The service door opens into a narrow workroom smelling of dust, lamp oil, and damp paper. Shelves hold sealed packets, measuring cords, and route tablets in ordered rows.
Beyond the adjoining hall, faint footsteps pass once, then fade. Tomas remains beside the door, watching the concealed streambed and their retreat through the narrow opening.
Mara
No touching until we know what belongs where. A misplaced packet may tell them we came through this door.
Mara moves along the shelves with her hands clasped behind her back, reading labels and comparing cord lengths, while keeping every seal and tablet undisturbed.
Tomas
The hall bends toward the front rooms. Whoever walks there has not checked this passage yet, but that may change.
A thin line of daylight enters beneath the inner door. On the nearest worktable, a fresh blot of lamp oil darkens dust beside an unopened route tablet.
Mara
This room is maintained. The house is not merely abandoned, and these records may explain who still uses the roads.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify who still maintains the wardens’ routes
“I study the labels and cord lengths for signs of who maintains the routes.”
SUCCESS (Superb Perception, rolled +0)
Renee studies the shelf labels without disturbing their seals, matching ink colors, abbreviations, and dates against the measured cord lengths laid in neighboring bins.
Renee
The cords are grouped by route, but the labels use two different hands.
The older packets bear formal wardens’ marks and precise measurements. Newer labels use simpler wording, with fresh oil stains and repeated references to inspection, repair, and watch duty.
Mara
The routes are still maintained, but not by one clerk. These newer records belong to someone working from the old system.
Renee compares the cords to the route tablets and identifies a consistent division: long cords serve boundary surveys, while shorter lengths mark doors, culverts, and hidden approaches.
Tomas
That is a maintenance scheme, not an archive. Someone checks the roads after each change, then records what must be watched.
One label names the eastern marker, the chapel, and this house in a single circuit. Beside it, a recent notation assigns the next inspection to the house’s keeper before dawn.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the route tablet
“I secure the unopened route tablet without disturbing its seal.”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled -1)
Renee lifts the unopened route tablet with both hands, supporting its worn edges and keeping the wax seal untouched. She settles it inside a folded cloth beneath her cloak.
The tablet remains sealed and secure. Its weight presses against the wardens’ register, while the workroom’s ordered shelves stand unchanged around them.
Mara
Good. No broken seal, no shifted packet. If its contents matter, we can read them somewhere safer.
Tomas
The keeper’s inspection is due before dawn. Removing this will be noticed, but not immediately, if the shelf remains exact.
From beyond the inner door comes a muted step, followed by the faint scrape of a latch being tested. The sound pauses, then moves toward the front hall.
Mara
We have what this room can give without announcing ourselves. The rear door remains clear, but the house is waking around us.
Tomas
Keep the tablet covered. We can retreat through the dry streambed, or search the hall while whoever is there remains occupied.
Quest Complete
Secure the route tablet
+ New Item Acquired
Route tablet