The counselors arrange three sealed payment entries beneath the king’s witness tablets, each original apart from its copy. Cold lamplight catches their wax and thread.
Hareth
These entries passed through Dunmere, the southern payment office, and the royal intermediary’s desk. Their custody marks may show where the copies diverged.
The counselors place tablets around the records without breaking a seal. Hareth indicates each office in turn, while the clerks stand apart, ready to answer separately.
Galadriel
Every comparison must distinguish deliberate forgery from clerical mistake. We will follow seals, dates, custody, and testimony, without allowing suspicion to become proof.
King Théoden
Tuiwen, help us establish the order of examination before records are altered and witnesses are pressured. Begin where the chain is most vulnerable.
A guarded silence settles over the record chamber. The three entries remain sealed, their copies separated, while the counselors await Tuiwen’s direction and Hareth keeps one finger above the first custody mark.
the Rohan counselors
The tablets are ready. We will record the order exactly as given and preserve each witness account apart from the next.
Beyond the chamber, guarded messengers wait to carry summonses through Meduseld. Inside, every seal remains unbroken, and the inquiry pauses for Tuiwen’s answer.
“She studies the documents.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled -3)
Tuiwen studies the three sealed entries without breaking wax or thread, comparing copied phrases, dates, custody marks, and the impressions visible through the vellum.
Tuiwen
The same unusual phrase appears in all three entries, but each bears a different point of custody.
The pattern resolves beneath the lamplight: each payment began lawfully, then acquired an identical obedience clause and a copied station mark after leaving Dunmere. The divergence occurred at different offices, yet followed one template.
Galadriel
You have found a deliberate pattern, not three clerical mistakes. The repeated clause and copied mark establish coordination, though not yet the hand that ordered it.
Tuiwen’s concentration costs the chamber most of the afternoon. She can identify the shared forgery pattern, but the sealed records conceal which office first received the altered wording.
the Rohan counselors
We will examine the custody marks in that order, beginning with Dunmere and then the southern payment office. The copies will remain separate from their originals.
King Théoden
Record Tuiwen’s finding as a coordinated pattern with an unresolved point of origin. Summon the first custodians before another mark can be changed.
The counselors write the finding beside the three entries. Their seals remain unbroken, but the inquiry now has a precise pattern to test and a definite uncertainty to resolve.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify the point of origin of the coordinated payment forgeries
“"I believe that the revealing light may add some further details."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Magic, rolled -1)
Tuiwen
I believe the revealing light may add some further details.
Tuiwen lets white-gold light pass over the sealed entries without disturbing wax or thread. Hidden ink rises beneath the vellum, answering the copied phrases in three distinct stages.
The first entry bears a faint instruction beneath its obedience clause: copy the wording after custody changes. The second reveals a matching notation beside the southern office mark, while the third carries a concealed reference to a royal intermediary.
Galadriel
The light confirms the template was transmitted between offices. It also shows that the royal intermediary was named only as a cover, not as the source of the instruction.
A final line appears beneath the copied station mark: preserve the lawful seal, alter the condition, and return the record as amended. The wording is deliberate, repeated, and designed to survive ordinary inspection.
King Théoden
Record every revealed line separately. The entries prove coordinated alteration and a false attribution, but we will not claim more than the light has shown.
The counselors copy the hidden instructions under witness, watched by Lord Herun, a middle-aged human man with a broad build, weathered face, close-cropped brown hair, and a dark green wool court mantle while the original seals remain intact. The inquiry now possesses the transmission method, the false attribution, and the precise alteration imposed at each custody point.
the Rohan counselors
We will append the light-revealed details to the existing finding and summon the next custodians in order.
“"By comparing the wording, we can see how the plot unfolded, becoming more elaborate as further conditions were added. The simplest version is therefore the first, and that is where we should begin our inquiry."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +3)
Tuiwen
By comparing the wording, we can see how the plot unfolded, becoming more elaborate as further conditions were added. The simplest version is the first, and that is where we should begin our inquiry.
The Rohan counselors retrieve the certified inquiry record from guarded custody and place it beside the Caras Amarth folio. They keep every original and copy separate beneath the king’s witness tablets.
Tuiwen aligns the three altered entries by wording rather than date. Beneath the repeated obedience clause, the earliest version contains only one added condition, without the later instructions about copied seals or false attribution.
Galadriel
The first alteration is the root: protection made conditional upon obedience. The later clauses are additions to that foundation, not independent errors.
The comparison fixes the forgery’s origin in the earliest altered payment instruction, before it passed through the southern office. A faint hidden notation also identifies the receiving office that first copied the new condition.
the Rohan counselors
We will summon that receiving office first and preserve this finding as the beginning of the plot. The later entries will be examined as transmissions of the same instruction.
Quest Complete
Identify the point of origin of the coordinated payment forgeries
Skill Upgrade: Crafting Poor→Mediocre