The apartment falls quiet after Bram’s warning. Morning light crosses the floor beneath the displaced hearthstone, catching dust around the hidden cavity and the copper token in your palm.
Vaelor
The eye on the token is nearly identical to the mark in the cipher ledger, but the three slashes are reversed. That difference may tell us who carried it.
Vaelor spreads the oilskin-wrapped ledger across the sitting-room table and weighs its corners with spare books. The token rests beside the marked pages while the open apartment waits around you.
Vaelor
If the Ashen Eye uses this building as a route, they may have watched the room before you ever received its key.
Together, you can see several places worth examining: the door hinges, the western wall, the hearth’s mortar, and the narrow vents above the bathing chamber. Each could hide a listening charm or a watcher’s trace.
Vaelor
I will check the doors and vents. You know this kind of hidden work better than anyone. Search wherever the room feels too carefully ordinary.
Vaelor rises and begins inspecting the nearest door without shifting the ledger. The apartment remains still, but the new key, the hidden token, and the marked wall make privacy feel like something that must be proven.
“wait a damn minute, that's a fake marking. i step over to the loose stones and use my tail to dust them off, and remove the marking”
SUCCESS (Legendary Thievery, rolled +1)
umbralia
Wait a damn minute. That’s a fake marking.
You step to the loose stones and sweep your tail across them, brushing away the dust in a controlled pass. The false eye-marking flakes beneath your careful touch, revealing older mortar and an undisturbed seam.
With a thief’s precision, you lift the softened pigment and binding oil from the stone without scraping the surface. The counterfeit sign comes away in a thin, dark curl, leaving no convincing mark behind.
Vaelor
So the warning was dressed to look older than it is. Someone wanted the Ashen Eye blamed before anyone examined the stones closely.
The cleaned stones show a different pattern: two tiny scoring lines converge beneath the removed marking, pointing toward the lower hinge of the western service door.
Vaelor
That changes the message. The token may be genuine, but this particular sign was planted to send us in the wrong direction.
The fake marking is gone, and the hidden scoring remains clear. Beyond the service door, the apartment’s quiet passage now offers the more honest trail.
“theres writing on this, it say the threat has be dealt with”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled -1)
umbralia
There’s writing on this. It says, ‘The threat has been dealt with.’
You angle the stone toward the morning light and trace the shallow letters with one claw. Beneath the false marking, the sentence becomes fully legible: THE THREAT HAS BEEN DEALT WITH.
umbralia
The writing is older than the planted mark, but it does not say who dealt with the threat.
Vaelor
Then someone wanted this message preserved beneath the deception. The question is whether the threat was the Ashen Eye, or someone the Ashen Eye feared.
Reading the cramped script costs several quiet minutes, and the changing light leaves you uncertain about two faint strokes after the final word. They may be initials, or merely damage in the mortar.
Vaelor
We know the sentence now, even if those last marks need closer checking. I will keep watching the door while you decide what deserves the next examination.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine what threat was dealt with
“I realize that the stone that the token was on was newer than the stone the ashen eye was on”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +1)
You compare the replacement stone holding the token with the older stone beneath the Ashen Eye mark. Their mortar lines do not belong to the same repair.
umbralia
The token stone is newer than the stone that carried the Ashen Eye mark.
The newer stone sits slightly proud of the wall, its edges clean beneath settled dust. The older stone bears worn weathering and a seam that predates the planted sign.
Vaelor
Then the token was not placed with the original mark. Someone replaced the stone afterward, and left the token on the newer work.
Vaelor lowers his hand from the service door and studies the masonry beside you. The distinction separates the old message from the newer deception.
Vaelor
The writing may belong to the older stone, while the token belongs to whoever altered the passage later. That gives us two moments, not one.
The apartment’s hidden history now divides cleanly: an old warning beneath the mortar, and a newer intervention meant to make the Ashen Eye appear responsible.
“the threat was the ashen eye, and someone drove them away from this place”
FAILURE (Good Reasoning, rolled -2)
“the threat was the ashen eye, and someone drove them away from this place”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled -1)
You set the older stone beside the newer replacement and compare the worn writing with the planted sign. The pattern resolves into a clear sequence: the Ashen Eye was the threat, and someone drove them away from this place.
umbralia
The Ashen Eye came here first. Someone forced them out, then altered the passage afterward.
The old sentence, the weathered scoring, and the newer token stone now belong to separate moments. The Ashen Eye’s presence ended before the later deception was planted.
Vaelor
Then the older message was a record of victory, not a warning. Someone dealt with the Ashen Eye here, and made certain the place could not be used again.
You spend several more minutes checking the faint marks after the final word. They remain too worn to identify, and the time leaves the apartment’s other hiding places unchecked.
Vaelor
We have the answer we came for, even if those last strokes refuse to name the person who drove them away. We can secure the rest of the rooms now.
Quest Complete
Determine what threat was dealt with
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Good→Great
“oh crap, I just remembered that I invited my mother and sisters for dinner”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled -1)
umbralia
Oh crap, I just remembered. I invited Mother and my sisters for dinner.
The realization breaks through the apartment’s careful silence. Vaelor looks up from the service door, and the ledger, token, and loose stones suddenly share space with a very immediate domestic obligation.
Vaelor
You did invite them. I remember Mother mentioning dinner before we left the lodge, and your sisters were both looking forward to seeing the new apartment.
He glances toward the kitchen, then at the dusty stones arranged beside the hearth. The apartment is secure enough for now, but dinner will require clearing the investigation from sight and preparing the room.
Vaelor
We can put the ledger away, replace the stones, and make the kitchen presentable. If they arrive soon, I will help with whatever meal you choose.
Vaelor gathers the oilskin ledger and copper token while leaving the older writing accessible for later study. The apartment shifts from hidden investigation toward welcoming your family for the evening.
✓ Quest Accepted
Prepare the apartment and welcome the family for dinner
umbralia leaves Umbralia's apartment behind and arrives at the markets.
“we have nothing to cook, i will run to the markets, but first undo mu feathers”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +1)
The market teems beneath striped awnings, fragrant with onions, herbs, fresh bread, and rain-dark earth. Stalls crowd the square, while the Market Crowd flows around laden carts and bright produce.
Before approaching the nearest stall, you loosen the tie holding your head feathers. Your full black crest spills down your back, silver flecks catching the afternoon light as the plumes settle freely.
umbralia
The market is busier than usual today.
The release gives you a clear view over the crowd. Beyond a basket of pears, you spot a shaded produce stall displaying onions, root vegetables, mushrooms, and wrapped cuts of fresh meat.
You cross the square with effortless speed, slipping between carts without jostling anyone. A startled porter pulls aside just in time, and a dropped bundle rolls harmlessly beneath a table.
Minutes later, you have secured enough ingredients for a hearty dinner, along with fresh bread, fruit, and a bundle of fragrant herbs. The vendor’s paper wrapping bears a tiny black-eye mark in the corner.
It is smaller and cleaner than the false sign at the apartment, but unmistakably similar. Your shopping is complete, and the market has handed you one more clue to carry home.
+ New Item Acquired
Dinner ingredients
“I also grab the ingredients for a simple curry”
You return to the spice stall and select turmeric, cumin, coriander, ginger, garlic, and a small measure of ground chili for the curry.
The stallkeeper wraps each spice in folded paper, adding a handful of fresh curry leaves and a few cardamom pods to deepen the flavor.
You collect potatoes, carrots, and a firm squash from the nearby produce baskets, choosing vegetables that will soften well in a rich, simple sauce.
A small crock of coconut milk joins the ingredients. Its cool weight balances the sharp fragrance of ginger and chili rising from the parcels.
You tuck the curry ingredients safely with the bread, meat, herbs, and fruit. The market crowd parts around you as you turn toward home.
umbralia
The kitchen will have everything needed for a warm, uncomplicated curry.
“I return home and start cooking the curry”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled +1)
You return to the apartment with the market parcels tucked securely against your side. Vaelor has cleared the table and swept the false marking’s dust from the hearth, leaving the kitchen ready.
You set the ingredients on the kitchen shelf, wash the vegetables, and prepare the hearth. Soon onions, garlic, ginger, and spices warm together in the pot, filling the apartment with fragrant heat.
Vaelor
That already smells like a meal worth defending. Tell me what needs chopping, and I will make myself useful without interfering with your command of the kitchen.
You add the potatoes, carrots, squash, and meat, stirring until the spices coat everything. Coconut milk follows, turning the mixture into a rich golden sauce beneath the steady simmer.
Vaelor
The ledger can wait until after dinner. For once, the most urgent matter in this apartment is making certain the curry does not vanish before your family arrives.
You fold in the curry leaves and cardamom, then let the pot simmer until the vegetables soften and the meat turns tender. Bread, fruit, and herbs wait beside the finished meal.
The apartment fills with a warm, uncomplicated curry scent as evening gathers beyond the shutters. Vaelor begins arranging plates while you taste the sauce and find it balanced, fragrant, and ready for your guests.