The tavern settles into its evening hush. Bren draws a shaded cloth over her inked hand, leaving only the dark outline of her palm visible on the table.
Bren
Read it without Teren's memory beside it. Let the testimony stand on its own, even where it contradicts us.
Teren sits across from her, shoulders lowered, his hands open beside his untouched cup. He watches the ink, not Sil'Thalis, as though refusing to steer the reading.
Teren
I will point out distortions if I see them. I will not argue the account into becoming mine again.
Under the cloth, the ink stirs. Thin lines spread across Bren's palm and gather into a broken ward-sign, followed by fragments of an older command: a Domini ward still answers to a voice beneath the house.
Bren
Not a command given to the wardens. Something older. Something the house inherited without understanding.
“" let me ask you lass, who's voice is it, eh " I take a pill off my drink. " And tell me, why does Domini listen to it eh? Why does Xar crave it.eh? " I pause looking at the both of them. " It's control. They think as long as the feed what is down in the pit, they will have control."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Sil'Thalis
Tell me, lass. Whose voice is it?
Sil'Thalis lifts a pill from his drink, then lets the question hang over the shaded cloth.
Sil'Thalis
Why does Domini listen to it? Why does Xar crave it?
The broken ward-sign tightens beneath Bren's palm. Its oldest strokes turn toward the ink, as though answering the question through her.
Sil'Thalis
It's control. They think that if they feed what is down in the pit, they will control it.
Bren
Not a voice speaking from the pit. A voice speaking for it. The ward calls that voice the Steward of the Deep Seal.
Teren
Then both houses mistook obedience for control. Domini fed the ward to preserve their claim. Xar wanted the same key, for a different hand.
Bren's fingers close beneath the cloth. The next line of ink refuses to appear, and her gaze lifts sharply toward Teren.
Bren
There is a name beneath that title. I can reveal it, but not while Teren's account is beside the testimony. One of us must withhold our record.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reveal the name beneath the Steward of the Deep Seal
“I look at the wards to see if I can read the name.”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +0)
Sil'Thalis studies the ward-sign without touching it. The broken strokes align beneath Bren's palm, their gaps forming a second inscription in the dark sheen of the ink.
The hidden name resolves: Maerith Vey, Steward of the Deep Seal. The title was inherited, but the name belongs to the voice beneath it.
Bren
Maerith Vey. That is the name the ward concealed.
Teren
I never heard it. If it was in my account, Kynes removed it, or the ward hid it from me.
The ink flares as the name is read, scorching a narrow black crescent across Bren's palm. The tavern's nearest candle gutters, and two drinkers glance toward the table.
Bren
Now the testimony demands restraint. Teren must withhold his account, or this name will be measured against a memory already shaped by Kynes.
Teren
Then tell me what you saw, Bren. I will not answer until your record stands alone.
Leave the tavern without exposing Maerith Vey
Quest Complete
Reveal the name beneath the Steward of the Deep Seal