Two weeks of quiet have made the Highlands feel watchful. In the safehouse, a courier in chapel colors steps inside and offers Slaan a wax-sealed scroll.
Kaelith stands by the door, one hand on his sword hilt. The seal bears the High Chapel mark, and the wording is sharp enough to cut, demanding Slaan answer for unauthorized destruction of historical property.
Slaan
The Chapel is calling in the archives.
Kaelith
This is not just paperwork. If they are bold enough to summon you, someone is still steering the search for Markul's allies.
The courier does not linger. Outside, the wind rattles the shutters, and the scroll feels heavier than wax and paper should.
Kaelith
If you go, you face the Chapel and whatever Watchers they still hide. If you do not, the Assassin's Guild may read that as weakness.
Slaan has a clean opening, answer the summons and force the Chapel to expose who still shields Markul's work, or refuse and let the hidden blades move first.
✓ Quest Accepted
Answer the Chapel summons
+ New Item Acquired
Wax-sealed scroll
“I break the seal and read it. Then ask the courier when they want us there.”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled -1)
Slaan breaks the wax cleanly. The seal gives with a soft snap, and the folded parchment opens under the window light.
The summons is formal and cold. The High Chapel orders her to appear, names the archive ruin, and gives her no room to pretend silence will hide her.
Slaan
When do they want us there?
Courier
At first light, if you come in peace. By midday, if you mean to test their patience.
Kaelith
That is a leash dressed as courtesy.
The courier shifts their weight toward the door, eager to be gone, while Kaelith angles himself to cover the room.
Outside, the wind keeps worrying the shutters. Inside, the choice settles in Slaan's hands with the opened letter.
Quest Complete
Answer the Chapel summons
“"and if I thread the needle between the two." Smirking at the idea of people who think they have authority sitting in a hot chamber.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +3)
Slaan
And if I thread the needle between the two, then I choose the chamber. If they want me there, they can meet me on my terms.
The courier pauses at the door, the first hint of uncertainty breaking through their practiced caution. Kaelith lets out a quiet breath that almost passes for a laugh.
Courier
That answer will earn you enemies and respect in equal measure.
Kaelith
Good. Let them choke on both.
The courier produces a slim wax-sealed token from inside their sleeve and sets it on the table, an unasked-for courtesy from the Chapel's own hand. It catches the window light beside the broken summons.
Courier
Show that seal at the chapel gate. It will get you past the outer watch, for one audience only.
Kaelith
They are already trying to control the meeting. Slaan just turned that control back on them.
“"I'll be there, and remember calling on and waiting on an assassin is never convenient" I tell the courier”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
Slaan
I will be there. And calling on an assassin is never convenient, so remember that when you wait on me.
Courier
Then I will remember you are not the sort to be summoned like a clerk.
Kaelith
Good. If they want her in that room, they can learn patience the hard way.
The courier gives a thin, relieved nod and eases the wax seal toward Slaan, as if handing over a blade by the hilt. Kaelith watches her face, then the token, then the door.
Courier
One audience only, yes, but they will weigh every word you bring with you.
Slaan
The seal is small, but it changes the shape of the room.
Kaelith
That is their mistake. They think a summons controls the meeting. It only tells us where to stand.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the archive ruin by midday
“"Let's go, I'll need you outside the chamber" I hand him the seal. " I won't need it.,"when you hear the commotion inside, use the seal to gain attendance." I give a smirk”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
Slaan
I will need you outside the chamber. Take the seal, and when the commotion starts, use it to gain attendance.
Slaan lets the wax-sealed token rest in Kaelith’s hand, the small gesture carrying more command than volume. Her smirk is brief, sharp, and all business.
Kaelith
Understood. I wait outside, and I come in when the room starts to shake.
Courier
A clean order. A safer one, too.
The courier straightens at the threshold, relieved to be dismissed with purpose instead of suspicion. The opened summons lies flat on the table beside Slaan’s hand.
Kaelith
If she is setting the pace, then the Chapel is already behind.
Outside, a bell begins to toll once, distant and formal, as if the world itself is marking the hour. The room falls quiet around the seal, now no longer an answer, but a key to the door ahead.
Slaan leaves Safehouse behind and arrives at archive ruin.
“We get to to the archive ruin, I get their and slid into the chamber with my cloak of shadows and wait in a shadowy pocket of the room.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +3)
The archive ruin crouches under wind-scoured stone, its broken archways breathing cold dust. Slaan slips from the light and melts into a shadowed pocket beside a cracked pillar, her cloak settling like spilled ink.
Kaelith
You picked the blind side of the chamber. Good. If they search, they’ll miss you first.
Kaelith stops just inside the entry, keeping his body between the ruin and the approach path. The distant bell’s echo fades into the high wind outside.
Kaelith
The Chapel likes a clean stage. Let them think they have one.
Slaan
I’ll stay where they do not see me.
The words vanish into the dark as Slaan settles deeper into concealment. From her nook, she catches the glint of the wax-sealed token at Kaelith’s belt and the ruined room beyond it, waiting.
Kaelith
When the chamber is ready, I call for attendance. Until then, hold fast.
Quest Complete
Reach the archive ruin by midday