Within central command, the three rescued travelers stand beneath blue ward-lamps while Neris Vaun presents the secured agent and sealed copper weave. Sil’Thalis’s new staff gives a faint pulse toward the southern marker.
A middle-aged drow woman in a black-and-blue tabard steps forward, flanked by two armed wardens. Her shaved temples and silver brow-ring mark her as an officer, not a clerk.
the Domini officer
The evidence enters Domini custody now. The prisoner, the weave, and every account will be secured before this relay moves again.
the young traveler
It answered our voices. When we spoke of leaving, the door pulled copper light toward whoever sounded most afraid.
the middle-aged traveler
It was sorting us by what we carried. Orders, letters, tools, even names. The channel changed its response when one of us claimed nothing.
Neris Vaun
Then the lower mechanism routes more than bodies. It may be selecting evidence, witnesses, or authority before anyone reaches the crossing.
The unconscious agent remains bound beside Neris, while the copper weave trembles in its sealed loop. Far south, the staff answers with a second pulse, and several Domini hands reach toward the evidence.
“I release enough magical pressure to make everyone but the travlers bow. " Please commander explain how you out rank an imperial inquisitor again." I say coldly”
SUCCESS (Legendary Magic, rolled -1)
Sil'Thalis
Please, commander, explain how you outrank an imperial inquisitor again.
Sil’Thalis releases measured magical pressure across the command chamber. Wardens, Neris, the Domini officer, and every reaching hand bend to one knee beneath the blue lamps.
The three rescued travelers remain standing, untouched by the pressure. The agent stays unconscious beside Neris, while the sealed copper weave trembles against the floor.
the Domini officer
I do not outrank you by personal strength. I speak for central command within this fortress, and its custody protocols place these witnesses and evidence under my authority.
Neris Vaun
Commander, he is an imperial inquisitor by warrant. Your protocols may secure evidence, but they do not erase his jurisdiction.
the Domini officer
Then the distinction is recorded. I command this chamber’s security, not your investigation. Release the pressure, and we will negotiate custody without pretending one authority consumes the other.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine the purpose of the lower relay
“I release everyone but the commander. As the others rise, I close a telekinetic grip around her throat and begin to choke her. “You seem to misunderstand, my dear officer. Your authority over this chamber does not extend to withholding material relevant to my investigation.” I pause, then release her. “Now, provide everything relevant to my inquiry and allow me to proceed as I see fit.””
SUCCESS (Legendary Magic, rolled -2)
Sil'Thalis
Release everyone except the commander.
The magical pressure lifts from Neris, the wardens, and the travelers., two adult dark elves in black-and-violet scale armor with obsidian badges They rise coughing or unsteady, while the commander remains kneeling beneath Sil’Thalis’s focused will.
Sil'Thalis
You seem to misunderstand, my dear officer. Your authority over this chamber does not extend to withholding material relevant to my investigation.
Telekinetic force closes around the commander’s throat. Her silver brow-ring scrapes against the stone as the blue ward-lamps flare, draining a reserve from Sil’Thalis’s new staff.
Sil'Thalis
Now, provide everything relevant to my inquiry and allow me to proceed as I see fit.
Sil’Thalis releases her. The commander drops one hand to the floor, breathing harshly, then signals the wardens to open the custody chest and surrender its copied reports.
the Domini officer
The southern relay connects to three vanished travelers, two missing scouts, and a lower sorting chamber beneath the old marker. The sealed weave contains route maps, witness accounts, and a trace leading farther south. Take the evidence and proceed under your own warrant. I will record that Domini custody was released under protest, not that your investigation was denied.
+ New Item Acquired
Copied reports
“I let Neris secure the agent and weave, then I examine the copied reports for magical routing evidence”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled -1)
Neris Vaun gathers the unconscious agent and sealed copper weave, checking each restraint before leading them toward the secured custody alcove. The agent remains unresponsive.
Sil’Thalis takes the copied reports from the opened chest and spreads them beneath the blue ward-lamps, keeping route maps, witness accounts, and custody notes in separate stacks.
His new staff reveals magical routing lines hidden beneath the ink. Three paths converge on the old marker, then divide toward southern waystones without sharing a true source.
The copied maps preserve a false Domini passage mark over an older copper lattice. The lattice redirects travelers by altering waystone orientation, not by commanding their minds.
A second pattern appears in the witness accounts: each vanished traveler carried something the relay classified, while those claiming nothing were diverted toward a separate holding route.
The routing evidence identifies a deeper junction south of the old marker, where the false source was attached to the older mechanism. Its maker remains unrecorded.
The staff preserves the discovery without merging it with Neris’s testimony or the agent’s account. The reports now give Sil’Thalis a clear southern route and the relay’s method.
Quest Complete
Determine the purpose of the lower relay
Skill Upgrade: Crafting Mediocre→Fair