Thava drags the bound Garrick through the subterranean archives, hauling the mercenary leader toward the ventilation exhaust shaft. He shoves Garrick into a rusted maintenance cart, stacking heavy ore crates around him to ensure he cannot stand. With a strained heave, Thava pushes the cart into the roaring main vent, jumping onto the back as the pressure of the subterranean airflow catches the wheels.
Thava Tymont
The tunnels are far too cramped. I need open ground, somewhere he cannot hide or call for reinforcements. The old spire's upper drainage ledge will serve.
The cart rockets through the darkness, screeching against the iron tracks until it bursts through a heavy grate. They emerge onto a narrow, wind-swept stone bridge connecting the archive to the Abandoned Clocktower. Rain lashes against the masonry, turning the stone slick and treacherous. Thava kicks the brake, slamming the cart to a violent halt at the bridge’s midpoint.
Thava Tymont
Wake up, Garrick. You have a debt to settle, and the heights seem like a fitting place to collect.
+ Scene Quest Added
Extract information from Garrick
“Before he wakes, get rid of your armor and put his on in its place. Then equpt the sword and hold it to his throat”
SUCCESS (Good Athletics, rolled -3)
Thava Tymont
This dented scrap metal has done its duty. It is time you traded places with me, mercenary.
Thava Tymont
He is heavier than he looks, but the adrenaline makes the work easy. His gambeson is sturdy, if a bit bloodied from his own arrogance.
Thava moves with rhythmic precision, shucking off his heavy, gore-stained plates. He discards the ruined armor onto the slick bridge, where the wind immediately catches the metal, sending it skittering toward the abyss. He pulls the straps of Garrick's gear tight, feeling the familiar weight of better-forged steel settle against his scales. With the final buckle secured, he unsheathes Garrick’s own blade, the cold steel singing as it leaves the scabbard. Thava presses the flat of the razor-sharp edge firmly against the man’s throat just as the mercenary’s eyes flutter open.
Garrick
You... you idiot. You think this gets you answers? You think you survive the fallout?
Thava Tymont
I think you will stop talking, and start explaining why my unit is rotting in a ditch while you wear silk.
+ New Item Acquired
Garrick's blade
+ New Item Acquired
Garrick's gear
“Interrogate him”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +3)
Garrick
The ditch? You fools never understood the mission. I didn't sell you out to a rival. I sold you to the High Inquisitor.
Thava Tymont
The Inquisitor. That name tastes like bile. He wasn't just a merchant of blades, he was a servant of the crown.
Thava Tymont
Speak plainly. Why would the law want a squad of mercenaries erased?
Garrick
Because one of your own found something in those archives that wasn't meant for eyes like yours. A map, boy. A map to the sleeping veins of the city. You weren't a hit; you were a loose end of a larger excavation.
Thava Tymont
The archives. The scrolls I pulled before the ambush. They are still hidden in my tunic, heavy as a death sentence.
Garrick
You hold the key to the city's ruin against my throat, and you think you have the upper hand?
+ Story Quest Added
Investigate the city's sleeping veins
“Thank him for the information and then decapitate him”
SUCCESS (Fair Melee Combat, rolled +0)
Thava Tymont
Information is a heavy burden, Garrick. Thank you for making it easier to carry.
Thava Tymont
The rain slick on the steel is treacherous, but my footing holds. His mockery dies in his throat as I pivot, putting the weight of my entire life into a single, clean arc of steel.
The blade carves through the driving rain, ending the mercenary's confession mid-breath. His body slumps against the bridge railing, tipping backward into the swirling gray abyss of the city below.
Thava Tymont
The map in my tunic feels like a burning coal against my chest. I am alone now, truly alone, and the High Inquisitor’s reach just became a hunt. I need to move before the patrol hears the splash, but the weight of this secret makes every step feel like walking through deep mud.
Quest Complete
Extract information from Garrick
Skill Upgrade: Investigation Mediocre