“I quickly retrieve the ledger.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -1)
The floorboards groan as Timothy pries them loose, his fingers scraping against the cold, damp earth beneath the stone tiles. He works with frantic, silent precision, his lean frame pressed tight against the cold floor.
Timothy
The ledger feels heavy with secrets. One wrong move and the Abbot will have my skin for this.
Just as his fingers close around the leather-bound book, a heavy shadow stretches across the Scriptorium floor. The Abbot’s boots click sharply against the stones, stopping mere inches from where Timothy kneels.
Abbot
I see you kneeling in the dust, boy. Surely such a posture implies a confession is long overdue.
Timothy
He is standing right over me. Does he know what I hid, or does he simply enjoy watching me cower?
Abbot
Stand, Timothy. Let us see if your spirit is as broken as your pride.
Quest Complete
Retrieve the ledger from beneath the scriptorium floorboards
+ Scene Quest Added
Talk your way out of the Abbot's suspicion and leave
“I take advantage of the Abbot's natural sadism to persuade him to give me confession and an immediate additional punishment, allaying his suspicions about what else I might have been up to.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Timothy
Father, my heart is heavy with secrets I am not yet worthy to hold. The burden of my own nature weighs upon me, and I crave the corrective grace of your judgment. Please, lay your penance upon me so that I may be purged of this distracting shame.
Abbot
The boy’s trembling is genuine enough. A soul desperate for the lash is a soul too occupied with its own suffering to plot against the monastery.
Abbot
You show a rare, if pitiable, clarity, Timothy. If you seek to bear the cross of your own failings, who am I to deny you the path to contrition?
The Abbot’s thin lips curl into a cold, satisfied smirk. He reaches to his belt, unlooping a heavy set of iron keys that clatter against the stone, then grips his heavy wooden staff with white-knuckled anticipation.
Abbot
Follow me to the Chapter House. We shall see if your skin is as eager for the truth as your tongue claims.
Quest Complete
Talk your way out of the Abbot's suspicion and leave
+ Scene Quest Added
Follow the Abbot to the Chapter House