Slaan stays folded into the shadow pocket, unmoving as the heavy doors groan wider. The High Chapel Inquisitors file in with measured steps, all white trim and iron certainty.
They spread through the archive ruin, setting a brass censer, a ledger stand, and a ring of pale chalk on the floor. Torchlight picks out old dust and newer purpose.
They are not searching yet. They are preparing the room to make a verdict look like truth.
The Lead Inquisitor
Seal the side aisles. If the target is here, she will be driven into the center.
Kaelith remains outside the doorway, out of sight, holding steady for the moment Slaan needs. Inside, the inquisitors open their papers and unroll a marked route map that matches Markul’s trail.
The Lead Inquisitor
Markul’s instructions were clear. The archive only needs the final witness, and then the record can be corrected.
That line lands like a blade in the dark. Slaan catches the shape of the trap at once, this is not a trial of her, it is a clean room for erasing Markul’s trail and any witness who can expose it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Shatter the inquisitors' confidence
“I step forward with cloak of shadows cast on me, and reveal myself. After the lead inquisitor finishes his statement " hi" is all I say”
SUCCESS (Legendary Stealth, rolled -1)
Slaan lets the cloak of shadows thin just enough to show a pale hand, then her face, calm as slate, from the ruin’s dark seam.
She steps out fully, no rush in the movement, and the torchlight catches her dagger hilts as the shadow cover falls away.
The lead inquisitor stops reading. A few of his companions stiffen around the chalk ring, papers pausing mid-turn.
The Lead Inquisitor
So. The witness arrives on schedule.
Slaan
Hi.
Silence follows, sharp enough to hear the censer chain sway. The marked route map lies open between them like a verdict waiting to be broken.
One inquisitor glances at the doorway, then back to Slaan, uncertain for the first time whether the room belongs to them.
“" I'm confused, how is the church working with a liche Lord,?" I pull an apple out of my robes and take a bite. " Sorry I got here early." I chew as everyone watches." So it's ok for someone from one nation to alter the records of another nation." I take another bite. " These are really good, from the aderouch highlands. Really sweet."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
Slaan bites into the apple with deliberate calm, and the crisp sound cuts through the chamber. Juice shines at the corner of her mouth as she speaks around the second bite, almost casual.
Slaan
I'm confused. How is the Church working with a lich lord?
The lead inquisitor’s ledger hand stills. One man near the chalk ring lowers his gaze to the floor, as if the answer might be written there instead of in the room.
Slaan
Sorry I got here early.
A beat passes. Slaan chews, unhurried, while all of them watch her. The tension does not rise, it frays.
Slaan
So it's okay for someone from one nation to alter the records of another nation?
That lands harder than steel. The lead inquisitor’s jaw tightens, and two others exchange a quick, uneasy look over the route map, as if the question has found a seam in their certainty.
Slaan
These are really good, from the Aderouch Highlands. Really sweet.
The apple hangs in the air between them, ordinary and impossible. One inquisitor lets out a thin breath, no longer certain whether they are hosting a witness or being measured by one.
Quest Complete
Shatter the inquisitors' confidence
New Gift: Inquisitor's Bane
+ New Item Acquired
Apple
“Taking another bite she address the lead inquisitor. " Didn't you also sell out not only the sun eater because they worked with the sentinels, you know the first line of defense against the chaos lords, but also three in with a lich lord, who was working with the chaos lords." I take another bite, and with my mouth still full I finish " appertly." I look around the room taking stock on who's there. "Really sweet, you should try them." I say plainly and nonchalantly”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +1)
Slaan
Didn’t you also sell out the Sun-Eaters because they worked with the Sentinels, the first line against Chaos, and three others with a lich lord working with Chaos too? Apparently.
Slaan takes another bite without hurrying, then lets her gaze travel the chamber, counting bodies, hands, and exits as if she is merely bored.
Slaan
Really sweet. You should try them.
Lead Inquisitor
His mouth tightens, and the ledger dips. "You speak as if corruption is a parish tale. Those names are not yours to judge."
Lead Inquisitor
He glances toward the chalk ring, then back to Slaan. "If the archive is such a trap, why stand in it at all?"
High Chapel Inquisitor
One of the others swallows hard, eyes flicking to the apple, then to the wax-sealed token near the papers as if it suddenly matters.
Lead Inquisitor
His voice lowers, less certain now. "We were told the records must be cleaned. Not rewritten. There is a difference, if you care to hear it."
✓ Quest Accepted
Drive the inquisitors out of the archive ruin
“I walk around the circle outside of it so I am facing the lead inquisitor." Listen I don't judge. Assassin remember," I follow the perimeter of the circle to see if the lead inquisitor is paying attention, with my free hand I get a stun spell ready to freeze a target. " However I do understand the church of the burning flame and the church of the all father have disagreements" I take a bit out of the apple. " As for the records, cleaned from what? Ordered by who? " I ask now on the far side of the lead inquisitor so he is now in front of the circle.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -1)
Slaan glides along the chalk ring’s edge, apple in one hand, the other hand warming with a held spell. The lead inquisitor tracks her turn too late, his stance shifting as she comes to face him from the far side.
Slaan
Listen, I do not judge. Assassin, remember.
She takes another bite, unhurried, and lets the silence sit between them like a knife on the table.
Slaan
I understand the Church of the Burning Flame and the Church of the All Father have disagreements. As for the records, cleaned from what, ordered by who?
Lead Inquisitor
From rot, if you must know. From names that stain the archive and make martyrs of traitors.
Lead Inquisitor
And from higher hands than mine. We were told to scrub the trail, not invent a new truth.
His grip loosens on the ledger. One of the others lowers their ritual tools, staring at the chalk ring as if it has become a courtroom instead of a trap.