The loose second shutter lets rain stripe the wayhouse floor. Beside the lifted board, the Court Clerk draws out a cloth-wrapped list, its edges marked with dates, initials, and archive references.
Court Clerk
These entries match the removals. Not the copies we were shown, the original handling marks.
Serren sweeps cups and bread aside, making room beside the rescued commission and the preserved testimony. The Clerk spreads the list flat, weighing its corners with inkstones.
Serren Vale
The initials point to clerks still working in the magistrates’ offices. Whoever erased Vey’s removals needed their access, or their silence.
Court Clerk
Three names recur beside the erased entries. One handles intake, one copies rulings, and one carries sealed bundles between offices. If we reach the ledgers before tonight’s closing, we can compare the surviving marks.
A fresh blot stains the newest line. Beneath it, the list identifies tomorrow’s transfer: Odran Vey’s removal records are being moved from the magistrates’ offices to an unnamed private archive. The surviving evidence has a destination, and only a narrow window remains to preserve it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish the clerks' differing levels of knowledge
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine who is erasing Odran-linked records
“Are the three named clerks knowingly involved?”
YES, BUT (Likely, rolled 60)
Yes, but the list does not prove all three acted from the same intent. Their repeated marks show knowing participation in the removals, while the extent of each clerk’s knowledge remains uncertain.
“I compare each clerk’s marks against the ledgers before they are moved.”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled +0)
Carciel lays the ledgers open beside the cloth-wrapped list and compares each repeated mark, date by date, against the surviving entries.
The pattern resolves. Clerk Arven copied the removal orders and knew their purpose. Clerk Belis altered the indexes, but the gaps show no proof they knew Maelin's name was being erased. Clerk Casta entered the private archive destinations and understood the concealment was ongoing.
Court Clerk
Arven knew the order. Casta knew where the records went. Belis followed the marks, but not the whole design.
A final ledger cross-reference ties Casta's destination entries to tomorrow's unnamed archive transfer. The list now has a verifiable path toward the erasing network.
Serren Vale
Then we do not accuse them as one mind. We preserve what each mark proves, and follow Casta's trail before the records vanish.
Beyond the loose shutter brace, rain taps through the narrow gap. The Clerk folds one copied page beneath their coat, waiting for Carciel's decision about the morning's pursuit.
Quest Complete
Establish the clerks' differing levels of knowledge
+ New Item Acquired
Marked list slip