Corven remains beneath the ward-stone’s blue notice, hands visible and the false folio surrendered. Sava compares his testimony with the copied survey mark while Raedwulf watches calmly.
Alyndra
The parchment carries a masking charm, but the forgery is layered over older ink. Someone wanted the order to appear guild-sanctioned.
Alyndra turns the folio toward the wardlight, tracing its dormant magic without breaking the remaining enchantment. Anewyn watches Raedwulf with playful curiosity, then notices a hair-thin mark beneath the seal.
Anewyn
Cousin, there is another symbol here. It looks like a little branch, but the middle has three sharp lines. Is that important?
Alyndra bends closer. The nearly invisible mark resolves into a Trisyran sigil, pressed beneath the forged seal. Raedwulf looks to Anewyn with a relaxed smile, then turns intensely toward Sava.
Sava
It is important. The guild may have commissioned the recovery order, but this hidden sigil suggests Trisyran influence, or an attempt to make us believe it did.
As Sava outlines the next relay-guard exercise using the breach as a controlled boundary, Anewyn hears an unfamiliar scrape behind an orchard tree. Corven answers before anyone moves.
Corven Hale
That sound is not one of mine. If someone followed the postern, they are inside the orchard now. The sigil may tell you who sent them.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine whether the hidden Trisyran sigil confirms Corven’s account
Director's notewhole tale
Alyndra uses a counter charm spell on the paper
“I ask Alyndra to unravel the masking charm and trace the hidden Trisyran sigil.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +4)
Raedwulf
Alyndra, unravel the masking charm and trace the hidden Trisyran sigil.
Alyndra accepts the folio. Raedwulf watches her with relaxed attention, then smiles toward Anewyn before turning back to Sava with sharpened intensity.
Alyndra
Stand clear of the ink. I will peel away the false layer and follow the sigil’s binding to its source.
Alyndra speaks a counter-charm. Silver light threads through the parchment, dissolving the masking spell and exposing the Trisyran mark, which points toward a sealed notation naming House Trisyran’s eastern intelligence office.
Alyndra
There. The sigil is genuine, and this order was prepared through Trisyran channels. I have also preserved its magical trace for the council’s records.
Sava
Then our next relay exercise follows the breach: one defender advances on the threat while another holds the protected route and witnesses the evidence.
Anewyn’s playful curiosity shifts toward the orchard as an unfamiliar scrape sounds behind a tree. Corven stiffens beneath the ward-stone and answers before anyone moves.
Corven Hale
That is not my companion. Whoever followed the postern is inside the orchard, and now they know the sigil has been uncovered.
Quest Complete
Determine whether the hidden Trisyran sigil confirms Corven’s account
“Is Trisyran intelligence directing whoever entered the orchard?”
YES (Likely, rolled 18)
The exposed Trisyran sigil pulses once. Its magical trace stretches from the folio toward the orchard tree, answering the scrape with a thin red gleam beneath the bark.
Alyndra
The binding is active, not archival. Whoever entered the orchard carries the order’s final directive, and the command came through Trisyran intelligence.
Corven’s wary face tightens. The ward-stone brightens, revealing a brief shadow between branches before it slips deeper among the trees.
Corven Hale
Then they were not merely following me. The eastern office sent a second hand to confirm the Lycanrian’s capture, or silence anyone who learned of the order.
Sava
The household remains behind the protected route. We advance by relay, preserve the evidence, and force their agent to answer under Hearthhollow’s law.
Anewyn stays close, her playful curiosity sharpened into watchfulness. Beyond the orchard, a twig snaps, followed by a muffled command in the formal Trisyran dialect.
Alyndra
There is no longer any doubt. Trisyran intelligence is directing this intrusion, and its agent knows the sigil has been exposed.
“Is the Trisyran intelligence agent still here or long gone?”
YES (VeryLikely, rolled 34)
The red gleam tightens along the bark, then pulls inward. Beneath the branches, a concealed figure shifts position instead of retreating, confirming the intelligence agent remains inside Hearthhollow.
A young adult elf woman steps partly into the wardlight, lean beneath a dark green travel cloak, her pale braid pinned with a black Trisyran clasp. One gloved hand holds a folded directive.
Seris Vael
By authority of House Trisyran, surrender the folio and withdraw from this unlawful seizure. The Lycanrian is subject to recovery.
The ward-stone flares across her cloak, exposing a second hidden sigil at her wrist. Corven recoils from the mark, while Alyndra keeps the counter-charm glowing over the evidence.
Sava
You stand within Hearthhollow under its compact. Your claim is unregistered, your order is concealed, and your presence is now witnessed.
Corven Hale
That is the eastern office’s final hand. She was sent after me, and she came prepared to take the prisoner before any council could hear the truth.
Alyndra
The binding confirms it. The directive is active, and its command reaches her through that clasp. Trisyran did not merely influence this pursuit. It is directing it now.
“Do Raedwulf and Sava know who this Trisyran intelligence agent is, from there year living under the rule of House Trisyran?”
YES (Unlikely, rolled 21)
Recognition passes between Raedwulf and Sava. The agent is Seris Vael, once a junior intelligence clerk in House Trisyran’s eastern office, known for carrying Solianna’s sealed commands.
Seris Vael
You remember me, then. I served beneath Matriarch Solianna’s authority, and I learned precisely how House Trisyran removes inconvenient witnesses.
Alyndra’s counter-charm coils through the directive, peeling back another layer of ink. Beneath the active command appears Seris’s authorization, signed by the eastern office.
Corven Hale
Seris Vael. She audited recovery claims after the manor fire. If she is here, Trisyran wants the Lycanrian taken before this evidence reaches any treaty court.
Anewyn’s playful gaze remains fixed on Raedwulf, but an unfamiliar scrape sounds behind an orchard tree. Seris shifts her stance toward the noise, clasp glinting red.
Seris Vael
You should listen to the child. My escort has already reached the orchard, and they will not wait for your council’s permission.
Sava
Then the relay guard begins now. Raedwulf and I hold the agent and evidence, while Hearthhollow’s watch secures the protected route and separates her escort from this household.
Director's notewhole tale
Raedwulf look at Seris Vael, with a expression of contempt of her intrusion
“"I remember your scent know." "You were one of our House Spymaster's promising agents, a few years back." "Now they send on slave retrievals now?" "You might want for more promising prospects elsewhere, cub. Less you fall like the rest of my former House."”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +0)
Director's notewhole tale
Raedwulf look at Seris Vael, with a expression of contempt of her intrusion
Anewyn watches Raedwulf with bright, playful curiosity. He answers her look with a brief smile, then turns toward Sava, his expression sharpening as Seris’s intrusion tightens the air.
Sava
The next relay begins under pressure. Raedwulf and I contain Seris, while the watch closes the protected route and keeps her escort from reaching the healer’s house.
As Sava traces positions in the frost, Anewyn hears an unfamiliar scrape behind an orchard tree. The sound comes again, followed by a muffled shift among the branches.
Seris Vael
You waste time arranging defenses around a fugitive who belongs to House Trisyran. Lower your weapons, and this ends before my escort is forced to act.
Alyndra raises the directive beneath the wardlight and speaks a counter-charm. Silver threads unwind the active ink, revealing a second command concealed beneath Seris’s authorization.
Alyndra
The order does not authorize recovery. Its final clause commands seizure of the witness and destruction of the record. Seris, you came to erase this evidence.
Raedwulf looks directly at Seris, his smile gone and his face marked by open contempt for her intrusion. Behind the orchard tree, another branch snaps.
✓ Quest Accepted
Force Seris Vael to answer under Hearthhollow’s law
Director's notewhole tale
Raedwulf speaks to Seris Vael
“"I remember your scent know." "You were one of our House Spymaster's promising agents, a few years back." "Now they send you on slave retrievals now?" "You might want for more promising prospects elsewhere, cub. Less you fall like the rest of my former House."””
FAILURE (Good Willpower, rolled -1)
Raedwulf
I remember your scent now. You were one of our house spymaster’s promising agents. They send you on slave retrievals now? Leave, cub, before you fall like the rest of my former house.
Raedwulf gives Anewyn a brief smile, then turns back to Sava with sharper intensity. Seris’s face hardens, and the taunt fails to loosen her stance.
Seris Vael
I chose survival over your family’s ruin. Do not mistake that choice for shame, beastkin. I will not abandon the only authority that kept me alive.
Sava
Then the next phase is clear. We train the relay guard under pressure, with one defender drawing pursuit and the other preserving the protected route and evidence.
As Sava marks the pattern in frost, Anewyn hears an unfamiliar scrape behind an orchard tree. A branch shifts, and the watcher answers from the darkness.
Seris Vael
You want an opening? The escort is using the eastern postern. Seal that passage and you deny them the healer’s house, but you will lose your chance to take me quietly.
Alyndra’s counter-charm flares across the directive, exposing a route-mark beneath Seris’s authorization. Raedwulf regards Seris with open contempt, while the revealed postern offers Hearthhollow a usable defense.
“Is Seris’s escort already inside Hearthhollow? Without any authorization?”
YES, BUT (Likely, rolled 57)
The route-mark flares beneath Alyndra’s counter-charm, then splits into three faint lines. One ends at the eastern postern, while two vanish among Hearthhollow’s inner lanes.
Seris Vael
They are already inside. I brought them through the postern before your wards recognized the breach, and they have reached the orchard.
A sharp crack answers from beyond the trees. The ward-stones flare toward the healer’s house, but the sudden surge drains another charge from the eastern ring and leaves its nearest stone dark.
Raedwulf
You brought an unauthorized escort into Hearthhollow. Call them off, Seris, or their intrusion will be recorded as House Trisyran’s direct act.
Seris Vael
They will not call off. The directive requires the witness and the record, and your ward has already spent strength revealing their path.
Sava
Then the relay guard is no longer practice. Raedwulf, hold Seris and the evidence. I will intercept the escort before they reach the healer’s house.
Anewyn’s frightened voice rises behind the orchard wall as unfamiliar footsteps hurry through frost. Alyndra keeps the exposed directive alight, while Seris watches the darkened ward-stone with grim certainty.
Director's note
I put my hand on Series should. My expression is serious, with barely control anger.
“"You enter Hearthhollow's inner territory, under a forged warrant and seal. Bring in an unauthorized escort. And intend apprehend a injured beastkin. That is in no condition to be moved?" "Either one of these is a gross violation. But all three!" "Now you crossed a serious." "I demand you bring to the town square for a public hearing." "Cooperate and this might goes smoothly. "Refuse? I have half a right to drag you to square myself."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +1)
Raedwulf
You entered Hearthhollow under a forged warrant, brought an unauthorized escort, and sought to seize an injured beastkin. I demand a public hearing in the town square. Cooperate, and this may proceed peacefully. Refuse, and I have half a right to drag you there myself.
Raedwulf gives Anewyn a brief reassuring smile, then turns back to Sava with intense focus. He steps toward Seris and places one hand firmly on her shoulder, barely controlled anger hardening his expression.
Raedwulf
Seris Vael, you will come before Hearthhollow’s witnesses and answer for every violation. The injured will not be moved, and your escort will surrender its claim.
Sava
Agreed. The square will be sealed, the healer’s testimony preserved, and the escort disarmed under the compact. Raedwulf, this is the relay guard’s next phase: custody without abandoning the protected route.
Behind an orchard tree, Anewyn hears an unfamiliar scrape. A branch snaps, and the hidden watcher answers from the darkness as Alyndra raises the directive and casts her counter-charm.
Alyndra
The paper’s final binding is exposed. It commands seizure of the witness and destruction of the record. The square hearing will preserve both.
Seris Vael
Very well. I will submit to your hearing, but my escort must be summoned as witnesses. Let the square judge whether Trisyran’s authority truly ends at your ward.
Preserve the exposed Trisyran directive as lawful evidence
Quest Complete
Force Seris Vael to answer under Hearthhollow’s law
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Good→Great