Three weeks later, rain darkens the roofs of Edoras. Tuiwen waits within a guarded archive chamber as Maereth arrives bearing a locked chest and a sheaf of folio titles.
Maereth
The folios are restored, accounted for, and sealed. I brought the originals separately from their copies, as the archive required.
Maereth sets the chest beneath the king's witness tablets. Its iron bands bear Lothlórien's custody mark, while the accompanying list names routes, ledgers, and records touched by Saruman's old designs.
Maereth
An unknown petitioner has requested copies repeatedly. Each request invokes lawful authority, yet no seal, office, or custody chain verifies the claim.
Maereth
I would have refused the request outright, but the petitioner names routes connected to Saruman's work. Those records may matter beyond Rohan, and I want you present when we examine it.
A clerk brings the latest petition beneath guard, its parchment dry despite the rain. The wording claims authority without naming a verifiable custodian, and the locked chest remains unopened.
Tuiwen
The request reaches for records whose custody is already under scrutiny.
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect the restored folios from unauthorized disclosure
“She examines the petition.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
Tuiwen lifts the petition beneath the archive lamp and studies its parchment, ink, seal impression, phrasing, and list of requested records. The Caras Amarth folio rests beside it for comparison.
Tuiwen
The authority is imposed, not certified; the wording imitates Saruman's administrative style.
The petition carries no lawful seal, office mark, or verifiable custody trail. Its ink is genuine, but several phrases reproduce the altered language found in the Rohan records.
Tuiwen finds the decisive flaw: the petitioner cites routes and folio titles copied from restricted lists, yet claims authority only through those same records. The request is forged as authorization.
Maereth
Then it is not merely an irregular request. Someone has assembled knowledge from the archive and dressed it in the language of lawful custody.
Tuiwen
Preserve the petition as evidence. Deny the copies, record every title it names, and trace how the petitioner learned of the restricted lists.
Maereth seals the petition separately from the chest and orders its wording copied without correction. The archive now holds a clear finding: the request is unauthorized, its cited authority fabricated, and its knowledge drawn from compromised records.
Quest Complete
Protect the restored folios from unauthorized disclosure