Ten days later, Slaan waits in a remote tavern while rain taps the shutters. Kina slips in with a sealed scroll, her cloak road-stained and her face set hard.
Kina
The Black Company wants this cleaned up. Your Opal strike exposed more than the guild expected.
She lays the scroll on the table, but does not open it. Her eyes keep flicking to the door, as if counting exits.
Kina
The witness in the wagon matters. If they talk, the whole trap starts to fold.
Kina leans closer, lowering her voice. The Company wants Slaan to secure the witness before anyone else can reach them, and to survive whatever the guild springs next.
Slaan
The witness is the key, and the trap is already tightening.
Outside, the rain-slick road waits under a dark sky. Kina pushes the sealed scroll toward Slaan, ready to send her back into Opal.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the witness from the wagon
✓ Quest Accepted
Survive the Black Company’s next move
“I ask like a kid asking for a parents approval " what's the Captain think?Officially and unofficially." I let the question stand”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Slaan
What does the Captain think, officially and unofficially?
Kina
Officially, you are useful. The Company wants the witness secured before the trap closes. Unofficially... Croaker thinks this smells like a blade hidden in a handshake.
Kina
He does not like being managed, but he likes losing less. So he backs your play if it keeps the witness breathing and the trail clean.
Kina
If you want the plain truth, he is giving you room because you keep finding the rotten seam before it splits wide.
Slaan
Croaker is watching the seam, not the ribbon on it.
Kina
That is the official kindness. The unofficial one is worse. If you fail, he will still want the witness, just without trusting anyone in the room.
Kina
So, Slaan, are you taking the Company’s hand on this, or do you intend to work beside it and keep your own knife hidden?
“I speak to kina like an adult child to it's parent" the way I see it I can be the villain in everyone's official story. The company taught me enough to stay ahead. I can be of more use in the shadows."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -2)
Slaan
The way I see it, I can be the villain in everyone’s official story. The Company taught me enough to stay ahead. I can be more use in the shadows.
Kina
Good. Then you are thinking like a Company blade, not a court ornament.
Kina
You do not have to wear our banner to make our enemies bleed for it.
Kina’s mouth tightens, not in suspicion, but in approval. She slides the sealed scroll closer and turns her hand so the ring scars on her fingers catch the tavern light.
Kina
Croaker will accept that answer. He does not need obedience from you. He needs results, and a clean trail.
Outside, rain ticks steadily against the shutters. Inside, the room stays still except for the faint creak of the wagon axle beyond the wall, and a muffled thump from the witness.
Kina
Take the company’s hand when you need it. Keep your knife where it belongs. If the wagon opens badly, I want you thinking, not hesitating.
“I give her a smirk that says yes mom, " I always do."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -2)
Slaan
I always do.
Slaan lets a small smirk tilt her mouth, all sharp edges and easy familiarity. It lands cleanly, and Kina’s sternness loosens by a fraction.
Kina
Good. Keep that face for the people who deserve it.
Kina accepts the answer without flinching. Her fingers close over the sealed scroll, then settle beside it as if marking the bargain complete.
Kina
Croaker will like this version of you better than the one that needs saving.
A dull knock rolls through the wall from the wagon, and a sliver of silence follows it. Kina does not look away from Slaan.
Kina
When the door opens, do not chase glory. Cut the thread, get the witness, leave nothing clean enough to follow.
Rain keeps drumming the shutters. Kina’s approval is real now, but she slides the scroll back only after Slaan’s knife hand settles, as if the trust still has weight.
“I give her a smirk that says yes mom, " I always do."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +0)
Slaan answers Kina with a crooked, knowing grin, the kind that promises obedience without surrender. Her hand stays near the dagger, but the blade does not come free.
Kina
Good. That is the version I can work with.
Kina’s mouth twitches with approval. She taps the sealed scroll once, then lets her hand rest beside it, not over it.
Kina
You keep your knife where it belongs, and I can tell Croaker you are useful instead of troublesome.
Rain ticks harder at the shutters. From outside, the wagon gives another dull shift, a restrained movement under the cloth and wood.
Kina
That witness matters more than pride. If you pull this clean, the Company stays open to you.
Slaan holds the look without blinking. Kina meets it, calm and assessing, then gives a small, satisfied nod, as if a second lock has just clicked into place.
“I take the sealed scroll and read it”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled +1)
Slaan takes the sealed scroll from the table and breaks the clasp with a quick twist of her fingers. Wax flakes onto the wood as she unfurls the parchment and scans the marks in a single, practiced sweep.
Kina
Read it fast. If Croaker changes his mind, I want you ahead of him, not under him.
The scroll lays out routes, names, and a clean handoff point, all written to keep the wagon and its prisoner moving under Company eyes. Rain keeps tapping the shutters, and outside the wagon gives another muted lurch.
Slaan
The handoff is set for the old lane below the inn.
Slaan folds the scroll once and again, keeping the seal visible as proof. Kina watches her read, then looks toward the door as if measuring the road beyond it.
Kina
There. Now you know what I know. Keep the witness from vanishing, and the Company stays talking to you.
A sharper thud comes from the wagon, then a scrape of cloth against wood. Kina’s expression stays calm, but her attention shifts fully to the road, waiting for Slaan to move.
“I ask Kina how Croaker wants it handled”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -2)
Slaan
How does Croaker want this handled, exactly?
Kina
Clean. Quiet. Witness out alive, no trail screaming your name. If you must break something, break the wagon latch, not the story.
Kina
Croaker would accept a hard hand, but not a sloppy one. She can still be useful.
Kina slides the folded scroll aside and taps the table once, as if setting the terms in stone. The rain hushes to a soft patter, and the wagon outside gives a low, protesting creak.
Kina
He wants the witness brought in breathing, then questioned before anyone starts polishing a victory speech. If the road turns ugly, you pull the witness free and vanish before the Company has to choose between you and the lane.
She leans back, eyes on Slaan now instead of the door, her calm edged with approval. A thin bead of wax has stuck to Slaan’s thumb from the broken seal.
Kina
That answer enough, or do you need me to say it twice?
“I lean back and in our sign language I ask ...who is the witness, why are the important?”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Slaan leans back and raises her hands in the small, precise shapes of their sign, asking who the witness is and why the name matters.
Kina
Sharp question. Good. She is listening to the right bone in the story.
Kina
The witness is the hinge. He carried the route words, the handoff marks, and the names that tie Croaker’s next move to the Chapel’s.
Kina
Without him, the Company has suspicion. With him, it has proof, leverage, and a clean reason to break the trap before it breaks us.
Kina’s gaze stays steady as she signs part of the answer back, matching Slaan’s rhythm with practiced ease. The open scroll lies between them like a sealed wound finally cut wide.
Kina
Bring him in breathing, and Croaker can choose who to trust. Lose him, and the whole road turns into rumor.
Outside, the wagon gives another dull shudder, but Kina does not look toward it. Her approval settles on Slaan like a hand on the shoulder, and for the first time the answer feels shared.
“I nod I get up and place a hand on kinas shoulder a moment and leave to collect the witness.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +2)
Slaan gives Kina a single nod, then rises from the bench. Her hand settles on Kina’s shoulder for a brief, steadying moment before she turns for the door.
Kina
Good. Clean hands, clean trail.
The tavern door opens onto rain and dark boards. Slaan steps out into the wet yard, cloak shifting against her legs as the wagon waits beyond the lantern glow.
The wagon gives another stubborn jolt under its cover, and a muffled struggle stirs inside.
Slaan moves to it without haste, reading the distance, the mud, the angle of the wheels.
At the wagon side, she reaches for the latch and the canvas seam, ready to take the witness alive.