Serevan stands within the witness lamps as the archive bearer prepares a fresh deposition leaf. The Court Herald keeps the sealed intake record beyond every copying hand.
Serevan
The quay lay beneath a salt wind. The leather tube changed hands beside the mooring posts, where the harbor lamps could not reach the water.
As Serevan describes the transfer, the dark thread beneath his wrist tightens toward the sealed intake record. One witness lamp gutters, then another, though no draft crosses the chamber.
Archive Bearer 1
I will record the quay, the mooring posts, and the tube’s three pale cuts. I will not infer a bearer from those details.
The remaining lamps dim one by one. Their light draws inward along the black thread, toward a distant coastal source rather than toward the inquiry’s witnesses.
Serevan
It is strengthening. The source is not here, but it knows the record has been opened to examination.
The sealed intake record remains untouched, yet the thread strains toward it until the last lamp burns thin and blue. The chamber waits for the next testimony or command.
“I shield the intake record from the command-thread”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Tuiwen raises both hands over Bereth’s sealed intake record. A clear veil of will settles around the wax and parchment, turning the black command-thread aside without touching either.
Tuiwen
The thread no longer reaches the record.
The blue witness lamps steady as the command-thread strains against the unseen boundary, then folds back toward Serevan’s wrist. The sealed record remains wholly within Tuiwen’s protection.
Serevan
It cannot announce the record now. The source is cut off from it, though the thread still knows I am here.
The Court Herald witnesses the separation while the archive bearer records the exact condition: the original is sealed, shielded, and untouched by Saruman’s command-thread.
Maereth
Enter the shielding as complete. Preserve the record under Tuiwen’s custody, and keep the thread’s retreat as separate evidence.
The protected intake record rests secure beneath the lamps. Its lawful seal and custody remain intact, while the command-thread hangs powerless beyond the boundary.
“"I would like to know more about that black wrist band you wear.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled -1)
Tuiwen
Tell me more about the black band on your wrist: what is it, where did it come from, and what does it do?
The blue witness lamps hold steady as Tuiwen’s question crosses the protected circle. Serevan lowers his marked wrist, keeping it visible without bringing it near the sealed record.
Serevan
It was laid on me at the southern quay when I carried Saruman’s first sealed instruction. It is no harbor badge and no lawful bond.
The black ring opens into fine branches beneath his skin, revealing a thread of imposed will that follows records through their custody passages and answers when Saruman’s mark is examined.
Serevan
It announces movement to its source. It can sense a questioned record entering the route, but it cannot open a seal, alter lawful wording, or compel the person who receives it.
Serevan
The band was meant to make me a living notice-post. I have carried it since the quay, and your shielding has cut its reach to the record, though not yet erased it from me.
Tuiwen now has the distinction clearly: the band is Saruman’s command-thread, imposed during the coastal transfer, a reporting channel rather than authority over the record or its lawful custodians.
“I ask Serevan for identifying details”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Tuiwen
Give me the coastal hand’s identifying details: face, voice, clothing, marks, and precisely how the leather tube changed hands.
Serevan
The bearer was a lean adult woman beneath a hooded gray-green mantle. Her face was narrow, her hair black and braided with a single silver cord, and her left glove had been cut across the thumb.
Serevan keeps his marked wrist within the blue light. The black thread remains folded against his skin while he reconstructs the quay from memory, careful not to touch the sealed record.
Serevan
Her voice was low, with a clipped western cadence. She carried the leather tube under her mantle and bore no harbor badge, but a bronze ring showed a three-pronged mark worn nearly smooth.
He describes the transfer separately: an unmarked boatman passed the tube to her beside the third mooring post, then left by the water stairs without entering the harbor office.
Maereth
Record the description, the bronze mark, and the boatman’s departure as distinct observations. None identifies Lady Nerissa or proves lawful receipt.
“"The three pronged mark is a symbol sometimes used by the servants of Sauron. The black band is the product of shadow magic, which is in my power to dispel. Hold out your hand."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Magic, rolled +1)
Tuiwen
The three-pronged mark is used by Sauron's servants. The band is shadow magic, and I can dispel it. Hold out your hand.
Serevan extends his marked hand into the blue witness light. The black band opens beneath his skin, its branches recoiling from Tuiwen’s presence.
Serevan
Do it. I would rather bear a scar than remain a notice-post for Saruman.
Tuiwen lays her hand above his wrist. Clear radiance enters the shadow-thread, separating its imposed branches from flesh, memory, and the lawful record beyond the lamps.
The black band folds inward and lifts away as a thin strand of ash-dark light. It vanishes between Tuiwen’s fingers, leaving Serevan’s wrist unmarked.
Serevan
It is gone. I feel no summons, no listening, no pull toward the sea-road.
Maereth
Record the dispelling and its result separately. The shadow-thread is destroyed; Serevan’s testimony and the sealed intake remain untouched.
“"This is grave. The enemy's magic has entered this very chamber. There is no knowing where he will strike next."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Tuiwen
This is grave. The enemy's magic has entered this very chamber. There is no knowing where he will strike next.
Tuiwen keeps her breath measured and her attention broad. The blue lamps, sealed intake, witness leaves, and every threshold settle into one clear field of observation.
Maereth
Then we do not guess at the next blow. We secure what is known, preserve the chamber’s testimony, and watch for the first change.
The lamps hold steady. No shadow crosses the sealed record, no mark appears on the fresh leaves, and the chamber’s boundaries remain unchanged beneath Tuiwen’s scrutiny.
Serevan
The band is gone, and nothing answers from the sea-road. If the enemy reaches here again, I will speak the instant I sense him.
Tuiwen’s composure becomes the chamber’s still point. The threat remains real, but its signs are separated from fact, and no hidden movement escapes her deliberate assessment.
“I secure every witness and record under lamps”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +2)
Tuiwen gathers the witness lamps into a single guarded circle, drawing their blue light around Serevan, Maereth, the archive bearer, and the Court Herald. The sealed intake record remains within a second, nested ring.
A clear boundary settles over the chamber. Every fresh leaf, copied mark, and sealed record is placed beneath witness light, while the original intake record stays separate from all comparison materials.
Maereth
Enter the securing as complete. Witnesses, originals, and copies are each protected beneath lamps, with their distinctions preserved.
Serevan
Nothing reaches me from the sea-road. I can see every hand in the chamber, and no record lies outside the light.
The Court Herald checks each threshold and confirms the lamps’ circle without crossing it. The archive bearer sets the custody leaves beside the sealed record, never beneath it.
Círdan
Then the inquiry stands secured. The lawful charter, the uncertain route, and every witness remain distinct and visible.
The lamps burn steadily around the entire chamber. No witness is exposed, no sealed record is opened, and every item now rests within a witnessed boundary under Tuiwen’s protection.
“I compare the mark with sealed records”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled -1)
Tuiwen compares the hooked mark through the witness light, setting the sealed intake record beside the Caras Amarth folio and the preserved petition copy without opening any seal.
The angles, pressure, and private-review convention align across all three records. The mark is Saruman’s command sign, not a lawful seal, and it entered the route at Bereth’s southern protection office.
Maereth
Record the origin and the receiving authority separately. Saruman authored the mark; Bereth’s office received and passed the material onward.
The archive bearer copies the comparison on two fresh leaves, preserving the layered mark apart from the sealed original. The lawful charter remains untouched and distinct from the corrupted channel.
Serevan
Then the coastal route was being watched before it reached the harbor. The mark named the channel, not the lawful recipient.
Círdan
That distinction protects the charter. The route bears Saruman’s influence, but no finding here proves Lady Nerissa accepted or authorized it.
The comparison is complete: Saruman’s private-review mark directed the copied route through Bereth’s office toward Lady Nerissa’s harbor, while the sealed lawful records remain unaltered.
Deliver the sealed message