The party reaches the West Record Vault with the inspection seal, charcoal rubbings, folio, ledger references, and preserved testimony intact. Maereth waits at its sealed stone door.
Maereth
The vault has remained closed since the inquiry began. I will open it under witness, and nothing within will be altered without record.
Maereth turns three iron keys in the ancient lock. Inside, an archive bearer, a young adult woman with dark braided hair and a blue-gray robe, clears a table for the evidence.
The ledger is found beneath a stack of road warrants. Its eastern diversion entry matches the younger recovered warden’s account, but a later passage has been overwritten in darker ink, leaving the earlier wording faintly visible.
Galadriel
Copy every layer. Preserve the alteration, the gap, and the hand that obscured it. We seek truth, not a tidier record.
Archive Bearer 1
I will prepare a witnessed copy with the overwritten passage marked beside the surviving words. The original will remain sealed and untouched.
The archive bearer begins copying while Maereth keeps the ledger open beneath the vault lamps. The older recovered warden and the younger recovered warden stand ready to testify, and the evidence remains arranged for a formal inquiry in Rohan.
“"So, the route to Edoras? I have never been there."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Lore, rolled -1)
Tuiwen
So, the route to Edoras? I have never been there.
Tuiwen studies the vault map and the western roads. The geography settles into a clear course: preserve the Old Forest Road, turn through Lothlórien, cross the Anduin, and follow the open vale west toward Rohan.
Tuiwen
The safest lawful passage is through Lothlórien, then south across the Anduin and west toward Edoras.
Galadriel
From here, take the western road to Lothlórien and cross the Anduin under its protection. Then follow the road south through the Wold and turn west toward Edoras.
Galadriel traces the route across the map, distinguishing the guarded crossing from the exposed stretches beyond it. The path avoids Isengard and leaves the sealed mountain roads undisturbed.
Maereth
The record can accompany you. Rohan’s wardens will understand the evidence if you arrive by the lawful road and keep every alteration marked.
The route to Edoras is now fixed on the map: west to Lothlórien, south across the Anduin, then westward through Rohan to the hill-city. The inquiry can proceed without abandoning the evidence.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the Rohan ledger
“"I had best pack some provisions. We have no lembas bread, but the fine white bread we do bake is quite palatable. And of course, we have butter, fresh fruit and vegetables. And dried venison, if you want any. I'll also throw in a bottle of Dorwinion wine, not for us, but as a gift for King Theoden. I expect it's quite a rare luxury where he is."”
FAILURE (Poor Crafting, rolled -1)
Tuiwen gathers fine white bread, butter, fresh fruit, vegetables, and dried venison from the vault stores, laying them beside the route map for Edoras.
Tuiwen
I will pack these provisions for the road. We have no lembas, but this bread is quite palatable. I will add Dorwinion wine as a gift for King Théoden.
Her first wrapping collapses when the butter softens against the bread, bruising the fruit and staining the charcoal route copy. The venison spills across the table.
The archive bearer quickly lifts the damp map away, but the provisions now need proper containers and separation before they can travel safely.
Maereth
The stores are plentiful, but the vault has no fitted travel hampers. As for Dorwinion wine, none is kept here. It may be in the king’s private cellar, under seal.
Maereth points to the scattered food and the empty place on the inventory slate. The attempted packing has become a request for proper vessels and royal authorization, not a task Tuiwen can simply repeat.
Archive Bearer 1
I can salvage the provisions into separate cloth parcels, but the wine will require the cellar keeper or the king’s approval.
Quest Complete
Secure the Rohan ledger