Rain slicks the counting house gate, and the blue wax underfoot glints in the mud. The Guard drags the bound Clerk close, but the chains inside answer first, hauled hard across the far side.
The Guard
Open this gate, Pell. The clerk is caught, and your tricks are done.
No gate opens. Instead, a shutter clangs somewhere above, and a man’s voice carries down from the yard, tight with alarm.
Master Pell
You have no warrant here. Go, or I seal the yard and call the watch.
Wukong
The chains are already set. He is trying to hold the yard.
The Clerk sags against the Guard’s grip, pale and shaking, as if he knows the voice well. The Guard squares up at the gate, ready to force the issue.
Master Pell
Leave the clerk and walk away, or I bury the books and every name in them.
✓ Quest Accepted
Breach the counting house yard
✓ Quest Accepted
Confront Master Pell
“I tell Master Pell "We need no warrant, the clerk's confession is all the proof we need, now open this gate!"”
SUCCESS (Great Persuasion, rolled +1)
Wukong
We need no warrant. The clerk’s confession is proof enough. Open this gate.
Master Pell
...Confession?
Silence drops from the yard. Then a chain scrapes back, one iron link at a time, and the bar inside shifts with a groan.
The Guard
That’s better. Bring the gate open, Pell.
A slit of light widens between the bars, just enough to show Pell’s face gone pale above the latch. The clerk hangs limp in the Guard’s grip, and the blue wax still gleams in the mud below.
Master Pell
...Get inside, then. Quickly.
The chain lifts clear with a final clank. The barred gates of the counting house yard swing inward, leaving the threshold exposed.
Quest Complete
Breach the counting house yard
Skill Upgrade: Persuasion Great→Superb
Quest Complete
Confront Master Pell
Skill Upgrade: Persuasion Superb→Legendary
