The servants’ passage opens into a narrow lane behind Lavendara’s perfume quarter. Flower carts crowd the cobbles as dawn workers wheel roses, lavender, and crushed petals toward waiting workshops.
The wary servant follows only to the lane’s mouth, keeping his dark coat beneath the shadows. He carries no weapon openly, but his silver keys glint as he offers a folded letter.
the wary servant
The guildhouse is above the shuttered apothecary. Look for the door marked with the cipher I recorded. Show them this letter, and say nothing of Rosethorne unless asked.
He presses the coded guild letter into Desdemona’s hand, then glances toward the rising light. Behind her, the blood-sealed packet remains safely in her possession beneath the borrowed cloak.
the wary servant
I return before the next bell. If the manor wakes and finds you gone, suspicion may follow the servants’ way. Let it follow me instead.
The wary servant retreats through the passage, leaving Desdemona alone amid perfume, wheel-ruts, and the clatter of waking trade. Above the apothecary, a narrow door bears his freshly recorded cipher.
The lane offers several directions, but the discreet guildhouse waits directly ahead, concealed among shuttered windows and flower-scented morning mist.
+ New Item Acquired
Coded guild letter
“"She tries knocking on the front door"”
FAILURE (Mediocre Agility, rolled -2)
“"She tries knocking on the front door"”
Desdemona crosses the perfume-scented lane and climbs the short stone steps above the shuttered apothecary. The guildhouse door bears the wary servant’s fresh cipher.
She raises her hand and knocks on the front door. The sound passes through the quiet entryway, briefly competing with carts rumbling over the cobbles below.
After a measured pause, the lock turns. A middle-aged woman opens the door, a compact figure in a plum-colored wool dress and brass-buttoned vest, with silver-threaded brown hair braided close to her head.
the guild doorkeeper
You have the cipher. Come inside, and keep the letter ready.
The guild doorkeeper, her angular face marked by a small crescent-shaped birthmark beside one eye, steps aside, revealing a narrow hall lined with shelves of ledgers, sealed packets, and dried flower bundles hung beneath the rafters.
the guild doorkeeper
The guild receives travelers discreetly. If your business concerns a contract or a warning, the clerk will hear it in private.