Dust hangs over the granary yard as the last of the Crown men finish their work. Battista stands with the laborers, the racket fading to boots, breath, and the creak of old timber.
Stephen
What comes next for us, then? We spoke against him. We stood our ground. I need to know if the Crown means to remember that.
The reeve keeps his distance near the braced wall, listening without interrupting. One by one, the workers glance toward Battista, waiting for the shape of tomorrow.
Battista
The yard is still, for now.
Kaelen
They will remember if we make them. There are names, ledgers, and witnesses now. That is more than these men had at dawn.
Vey
And if memory fails, paper does not. Someone must carry the story to Malkich, cleanly and in full.
Stephen exhales, shoulders easing a little. Around him, the laborers seem to find the first hint of room to breathe, as if the yard itself has finally let them stand upright.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reassure the laborers that the Crown will remember their stand
✓ Quest Accepted
Carry the story to Malkich
“"Reeve. I need your oath here to these men that they will not be held responsible for Tranis's crimes. They followed the law. They obeyed the orders of their Lord. And when The Crown found their Lord unworthy, their aided the Crown in his capture. What say you?"”
SUCCESS (Superb Persuasion, rolled -1)
The reeve turns from the braced wall and takes Battista’s appeal in silence. Dust clings to his hem as he looks from the laborers to the Crown’s men, then back again, weighing the moment like a sealed writ.
Reeve
By the Crown’s authority, the laborers of this yard are not held for Lord Tranis’s crimes. They obeyed their master under lawful command, and they aided the Crown when his treason was laid bare.
Reeve
Let it be entered that their service here does not mark them as conspirators. If any false charge is raised against them, I will answer it myself.
A few of the workers trade stunned glances. Stephen’s shoulders drop at once, and the tension in the line around him loosens into something like relief.
Stephen
Then we are heard. All of us.
Vey
Good. Then the road to Malkich has one less burden to carry.
Kaelen gives Battista a brief nod, the kind that means the hard part has become the next part, not the last.
“"Then it is settled. These men are innocent and free. Reeve, with Tranis and his steward under arrest, To whom should these men answer to?”
SUCCESS (Superb Persuasion, rolled -2)
Battista
Then it is settled. These men are innocent and free. Reeve, now that Tranis and his steward are under arrest, whom do these men answer to?
Reeve
For the present, they answer to the Crown’s peace, and to the bailiff I name for this yard until Malkich sends fuller instruction.
Kaelen
A clean answer, at last. It gives the laborers a place to stand.
Stephen
Then tell us plain, and we will hear plain. Who speaks for us when the wagons roll again?
Vey
The Crown will remember who opened the gate from the inside. That name matters more than a lord’s seal now.
The reeve sets two fingers to his dusty sleeve, and one of the Crown men steps forward to mark the yard’s new order. The workers straighten as if the ground beneath them has finally been named.
Battista’s question lands cleanly, but the effort costs him a dry swallow and a brief sting in his split lip. The yard remains quiet, waiting for the next word to decide where the men of Tranis will stand tomorrow.
Quest Complete
Reassure the laborers that the Crown will remember their stand