Before the inquiry can be recessed, Théoden enters the record passage beneath Meduseld. His guards remain outside as he approaches the clerks’ table, demanding that the examination continue openly.
King Théoden
No counsel, no prepared testimony. Speak now, while the record is before us, and let each witness answer for what she or he knows.
Rohan Office Clerk 1
Your Majesty, if I name every colleague who obeyed that order, I expose people who feared dismissal, imprisonment, or worse. Their obedience was wrong, but not all were conspirators.
Rohan Office Clerk 2
I have brought the payment stations and their dates. Protect those willing to testify, my king, or the remaining records will vanish behind silence.
He unfolds a narrow list across the table. Names of stations, custodians, and sealed disbursements run toward the southern roads, while the older clerk keeps one hand over the ledger’s custody page.
Galadriel
Urgency must not corrupt the chain of evidence. Secure the list, copy it under witness, and distinguish every confession from every conclusion.
King Théoden
So ordered. The stations will be guarded, the willing witnesses protected, and these clerks will continue speaking until Rohan knows where the false order entered its law.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure a protected chain of cooperating witnesses
“"In conducting such an inquiry, it is important to observe three principles: First, secure all relevant documents, so they cannot be altered or made to disappear. Second, question each witness separately, so none can know what the others have said. Thirdly, begin at the bottom, with the lowest officials, and collect what they may know before questioning the highest."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +2)
Tuiwen
Secure every relevant document against alteration or disappearance. Question each witness separately, and begin with the lowest officials before those who hold higher authority.
Tuiwen’s protocol settles over the chamber like a drawn map. The counselors gather the payment ledgers, custody pages, memoranda, and station lists into separate sealed packets, each copied under witness before being locked away.
Galadriel
This order preserves both the evidence and the witnesses. No account will be shaped by hearing another, and no higher office will define what the lower stations remember.
King Théoden directs his counselors to clear the record passage. The lowest payment custodians will be summoned first, one at a time, while the clerks and their testimony remain separated behind guarded doors.
King Théoden
Let the least-ranked witnesses speak before the powerful. Guard their names, seal their words, and bring each account to me without mixing it with the next.
The first sealed packet is placed beyond the clerks’ reach, and the questioning order is written plainly: station keepers, custodians, office scribes, then supervisors and named authorities. The inquiry now has a lawful structure.
“Tuiwen has given her counsel and now awaits the first testimony.”
The first witness is brought into the cleared passage alone. She is a middle-aged woman with a sturdy build, weathered brown skin, iron-gray hair braided beneath a plain green hood, and a scar across one knuckle, and her plain green hood falls over a russet wool dress and brown boots.
The First Station Keeper
I kept the southern station at Dunmere. I received the payment schedule three months before the altered protection order appeared, and its seal was then lawful.
A counselor copies her words onto a fresh tablet while another checks the station mark against the sealed list. The witness waits with both hands visible upon the table.
The First Station Keeper
Later, a second schedule arrived by royal courier. The figures matched, but the protection clause had changed. I reported the difference to my superior and was ordered to use it unchanged.
Galadriel marks the distinction between the original schedule, the altered clause, and the witness’s report of an order. Théoden listens without interrupting as each point enters the record separately.
King Théoden
Let the original schedule and the later order be sealed apart. Summon the next station keeper, and preserve this woman’s name from the others until her account is secured.
“"One moment, what was the difference between the original protection clause and the altered one?"”
FAILURE (Legendary Reasoning, rolled -2)
Tuiwen
One moment, what was the difference between the original protection clause and the altered one?
The First Station Keeper
I cannot give you the exact wording. The original schedule was sealed at the station, and the later order was taken by my superior after I reported the change.
The station keeper’s account establishes that the documents are not available for direct comparison here. The sealed original and altered order remain in separate custody, beyond Tuiwen’s reach.
The First Station Keeper
What I remember is this: the lawful clause promised protection in return for a fixed payment. The altered clause made protection continue only while the payment and obedience continued.
King Théoden
That is a material difference, but memory shall not replace the documents. Record her account as testimony, then keep the clauses separate until their custodians produce them.
The counselor records the distinction without declaring its exact wording. The inquiry now shifts from comparison at this table to tracing custody and testimony for each missing clause.
✓ Quest Accepted
Obtain the original and altered protection clauses
“"We should then order the original to be brought from the station and the responsible official to produce the altered version."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +1)
Tuiwen
Then order the original clause brought from the station, and require the responsible official to produce the altered version.
Théoden’s counselors record the order at once. A sealed summons goes south to Dunmere, while a palace messenger is sent for the official who received and retained the altered document.
King Théoden
Let both clauses be brought under separate seal. Their custodians will surrender them for comparison before this inquiry, and no copy shall replace either original.
The order travels swiftly. Before the lamps are trimmed, a palace guard returns with a locked folio from Dunmere, while a broad-shouldered middle-aged man in a dark Rohan clerk’s robe with a square, weathered face, close-cropped brown hair, and a pale scar at his jaw is escorted into the passage.
Hareth
I am Hareth, custodian of the later schedule. I have brought the altered protection clause as ordered, sealed in the office chest.
The counselor breaks neither seal. The Dunmere station keeper’s original clause and Hareth’s altered version are placed side by side beneath witness, ready for exact comparison.
Galadriel
Now the record may speak for itself. Compare the wording, seals, dates, and custody marks, and preserve every difference without interpretation.
“She studies the documents.”
FAILURE (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
Tuiwen studies the two sealed clauses beneath the lamps. The Dunmere original and Hareth’s altered version lie side by side, but neither seal has yet been broken for her inspection.
She compares the outer dockets, dates, witness marks, and impressions through the vellum. The documents’ custody is clear, but the wording itself remains beyond reach while the seals stand intact.
Galadriel
The seals cannot be treated as permission to read. We must preserve the originals before opening either one.
The comparison falls short of the precise clause-by-clause reading sought. Yet Tuiwen catches a usable discrepancy: Hareth’s docket bears a later date, while its copied station mark imitates the earlier lawful impression.
Hareth
That later date is not mine. I received the schedule already marked, and the chest register records no fresh seal from Dunmere.
The counselors record the discrepancy as grounds for a witnessed opening, not as proof of forgery. The next inquiry can now focus on who applied the copied station mark and when.
Galadriel
We have not read the clauses, but we have found where their custody diverges. Let that divergence guide the lawful examination.
The sealed originals remain untouched on the table, while a counselor prepares the witness notation authorizing their careful opening before the king’s inquiry.
“"I may be able to use the revealing light to assist us. This vellum is translucent. With the help of the light, I should be able to look right through it."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Magic, rolled -3)
Tuiwen
I may be able to use the revealing light to assist us. This vellum is translucent. With the light, I should be able to read through it.
Tuiwen raises her hand above the two sealed clauses. White-gold light passes through the vellum without disturbing wax or thread, bringing hidden lettering and overwritten lines into clear view.
The Dunmere original promises protection for a fixed payment. Hareth’s version adds obedience as a continuing condition, while a concealed instruction directs the office to attribute the change to Lord Herun.
Hareth
That instruction was beneath the visible clause. I never saw it when the schedule entered my custody, but the hand is Saruman’s dictated style.
The revealing light catches the copied station mark and makes its false impression flare. The spell answers with a sharp recoil, leaving Tuiwen’s vision briefly whitened and the chamber’s lamps guttering.
Galadriel
You have read both clauses without breaking their seals, and the difference is now visible. Record the concealed instruction separately, with the light’s cost and the custody limits.
The counselors copy every visible line under witness. The seals remain intact, while the inquiry gains the exact alteration, the false attribution, and a concrete sign that Saruman’s hand entered the record.
“"So, if the altered version is still in force, we should take steps to annul it. Rohan does not owe obedience to Saruman and his offer of protection from disturbances he himself caused was fraudulent."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Tuiwen
If the altered version remains in force, we should annul it. Rohan owes no obedience to Saruman, and his offer of protection was fraudulent because he caused the disturbances himself.
A counselor retrieves the certified inquiry record and the memorandum of false attribution from their separate sealed packets, placing both before King Théoden without disturbing the newly copied clauses.
King Théoden
The petition is properly brought. Let the record show the agreement was obtained through false attribution and a concealed demand for obedience.
Galadriel aligns the certified finding, both clauses, and the memorandum in a clear chain. The concealed instruction and Saruman’s dictated hand stand beside the fraudulent protection terms.
Galadriel
The evidence supports annulment, not merely suspicion. Rohan may withdraw its obedience condition while preserving any lawful protection it independently chooses.
Rohan’s counselors
By the King’s order, the altered agreement is annulled. Its obedience condition has no force, and the fraudulent attribution is entered into the inquiry.
The counselors seal the annulment with the inquiry record and memorandum. Théoden orders copies sent to the affected offices, while the original evidence remains secured for the continuing investigation.
“"It remains to discover where the station mark came from. Can you tell us about that, Hareth?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled -3)
Tuiwen
It remains to discover where the station mark came from. Can you tell us about that, Hareth?
Hareth
The mark was copied from the lawful impression on Dunmere’s original schedule. Saruman’s instruction ordered the younger clerk to press wax against that impression and reproduce it on the altered clause.
Hareth removes a narrow custody slip from his robe and lays it beside the clauses. Its dated entry records the younger clerk receiving the original schedule under office seal, then returning with a fresh matrix.
Hareth
I signed that return entry. I did not know the matrix had been made from the lawful seal, but my signature placed the copied mark into official custody.
The admission fixes the mark’s origin: Dunmere’s genuine impression, copied by the younger clerk under Saruman’s instruction, then legitimized in appearance by Hareth’s custody entry.
Galadriel
The origin is established, but Hareth’s signature must remain attached to the finding. His candor clarifies the chain and also exposes his office to formal censure.
Hareth accepts the consequence without withdrawing his statement. The counselors copy the custody slip and record the forged mark’s path, while his standing now depends upon the inquiry’s judgment.
“"You have answered honestly Hareth, and admitted to an error, but it was not entirely your fault. I hope the king bears you no ill will. But there is a graver danger, for you have exposed Saruman's fraud and thwarted his scheme, and his reach is long."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +1)
Tuiwen
You have answered honestly, Hareth, and admitted an error that was not entirely your fault. I hope the king bears you no ill will. But Saruman's reach is long, and you have exposed his fraud and thwarted his scheme.
Hareth lowers his gaze to the custody slip, then raises it again. The fear in his weathered face does not vanish, but Tuiwen’s measured words have given his confession the dignity of testimony rather than disgrace.
Hareth
I will bear the censure, my lady, if it keeps the record true. I feared that admitting my signature would make me Saruman’s accomplice. I see now that silence would have served him better.
King Théoden studies Hareth across the table. The king’s expression remains stern, yet his hand closes over the custody slip only after the testimony has been secured and witnessed.
King Théoden
I bear you no ill will for an error confessed and corrected. Your signature will remain in the record, Hareth, but so will your honesty. Saruman’s reach must be answered by lawful vigilance, not by fear.
Hareth
Then I will speak of every mark I remember, before his hand can reach farther through our offices.
“"You should review your records for traces of other forgeries. Saruman's greed for power is as strong as his plots are complex."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +1)
Tuiwen
You should review your records for traces of other forgeries. Saruman's greed for power is as strong as his plots are complex.
The king’s counselors gather the payment ledgers, custody registers, sealed memoranda, and station lists into a single witnessed review, keeping every original apart from its copies.
King Théoden
Do it. Search every office touched by these agreements, and preserve each doubtful mark before any hand can conceal it.
Rohan’s counselors
We will compare seals, dates, custody marks, and copied phrases across the records. Any discrepancy will receive its own witness entry.
Galadriel
Let the review distinguish deliberate forgery from clerical error. A defensible record will withstand Saruman’s denial as well as his influence.
The first comparison reveals three payment entries bearing the same unusual phrase and an identical imitation of Dunmere’s station mark. The counselors seal them for separate examination.
By the king’s order, the review expands to every related office. Further suspected forgeries are now identified, preserved, and entered into the inquiry without disturbing the lawful originals.
Quest Complete
Secure a protected chain of cooperating witnesses
Skill Upgrade: Athletics Great→Superb
Quest Complete
Obtain the original and altered protection clauses
New Gift: Infallible Truth Seeker