Before the riders’ hoofbeats fade, a small young adult woman stumbles through the open doorway and collapses against the threshold. Dust dulls her cropped brown hair, and a torn blue courier’s coat hangs from her narrow frame.
Her hand clutches bloodied cloth around a broken royal seal. The mounted searcher and warrant bearer remain outside, turning sharply toward the sudden arrival, while the gray-robed spymaster stays inside.
Mira
Drake. They are searching beneath the town. Voices in the old tunnels, calling for you.
Mira tries to rise, but one knee buckles. The spymaster catches her by the shoulder, then stares at the exposed fragment of royal wax with sudden, guarded recognition.
The Eunuch Spymaster
Where did you get that seal?
Mira
From the crypt road. The others carried torches, but their voices came through stone. They said the seal must be found before Drake leaves.
The Eunuch Spymaster
That seal should have been destroyed months ago. Do not ask me why. Not here, and not while the magistrate’s men can still hear us.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get Mira safely away from Drake's house
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn who is calling from the old tunnels
“Mira, we must get you away from here”
FAILURE (Mediocre Oratory, rolled -2)
Drake
Mira, we must get you away from here.
Drake reaches toward her, keeping his voice low. Mira tries to gather herself, but the motion pulls the bloodied cloth loose around the broken seal.
Mira
No. Not away. The tunnels are beneath the square, and they are listening for your name.
Her refusal carries through the open doorway. Outside, the mounted searcher turns back, while the another man’s parchment lowers as his attention fixes on the royal fragment.
The Mounted Searcher
You said the house was clear. Now a wounded courier names a fugitive and hidden tunnels.
The Eunuch Spymaster
She is injured, not evidence. Take your men and your questions elsewhere before panic makes fools of all of you.
Mira
I cannot walk to safety, Drake. If I leave by the road, they will follow. The crypt road is the only path they fear.
“Then we take the crypt road”
FAILURE (Good Agility, rolled -2)
Drake takes Mira’s arm and guides her from the doorway toward the crypt road, choosing the narrow lane beside the square instead of the open road.
Mira
Keep low. The stones remember footsteps, and the voices notice haste.
Mira’s weight shifts unexpectedly. Drake catches her before she falls, but the delay exposes them; the mounted searcher leaves his horse and follows into the lane.
The Mounted Searcher
Stop there. You will not lead an injured witness into a burial ground.
At the lane’s end, the crypt road lies behind an iron gate sealed with old black wax. Drake reaches it with Mira, but the lock will not yield.
The Eunuch Spymaster
The gate is warded from the square. Yet the seal she carries may open the priests’ postern, beneath the broken saint.
Mira points toward a collapsed shrine alcove beside the gate. Beneath fallen stone, a narrow stair descends into darkness, offering a hidden approach instead of the blocked road.
“We take the hidden stairs”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled +2)
Drake clears the loose stones from the shrine alcove and guides Mira onto the narrow stair. Dust spills downward as the hidden passage accepts them.
Mira
Steady. The old priests carved handholds into the wall. Follow them, and do not touch the blackened stones.
Drake keeps Mira’s arm over his shoulder and descends with careful speed. The stair bends beneath the collapsed shrine, carrying them below the gate and out of sight.
The Mounted Searcher
You cannot hide an injured witness beneath consecrated ground. Come back up before this becomes a charge.
His voice reaches the stairwell, muffled by stone. Drake and Mira emerge into a low crypt passage where old votive niches line the walls, their lamps long dead.
The Eunuch Spymaster
Good. The postern lies below the broken saint. Find the statue, and keep the royal fragment covered.
Mira
The voices will hear us soon, but at least the square cannot see where we went.
Quest Complete
Get Mira safely away from Drake's house
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Good→Great