Boots pound toward the restored binding. Alleria slips through the narrow gap between cargo tiers, copper hair brushing damp beams as the barge shudders beneath them.
Alleria
The awning ahead gives us two chances. Ladder, or barred hatch. Choose quickly when we reach it.
L'Sara follows with the black-bound packet and iron key hidden beneath her cape. Ahead, a low canvas awning sags over a short ladder; beside it, a barred side hatch waits in the hull.
Warehouse Laborers
Someone tampered with the marked shipment! Search the tiers!
The laborers surge closer, lanternlight flickering between the crates. From the deck above, heavier footsteps descend, slow and deliberate, making the ladder tremble.
Alleria
The hatch is barred from this side, but the ladder leads up toward whoever is coming. Either way, we cannot linger.
Alleria reaches the awning's shadow and crouches beside the competing escapes. Behind her, the searchers spread through the hold, while the descending boots stop just above the ladder.
✓ Quest Accepted
Escape the search for the concealed evidence
✓ Quest Accepted
Interpret the packet's route marks and crowned-serpent connection
“I lift the side hatch's bar and slip through before they reach us.”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled +1)
L'Sara lifts the side hatch's bar and eases it free before the descending boots reach the ladder. The barred hatch opens onto a narrow outer ledge above black river water.
She slips through sideways, drawing the black-bound packet and iron key close beneath her cape. Alleria follows immediately, pulling the hatch nearly shut behind them.
Warehouse Laborers
The side hatch! They are outside!
Lanternlight flashes through the bars, then vanishes as the hatch settles. The narrow ledge clings to the barge's hull, slick with rain and spray, with the river sliding below.
Alleria
Good. Stay low. The stern ladder is three paces ahead, and the fog is thick beyond it.
Alleria crouches and moves along the ledge, one hand braced against the hull. Behind them, the laborers hammer at the hatch while the barge carries its hidden passage into deeper fog.
“I climb toward the stern ladder”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled +0)
L'Sara climbs along the slick ledge toward the stern ladder, keeping one shoulder against the barge's wet hull. Her boot slips, scraping her palm against a rusted bracket, but she catches herself and reaches the ladder.
Alleria
There. You made it. Up quickly, before they force that hatch.
A bright line of blood beads across L'Sara's palm. She grips the stern ladder anyway, hauling herself onto its lowest rung as the fog folds around the barge's rear.
Warehouse Laborers
They reached the stern! Keep them on the ledge!
Alleria follows onto the ladder, pulling the hatch shut behind her. The laborers' blows become muffled beneath the hull as the stern swings through the thick river fog.
Alleria
The stern platform is above us. Once we are there, their lanterns cannot find us.
L'Sara climbs to the stern platform, her scraped palm stinging around the rung. The barge's wake churns below, while the hidden packet and iron key remain secure beneath her cape.
Quest Complete
Escape the search for the concealed evidence
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Great→Superb