The records chamber doors open under the archive route’s escort. Círdan enters carrying a sealed statement and a rolled chart of western havens, while the archive bearer and the Court Herald remain beside him.
Círdan
Lady Nerissa, ships and witness routes may already be compromised. This statement records maritime custody failures, and the chart shows which western havens require protection before another packet sails.
Lady Nerissa rises behind her orderly shelves, one hand resting near the harbor register. The harbor mark above her remains untouched, but her gaze hardens at the chart.
Lady Nerissa
You bring a wider danger into my chamber and ask me to surrender control of an inquiry still rooted in local evidence. I will not let a chart replace a custody trail.
Círdan sets the sealed statement on the witness table but keeps one hand upon it. The archive bearer places the chart beside the lawful packet, carefully apart from Nerissa’s harbor records.
Círdan
I ask not for your authority, but for protection beyond these walls. Preserve your local evidence, yes, but do not keep the western routes blind while the enemy learns our habits.
The sealed statement lies between them, demanding neither surrender nor immediate opening. Tuiwen stands within the witness circle as Nerissa’s harbor duty and Círdan’s wider warning converge before her.
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect the western havens from compromised maritime routes
“I will compare Círdan’s chart with the sealed statement under witness.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled -2)
Under witness, Tuiwen borrows Círdan’s western chart from the table and places it beside the sealed statement, while the archive bearer records the comparison’s beginning.
Architectural Intuition turns the chart’s havens, crossings, and witness routes into one connected design. The statement’s maritime custody failures align with three vulnerable transfers, but not with every marked haven.
Tuiwen
The chart confirms the route’s exposed joints, but it does not prove which haven accepted the compromised packet.
Unerring Truth Seeker separates documented failures from inference: the statement proves broken custody, while the chart identifies places requiring protection, not guilty offices.
Tuiwen’s Oath-Bound nature bars her from turning the aligned routes into an accusation. The comparison therefore takes longer as each claim is checked against the sealed wording and lawful limits.
Círdan
Then the western havens can be warned without naming them accomplices. The statement and chart agree on danger, not on allegiance.
The comparison is complete. Tuiwen establishes three routes needing immediate protection and one unresolved receiving passage, while the sealed statement remains untouched; the cost is time, and that passage still requires separate inquiry.
“I propose protected warnings for all three havens”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled -1)
Tuiwen lays three marked havens beneath the western chart, beside the Caras Amarth folio and Bereth’s intake record. Their separate custody entries support protection, not accusation.
Tuiwen
I propose protected warnings for all three havens: preserve their lawful records, alert their custodians, and investigate each vulnerable transfer without naming an accomplice without proof.
Oath-Bound truth restrains every unsupported charge, while Sovereign Heritage gives the proposal standing before the harbor authority. Unerring Truth Seeker keeps proven custody distinct from inference.
Protector of the Kin turns the warnings toward safeguarding people and records. The folio confirms Saruman’s command convention; Bereth’s intake record anchors the lawful route and its broken passage.
Lady Nerissa
Accepted. I will send protected warnings to all three havens, preserve their originals separately, and appoint witnesses to examine each receiving passage.
Círdan
That is the proper balance: protection without accusation, and warning without surrendering the custody trail.
The three warnings are entered as protected actions under Lady Nerissa’s authority. The havens will be alerted, their lawful records secured, and the unresolved passages examined without disturbing the sealed evidence.
Quest Complete
Protect the western havens from compromised maritime routes
Skill Upgrade: Ranged Weapons Superb→Legendary