A month after the hearing, rain taps the wayhouse shutters. Carciel and Serren are near the cold hearth when the Court Clerk forces the door shut behind them and drops a travel-stained satchel onto the table.
Court Clerk
Bar the shutters. No one followed me, but I will not wager our lives on that.
Without waiting for permission, the Court Clerk draws a folded ledger page from the satchel and pins its corners beneath a cup, a knife, and a brass candlestick.
Court Clerk
Three minor records tied to Odran Vey have vanished from provincial archives. Not sealed records. Routine entries, removed cleanly enough to look like clerical error.
Court Clerk
The settled record is safe. That was the promise. I must not make this sound like an attack on it.
Court Clerk
This page bears a second commission, hidden beneath the first. I need Serren Vale to protect me, and I need Carciel to judge what this means. Not to reopen the hearing. To face what the hearing made possible.
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect the Court Clerk
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine what the second commission means
“"This is quiet serious...Serren, my love, can you secure the shutters while I question the clerk?"”
FAILURE (Mediocre Persuasion, rolled -2)
Carciel
This is quite serious. Serren, my love, can you secure the shutters while I question the Clerk?
Serren Vale
I can bar them, but I will not leave their side. If the Clerk is carrying danger into this room, we face it together.
Serren crosses to the nearest shutter and tests its wooden bar. It holds, but the second shutter has no matching brace, leaving rain-dark gaps between the boards.
Court Clerk
Then question me here. I copied the second commission before it vanished. The first named Odran Vey. Beneath it, in the Lord's own clerk-hand, was an order to erase every trace of the removals.
Court Clerk
I thought hiding the page would protect the settled record. Instead, whoever ordered the erasure knows I kept a copy.
The Clerk's confession makes the danger plain, but not its reach. Serren leaves the imperfect shutter and returns to the table, placing themself between the Clerk and the unbraced gap.
Court Clerk
I brought you the page because I have nowhere honest left to stand. Will you keep me here, or make me carry this to the magistrates before someone comes looking?
“"That depends were you followed?"”
FAILURE (Mediocre Persuasion, rolled -4)
Carciel
That depends. Were you followed?
The question strikes harder than intended. The Clerk's fingers jerk, and the copied commission slips against the ledger.
Court Clerk
You think I led them here? I came because I had nowhere else to go.
Rain-driven wind surges through the unbraced gap. The commission tears free, skimming across the table toward the opening.
Serren Vale
The page! Do not let it leave this room.
Serren lunges across the table, pinning one corner with their palm. The other edge still flaps within the wet draft, its inked lines exposed to the rain.
Court Clerk
If that copy is ruined, the order disappears with it. If I am seen here, they will know exactly where to look.
“I fully bar the shutters and look at Serren. "What do you think"”
SUCCESS (Good Strength, rolled +0)
Carciel catches the commission before the rain can take it, then throws his weight against the loose shutter. The warped brace cracks loudly as he seats it into place.
He secures the second shutter and wedges the first closed as well. The room dims, but the draft falls to a hush. His palm stings from the splintered brace.
Carciel
What do you think?
Serren Vale
I think the commission means someone wants the past made harmless by making it absent. Not disproved, not answered. Absent.
Serren Vale
They are asking me to judge the danger, not to decide for them. I can honor that.
Serren Vale
And I think the Clerk came here because they chose the people who would preserve the truth, even if fear made them arrive badly.
Court Clerk
I copied the order because I could not bear to be the last person who knew it existed. I do not know whether courage will carry me farther than this room.
Serren lowers their hand from the rescued page and looks to Carciel, leaving the answer between them rather than taking it for him.
Quest Complete
Determine what the second commission means
Skill Upgrade: Persuasion Mediocre→Fair
“I turn to them. "You can stay here for now while we discuss it. Is that alright Serren?"”
SUCCESS (Fair Persuasion, rolled +3)
Carciel
You can stay here for now while we discuss it. Is that alright, Serren?
Carciel turns from the shutter to face them, keeping the damp commission safely on the table between them.
Serren Vale
Yes. It is alright. You are offering shelter, not choosing for me, and I trust the difference.
Serren Vale
They asked me to stay beside them, not to hide behind them. This time, I can answer plainly.
Court Clerk
Then I will stay. I copied the order, and I will tell you everything I remember before fear edits it for me.
The Clerk draws nearer to the table, no longer guarding the doorway. Serren takes the chair beside them, leaving space for Carciel.
Court Clerk
If I become your ally, I must be more than a witness you protect. I must help preserve what I tried to hide. Will you let me begin?
“"proceed"”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled +0)
The Court Clerk begins with the dates, places, and names they copied before the provincial ledgers were altered.
Court Clerk
Three records vanished within six days. A transfer from Odran Vey's chambers, a magistrate's request for sealed testimony, and a receipt proving the refuge inventory was delivered intact.
They turn the damp commission toward Carciel, then mark three points on the table with one careful finger.
Court Clerk
I kept a second list beneath my floorboard. It names the archive clerks who changed the entries, but not the hand that ordered them.
Serren Vale
They are giving us something that can be checked, not merely something that asks to be believed.
Court Clerk
I will show you the list and help compare it with the public record. After that, you can decide whether the magistrates receive my name with it.
Their account is precise, testable, and complete enough to make the former Clerk an ally rather than a burden. Outside, rain taps the secured shutters while the hidden list waits beneath the wayhouse floor.
Quest Complete
Protect the Court Clerk
Attribute Upgrade: Strength Good→Great