As Slaan and Kaelith step out from One-Eye's workshop, the same courier from earlier slides from behind the crate stack. The respectful bow is familiar, almost careful, and the cloak parts just enough to show Black Company cloth beneath.
The Courier
The deference was a cover. I was watching you for the guild.
Kaelith stiffens, hand drifting toward his weapon. The courier does not flinch. Instead, they lift a sealed strip of orders, then tilt it toward the alley mouth where another runner waits in shadow.
The Courier
Now I have new orders. I am to assist in the interception, not hinder it.
The twist settles hard into the alley. The warning was not a threat after all, it was surveillance. Slaan's earlier trail is already in guild hands, and someone has been shaping the next move around it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Intercept the targets at the Opal meeting point
✓ Quest Accepted
Investigate the Black Company's knowledge of the meeting
“I look at Kina, using kinas battle hand sign - did you send them? And out loud "I'll give you a why shortly"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
Slaan angles her chin toward Kina and flashes the old battle sign, small and precise. Then she keeps her eyes on the courier and speaks evenly. "I will give you a why shortly."
Kina
That sign means verify the courier. Good. I am verifying.
Kina steps into the alley mouth, one gloved hand lifting in answer. Her gaze cuts from the sealed orders to the courier's face, then to the Black Company cloth hidden under the cloak.
The Courier
You wanted the final piece. The meeting point is real, and the escort is already set. They expect a quiet handoff near the old lane.
Kina
And the cargo?
The Courier
A witness. Kept covered, kept moving, and kept away from the road. That is what my orders say.
Kina gives a sharp nod, then folds her hands behind her back as if weighing a contract. The courier lowers the sealed strip to waist height, waiting.
Kina
Good. We move with your story, and you stay where Slaan can see you until she says otherwise.
Quest Complete
Investigate the Black Company's knowledge of the meeting
“To the Courier " hey stay here a moment" and I cast a befuddle charm on them so they will be disorientated and mostly def four 5 min . To Kina after I know the spell took. " Who is this guy"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled -1)
Slaan stays still in the alley’s throat and lets the charm slip into place. The courier’s shoulders loosen first, then their focus drifts, as if the lane has tilted beneath them.
The Courier
...the lane... old stone... wait...
Their grip on the sealed orders slackens. Kina watches the change, her eyes narrowing in clean appraisal rather than surprise.
Slaan
Stay here a moment.
The courier gives a small, absent nod and sways against the wall beside One-Eye’s workshop door, blinking at nothing in particular.
Slaan
Who is this man?
Kina
Not a stranger. Guild blood, by the look of the cloth, and now I know he is carrying more than paper.
Kina reaches past the courier’s lowered hand and lifts the sealed strip just enough to read its marks, while the alley holds its breath around the quiet truce.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what the courier is carrying
“"who is his mark" I ask”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -2)
Slaan
Who is his mark?
Kina
Guild marks are coded by task, not vanity. This one points to a carrier, someone moving a witness under cover. The courier is not the target, only the hand delivering the route.
Kina tips the sealed strip closer to the light and traces the ink with one finger. The courier stays slack against the wall, but their eyes flick once toward the workshop door at the word witness.
The Courier
...not cargo... witness...
Kina
That reaction is useful. He knows more than he meant to. The mark ties him to the handoff at the Opal meeting point.
Slaan catches the courier’s loose sleeve as it slips, and the black threadwork beneath the cloak flashes for a breath before disappearing again. It is enough to fix the mark in Kina’s mind, but the tug pulls a stitch free and frays the cuff.
Kina
There. A route-mark, not a family sign. He is assigned to the transfer, and the witness is the prize.
The alley settles back into its narrow hush, with the workshop door at their backs and the meeting point now concrete between them. Kina lowers the seal, holding Slaan’s gaze a moment longer than before.
Quest Complete
Learn what the courier is carrying
“" so banish me and Rusty before the hand off to tip their hand"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Slaan lets the courier’s cuff go and turns that same hand outward, as if clearing a path that does not yet exist. The alley stays quiet, but her meaning lands cleanly.
Slaan
Then banish me and Rusty before the handoff. Make it look real, and let it tip their hand.
Kina
That has weight. If the route watchers believe the banishment, they will stop treating Slaan as a known factor.
Kina
A public break, then a hidden move. Yes, that can be used.
The Courier
You want me to carry the lie back to them... and keep your names out of the handoff.
Kina
Not a lie. A cover with teeth. You will report Slaan dismissed, and you will do it before the transfer begins.
Kina folds the sealed strip shut, already rearranging the route in her head. The courier straightens off the wall, dazed no longer, and the alley shifts into a working arrangement.