The chamber remains as they found it: blue witchlight, a worn stone table, Tancred’s open journal, and Edric’s faintly pulsing throat. The young bard stands beside the table, silver charm resting in her palm.
Edric
These were concealed together, brother. The succession register records what our family erased; Natasha’s letter records why the rite was forbidden.
Edric draws a narrow register and a folded letter from beneath the table’s loose stone. Wax seals, one bearing the du Edric crest and one marked in House Natasha’s red, catch the witchlight.
The Young Bard
The register’s seal is older, but the letter was closed after it. Perhaps someone meant the warning to outlive the record.
As the seals are examined, faint ink rises through the register’s first page. A second succession line appears beneath the public heir list, naming Edric as firstborn and marking his inheritance removed, not relinquished.
Edric
I was not disinherited. They feared the rite would bind the firstborn to the house’s buried power, so they hid me and altered the succession.
The Natasha seal warms beneath the witchlight but does not break. Along its edge, a final line emerges in Natasha’s hand: “If another bears this warning, ask whether the bearer was chosen or commanded.”
“On parchment, I write, "Brother, I do not understand: our family was not servile to House Batory. Why would there be some sort of Rite that applies to our family when it is vile sorcery from a rival house that gave in to the corruption of the Lord of this domain?"”
SUCCESS (Superb Academics, rolled +2)
Tancred lowers the charcoal stick to the leatherbound journal. Haunted memories twist the family seal into Batory colors, but Archivist of Ruin steadies the line before the distortion can alter his question.
Tancred du Forgietan
Brother, I do not understand. Our family was not servile to House Batory. Why would this vile Batory rite apply to our house, when it was a rival house that surrendered to the corruption of this domain?
Academics orders the contradiction into its historical parts. Forbidden Knowledge identifies the rite’s profane structure, while Hard-Won Insight separates Batory’s authorship from the older power hidden beneath the du Morvannoux succession.
Edric
Because the rite was never Batory property, Tancred. Natasha learned its outer form from the buried power, then claimed it as her own. Our house guarded that power long before House Batory turned to corruption.
The charcoal marks a clean distinction in the journal: Batory as corrupter, the du Morvannoux line as unwilling vessel. The register’s altered succession now reads as concealment of access, not allegiance.
Edric
They hid me because the firstborn was the rite’s appointed anchor. That did not make our family servants. It made us prisoners of an inheritance our ancestors should have destroyed.
The answer settles the contradiction without excusing the family’s silence. The young bard keeps her silver charm lowered, listening as the journal preserves the distinction between bloodline, binding, and Batory’s later corruption.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine whether the warning’s bearer was chosen or commanded
Quest Complete
Read the sealed succession register
Skill Upgrade: Academics Superb→Legendary
“Continuing on the page, "I am still confused, brother. Our family is not one of darkness. We hath been paragons of the living. I served Kelemvor in life. Kelemvor: the god who keeps the dead at peaceful rest. I fought the undead until my last breath, and I still feel the powers within me, though it causes me pain."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Academics, rolled +1)
Tancred du Forgietan
I am still confused, brother. Our family is not one of darkness. We have been paragons of the living. I served Kelemvor, the god who keeps the dead at peaceful rest. I fought the undead until my last breath, and I still feel these powers within me, though they cause me pain.
Tancred sets the charcoal to the leatherbound journal and records the conflict plainly: his vows to Kelemvor, his war against undeath, and the painful powers now moving through him. The page gives his confusion an ordered shape.
Haunted memories crowd the margins with accusing faces and broken altar-light. Archivist of Ruin preserves Tancred’s exact meaning, while Hard-Won Insight separates his family’s public devotion from the hidden inheritance.
Forbidden Knowledge identifies the powers as remnants of the interrupted rite, not proof that the du Edric line worshipped darkness. Academics compares the register, the letter, and Tancred’s testimony until the distinction becomes certain.
Edric
I know, brother. The power within thee is not a creed, nor does it make thy family servants of darkness. It is the wound left when Natasha’s rite seized upon what our blood had guarded.
The charcoal records Edric’s answer beneath Tancred’s confession. The pain is tied to the unfinished claim, while Tancred’s service and resistance remain his own, untouched by the power’s presence.
Edric
Thy vows still matter, Tancred. Kelemvor’s peace was what Natasha violated, not what thou abandoned. If thou seekest clarity, we shall trace where the rite enters thee and where it may be severed.
Director's note
please do not make anymore references to the 'gifts' of this character, such as the Archivist of Ruin, when narrating the story
“I wish to open the letter marked with the Batory seal. Only by reading the contents and the handwriting, will I be able to tell is Natasha herself wrote the warning.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Investigation, rolled -1)
Tancred lifts the Batory-sealed letter from beneath the stone. Curiosity makes him test every fold and edge, while the leatherbound journal lies open beside the blue witchlight.
Haunted visions crowd the wax with Natasha’s face, that of a middle-aged woman with olive skin, dark braided hair, a narrow nose, and a small scar beside one eye and accusing shadows, making each familiar curve seem suspect. He steadies his attention against the distortion and breaks the seal without damaging the page.
Forbidden Knowledge separates the rite’s residue from ordinary enchantment, revealing no compulsion woven into the parchment. Seal Forensics confirms the impression is genuine House Batory work, pressed recently and by a practiced hand.
The letter opens fully. Investigation compares its slant, pressure, hooked capitals, and restrained flourishes against the surviving examples in the register, while the journal preserves each comparison in exact notes.
Edric
The hand is hers, brother. Natasha wrote the warning herself, though the wording was shaped for whoever found it after her departure.
The conclusion becomes certain: Natasha authored the warning. Her handwriting matches the letter’s pressure and formation throughout, and the red seal was applied after the ink had dried.
The Young Bard
Then she wanted the warning found, my lord. The question is whether she meant to protect the finder, or guide them into her snare.
Quest Complete
Determine whether Natasha sent the warning
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Great→Superb
“By reading the letter, does this warning seem to be directly for me? Am I being chosen to do something, or is this a command?”
SUCCESS (Legendary Investigation, rolled +0)
Tancred du Forgietan
By reading the letter, does this warning seem meant directly for me? Am I being chosen to act, or commanded?
Tancred rereads the warning beside his ordered journal notes. Curiosity tests each phrase, while the letter’s ink, seal, and deliberate placement establish its intended reader: whoever bears the warning after Natasha’s departure.
Haunted suspicion raises Natasha’s face over the words, but disciplined comparison strips away the vision. The authentic seal, practiced script, and occult phrasing agree: no compulsion binds the parchment, and no hidden oath names Tancred.
Edric
It is meant to reach thee, brother, but not because Natasha chose thee for a servant. She wrote it for the one who uncovered the truth, expecting that one might be thee.
The sentence’s imperative force becomes plain under scrutiny. It commands the reader only to question the bearer’s allegiance; it does not command Tancred to serve, meet, or obey Natasha.
Edric
Thou art being tested, not selected. The warning is bait shaped as counsel, and its command is only this: determine whether its bearer acts freely or under another’s will.
The Young Bard
Then it speaks to thee as its finder, my lord, but it does not own thee. Natasha wants thy judgment turned toward her question, not thy will surrendered to her.
Quest Complete
Determine whether the warning’s bearer was chosen or commanded
New Gift: Recognizes Hidden Masters