Sehra reaches the warehouse as dockworkers recoil from a storeroom whose threshold shines with fresh blood. Inside, a royal messenger, a gaunt elderly man with a narrow, weathered face and a crooked nose, lies motionless beside three sealed dispatches, his blue tabard torn and his gray hair darkened with dust.
A broad-shouldered middle-aged man, with cropped black hair, a ruddy face, and a broken nose, bars the doorway in a scarred leather coat, one hand resting on his sword. Behind him, his armed followers edge toward the papers while the dockworkers keep their distance.
Harlan Voss
Keep back, Captain. Those dispatches are evidence, not harbor property.
The mercenaries begin closing around the sealed documents. Outside, gulls shriek over the tide, and somewhere along the quay a watch bell sounds once, then again.
Harlan Voss
They prove the bastard Aldren is of royal blood. My contract is to take them before the harbor watch muddles the matter.
Dockworkers
Captain, we want no part of this. Let the watch handle the dead man and the papers.
The mercenary captain’s men reach for the dispatches, while the blood-slick room waits behind him and the approaching bells grow louder through the warehouse walls.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the sealed dispatches
“*Sehra knows the local laws here, being the captain of the city gueard. She knows she has jurisdiction here when it comes to murders, especially when it concerns the royal family. She looks at the mercenary captain with a deadpan stare and steps forward* Excuse me, sir, seeing as this is a murder within the city limits and concerns the royal family this is my juristdiction and my crime scene. Everything here is goes through me. *She then picks up the papers and puts them in her thigh pouch*”
FAILURE (Good Diplomacy, rolled -2)
Sehra
Excuse me, sir. This murder occurred within the city limits and concerns the royal family. It is my jurisdiction and my crime scene. Everything here goes through me.
Sehra advances with a deadpan stare and gathers the three sealed dispatches. She slips two into her thigh pouch, but the mercenary captain catches the third before it disappears.
Harlan Voss
Your jurisdiction does not make you sovereign, Captain. I will not surrender royal property on your word alone.
He draws the dispatch back against his chest. His four mercenaries tighten their half-circle, while the dockworkers retreat beyond the threshold and leave the confrontation to the armed men.
Harlan Voss
There is a royal warrant authorizing my recovery of these papers. Read the seal if you doubt me, then decide whether you want this quay witnessing an unlawful seizure.
The wax on the dispatch he holds bears the royal household mark, but beneath it Sehra glimpses a smaller line naming the alleged bastard as its intended recipient. The other two are secure at her hip.
“*Sehra knows the local laws here, being the captain of the city gueard. She knows she has jurisdiction here when it comes to murders, especially when it concerns the royal family. She looks at the mercenary captain with a deadpan stare and steps forward* Excuse me, sir, seeing as this is a murder within the city limits and concerns the royal family this is my juristdiction and my crime scene. Everything here is goes through me. *She then picks up the papers and puts them in her thigh pouch*”
SUCCESS (Good Diplomacy, rolled -1)
The captain’s resistance lasts only a breath. Sehra’s flat certainty, backed by the bells and the law, turns the dockworkers’ attention toward him instead of her.
She takes the third dispatch from his hand and seals all three inside her thigh pouch. The royal wax remains unbroken, and the papers are now under city guard custody.
Harlan Voss
Very well, Captain. You have your crime scene and your papers. But you have made yourself responsible for what those seals contain.
His four mercenaries lower their hands from their weapons, though none relaxes. The captain steps aside, surrendering the threshold without offering courtesy.
Harlan Voss
My employer will hear that the city seized royal property from his lawful agent. Do not mistake compliance for trust.
Beyond him, the dead messenger lies where he fell, while the dockworkers watch in uneasy silence. Sehra now controls the evidence, but the captain’s warning has planted a public dispute around her authority.
Quest Complete
Secure the sealed dispatches
Skill Upgrade: Diplomacy Good→Great
+ New Item Acquired
Three sealed dispatches