Qasira’s outer gate rises from the amber dust before sunset. A middle-aged woman with copper-brown skin, a severe black braid, and a green-trimmed linen coat steps down from the gatehouse, holding a fresh seal in one hand. Tavian keeps the agreement tucked beneath his uninjured arm, his wounded hand pressed against his chest.
Neris Vahl
Stop there. I am Neris Vahl, clerk of the Qasiran water council. That agreement is disputed, and it must be surrendered for examination before you enter.
Four gate guards shift along the passage, spears angled downward but ready. Their attention fixes on Tavian’s bloodied hand, then returns to the parchment beneath his arm.
Tavian Rusk
You may examine the seal without taking the document. It was entrusted to me, and I will not surrender it at a gate.
Neris Vahl
You misunderstand the council’s authority. This second seal commands every caravan agreement within Qasira’s jurisdiction. Give it to me.
Neris, broad-shouldered with a square jaw and a small scar through one eyebrow, raises the council seal beside the parchment without touching either. Behind her, the guards close ranks just enough to make the gate feel narrower, while Tavian’s wounded fingers tighten against his coat.
Neris Vahl
Mercenary, you walked him here. Now decide whether you are escorting a witness into Qasira, or obstructing the council at its own gate.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get Tavian and the agreement admitted to Qasira
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure a credible council record for the agreement
“tavian believes that the council has made a mistake, and he instends to find out if it wasnt an accident. you should let us through, if the council itself is so innocent.”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +3)
Durnan Scalabis
If the council is innocent, you have nothing to fear from our questions. Let us through, and we will discover whether this error was truly accidental.
Durnan holds Neris’s gaze without reaching for steel. The gate passage falls quiet; four spearpoints remain lowered, but their owners stop advancing.
Neris Vahl
You make a sharp distinction, mercenary. Very well. Enter under council protection, with the agreement still in Tavian’s hands.
Neris turns the fresh seal toward the guards. Their line parts, and the gate opens onto Qasira’s shadowed entry court. No hand reaches for Tavian’s parchment.
Tavian Rusk
Then we enter openly. I want the council’s record of who issued both agreements, and when.
Neris Vahl
You will have it. The registry seal was logged by the deputy clerk, not by the councilors themselves. That is where your question begins.
The guards let them pass. Neris walks ahead toward the council offices, while the registry detail gives Tavian a specific name and record to pursue before any accusation is made.
Quest Complete
Get Tavian and the agreement admitted to Qasira