The wagon rattles into the granary heart as mist thins around stacked crates and shadowed beams. Lord Tranis stands ahead, half-turned, one hand on a tally board while his men linger close to the mill lane. The gate slams shut behind Battista, sealing the yard in a hollow echo.
Battista sees the opening at once, Tranis is here, within reach, before the lane can swallow him. Kaelen shifts beside the wagon, readying the crowd’s attention while Vey watches the exits, cold and still.
Lord Tranis
You are late. Unload the cart and keep your heads down.
Tranis’s voice carries the easy certainty of a man who thinks the room belongs to him. He turns farther, and his eyes catch on Battista’s face. The certainty cracks.
Lord Tranis
You.
Around him, the men hesitate. The lane is still open behind Tranis, but only for a heartbeat more. Battista now has him cornered in the granary itself, with the proof in hand and nowhere left for the lord to hide.
“"Tranis, yes I have returned. I did oversee the estate's shipments before your lies. This, under cloak of night, is not how legal shipments are conducted. We are here to arrest you in the King's name for treason and theft from the crown and the people. How do you resopnd?"”
SUCCESS (Superb Persuasion, rolled -3)
Battista
Tranis, I return as the man who oversaw your shipments before your lies. These night moves are no lawful trade. In the king’s name, you are under arrest for treason and theft.
Lord Tranis
Arrest? From a thief in borrowed boots? You stand in my yard, Battista, and call it judgment.
The words land cleanly. Tranis’s men look from his face to Battista’s hand, and the lie in the yard loses its shape. Battista keeps the proof raised, and the line between power and panic shifts toward him.
Kaelen
You heard him. Hold your ground. No one moves for the lane.
Vey
He breaks faster than I expected.
Tranis’s mouth tightens. He answers with a clipped laugh, but the color has drained from his face, and his fingers slip off the tally board.
Lord Tranis
If you mean to make this public, then speak carefully. My books can answer back, and so can my witnesses.
Quest Complete
Corner Tranis before dawn
Skill Upgrade: Athletics Mediocre
“"Stephen, I see you. You know me. You knew my father. What say you. Will you and your crew stand with us to remove Tranis from our lands? Or will you keep the silence allowing his exploitation of our friends and neighbors? "”
SUCCESS (Superb Persuasion, rolled -3)
Battista
Stephen, I know you. You knew my father. Stand with us and help drive Tranis from these lands, or stay silent and let his greed keep feeding.
Stephen
...Battista.
The name draws him forward from the edge of the yard. Stephen’s crew watches in hard silence, and his shoulders lose some of their guard.
Stephen
Graylis used to say a ledger can lie longer than a man can breathe. I remember that.
Stephen
We have hauled Tranis’s grain, counted Tranis’s sacks, and swallowed Tranis’s rules. I am done swallowing.
A murmur moves through the crew, not quite agreement, not quite fear. One man lowers his gaze to the dropped tally board as if seeing it for the first time.
Stephen
We stand with you. But if we break for you, the yard knows it. The first shout will bring every loyal blade he still has.
✓ Quest Accepted
Hold Stephen’s crew against Tranis’s loyal blades
“"Kaelen, Vey. Prepare to guard these honest men. Stephen, your men will need to prepare to defend themselves as well. Together we can end this Villainy today. To many have been harmed by this coward. To many families go to bed hungry each night. Fight with me, here and now. Remember the old Lord and the good life we had before."”
SUCCESS (Superb Persuasion, rolled +2)
Vey steps clear of the gate shadow and lifts a hand toward Stephen’s crew, open-palmed and steady. Kaelen shifts with him, planting himself where any charge would have to meet steel first.
Battista
Kaelen, Vey. Guard these honest men. Stephen, your people will need to defend themselves too. Together, we end this.
Battista’s words land in the yard like a thrown hook, and the crew absorbs them in silence. One by one, their grips tighten on tools and hafts, not at Battista, but at the thought of Tranis.
Stephen
You speak of old times, and I remember them. I remember hunger, too. That is what his rule leaves us.
Stephen
We stand with you. Not for banners, for bread. Not for pride, for the chance to stop this theft.
The dropped tally board lies between their boots like a broken oath. Stephen bends, snatches it up, and thrusts it toward his men as if it were proof enough to move them.
Stephen
Form up. If his blades come, they find us together.
Quest Complete
Hold Stephen’s crew against Tranis’s loyal blades