata’s disappearance.