The hall remains gathered beneath the family portraits. Mother waits beneath their painted faces, Liora stands close beside her, and Vaelor keeps respectfully near the doorway while Arriah watches the adjoining room. The unfamiliar voice refuses to soften the silence.
Mother
I chose distance, and I called it safety. I should have told you the truth before taking them. I cannot undo those years, but I will answer every question you have now.
A soft latch clicks in the adjoining room. The second twin enters, a young adult deinonychus woman with russet scales, a short feather crest, and a travel-worn ocher cloak. She carries a sealed letter against her chest.
Twin Sister Two
Mother, you need to give her the letter now. It was never meant to wait for your courage.
Edrin
That letter is why your confession cannot end with fear. The decision to separate the sisters was not made by Maris alone.
Liora
What did you keep from us, Mother? And why was this sealed until now?
Mother looks at the wax seal, then toward you. The mark pressed into it is unfamiliar, but a thin black thread winds through the red wax like a strand of living shadow.
“I ask to read the sealed letter”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +0)
umbralia
I want to read the letter. Give it to me, please.
The other twin sister crosses the hall and places the sealed letter in your hands. Mother does not stop her, and the black thread in the wax shifts like a living mark.
Mother
Read it. Whatever it says, you deserved to know it years ago.
You break the wax and unfold the brittle sheet. The ink is faded, but the words sharpen beneath your gaze, each line carrying the careful hand of someone who expected the letter to be found late.
It bears your father’s name. Your father writes that his enemies were already watching the family, and that the eastern refuge was meant to protect the twins, not erase you from their lives.
Mother
He asked me to separate you only if danger reached the lodge. I made that choice after his death, but the letter proves he feared the same threat long before then.
Edrin
And beneath his instructions is the name of the person who sold your family’s location. That is why the seal was never meant to be broken lightly.
At the bottom of the letter, one name is written in fresh black ink: the unfamiliar voice. The hall falls silent around the revelation.
+ New Item Acquired
Father’s Letter
“well, on a good note, this person is now dead”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
umbralia
Well, on a good note, this person is dead.
The revelation settles differently after your remark. The sealed letter still bears Edrin’s name, but the living man beside the doorway cannot dispute the fact of his own death.
Edrin
Yes. That is the one mercy in this room. The man who sold your family’s location is dead, and he cannot sell it again.
Mother
I learned that years ago, but not before his betrayal had already destroyed enough. I should have told you that too.
Maris lowers her eyes to the letter. Liora moves closer to the other twin sister, while Vaelor remains near the doorway, silent but present as the family absorbs the small piece of relief.
Edrin
His death ended his reach, not the damage he caused. But the truth is yours now, and no one here can seal it away from you again.
“wait a minute, who in the hells are you?”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +3)
umbralia
Wait a minute. Who in the hells are you?
The unfamiliar man straightens beside the doorway. His translucent outline sharpens enough to show an elderly deinonychus with a narrow face, faded gray feathers, and a dark scholar’s robe.
Edrin
My name is Edrin. I was your father’s sworn archivist, and later the keeper of what remained after his enemies began hunting the family.
The name settles over the hall. Maris turns toward him sharply, while Liora and her sister exchange a startled glance. Vaelor remains watchful at the doorway.
Edrin
I died protecting the last record of your father’s allies. I returned only because the letter’s seal carried his summons, and because you deserved the truth without another guardian choosing for you.
Edrin
I still possess his cipher ledger. It names the eastern refuge, the surviving allies, and the men who helped arrange your family’s escape. It is hidden beneath the old hearth, and it is yours now.
“oh where are my manners, mother, this is vaelor, he and I are co-workers. i say as i step next to vaelor and give a verry prominent wink towards my mother”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +1)
umbralia
Oh, where are my manners? Mother, this is Vaelor. He and I are co-workers.
You step beside Vaelor and give Mother a very prominent wink. The gesture lands plainly, cutting through the hall’s solemn tension with deliberate mischief.
Vaelor
A pleasure to meet you, Mother. Our work together is often conducted after dark and requires considerable discretion.
Maris blinks once, then notices your wink. Her stern expression cracks into reluctant amusement, while Liora covers a laugh and the other twin sister looks between you and Vaelor knowingly.
Mother
Of course. Co-workers. I am pleased you have found someone capable of keeping pace with you, daughter.
Edrin
An unusually flexible description of employment, but perhaps the archive contains no useful classification for it.
“how about, we all go to living room and sit down so we can talk”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +0)
umbralia
How about we all go to the living room and sit down so we can talk?
Your invitation gathers the scattered attention in the hall. Maris leads the way into the adjoining living room, and the others follow without objection.
Mother
Yes. We have left too many truths standing in doorways. Let us sit, and I will answer what I can.
Chairs and a broad settee fill the living room around a low wooden table. Maris takes the central chair, while Liora and her sister sit together nearby.
Vaelor
A sensible arrangement. I will sit beside umbralia, unless the family prefers I remain an especially discreet co-worker by the wall.
Vaelor settles beside you. Arriah chooses the seat opposite, Edrin stands near the hearth, and the room finally holds everyone in one circle.
Edrin
Then let us begin with the ledger, the betrayal, and every choice made in your name without your consent.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn how my family’s location was betrayed
“how was my families location betrayed?”
FAILURE (Good Reasoning, rolled -3)
“how was my families location betrayed?”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled -2)
Edrin reaches beneath the hearthstone and withdraws a narrow cipher ledger wrapped in oilskin. He opens it across the low table, its pages crowded with cramped entries and faded seals.
Edrin
Your family’s location was betrayed by Tavian, the lodge steward. He copied the eastern refuge’s route from your father’s private correspondence and sold it to an enemy agent for debt money.
Maris grips the arms of her chair. Liora’s hand finds her sister’s, while Arriah leans forward to study the ledger’s marked lines.
Mother
Tavian served us for years. He knew the children, knew the household, and knew exactly which roads we would take when we fled.
Edrin
The ledger confirms the method, the payment, and the date. It does not identify the enemy who bought the information. That line was torn away before I recovered it.
Vaelor
So the betrayal was deliberate, local, and paid for. The missing buyer’s name is the cost of learning the truth tonight.
The answer settles plainly around the table: Tavian sold the family’s location by copying your father’s route and passing it to an enemy for money. The missing final entry leaves the buyer unknown.
Quest Complete
Learn how my family’s location was betrayed