The service court falls silent except for settling ice and the faint click of Marlene’s camera. Janet’s numb arm hangs rigidly beside her exhausted stance, rapier still in hand.
Marlene
Do not force your fingers closed. The cold has traveled farther than I expected.
Marlene sets the camera on a stone ledge, then uses her phone to photograph the same angles. She records the Pinno’s frozen posture, the ice growth, and Janet’s position.
Marlene
Primary footage, duplicate photographs, written measurements. If anyone disputes what happened, they will have to dispute all three.
Marlene
She contained a Pinno without destroying it, protected the living target, and held the field alone. The Blankos cannot dismiss that as luck.
Marlene
You understand what this means, Janet? This is not merely a successful rescue. It is proof that your judgment belongs in the field, even if the Quiche would rather keep you obedient.
The pedestrian remains safely beyond the mansion, unaware of the frozen monster and the two awakened figures left behind. The court offers Janet a rare pause before the ice, her arm, or Marlene’s evidence demands action.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure Marlene's testimony supporting Janet's field judgment
“Then I see a new blanko recruit come and try to help with a awakened spirtit sword”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +0)
Footsteps enter the service court. A young adult Blanko man in a fitted black-and-white uniform approaches, lean and sharp-faced, with cropped auburn hair and a silver-eyed stare.
He carries a plain sword whose blade suddenly glows with a pale inner light. The awakened spirit sword hums, answering the frozen Pinno’s pressure.
Kellan
Stand back. I can reinforce the containment.
The new recruit plants his sword against the ice. A second layer of frost spreads through the crystalline pillars, bracing the Pinno’s frozen posture without shattering the evidence.
Marlene
Careful. You strengthened the field, but you disturbed its outer pattern.
The cost lands immediately: Janet’s numb hand loses its grip, and the white rapier drops onto the frost with a hard metallic crack. Her arm remains rigid and painful.
Kellan
The creature is secure. Your blade is not. Do not reach for it yet.
“And you are*I say cutting the pinno and it shatters into pieces*recruit”
FAILURE (Fair Agility, rolled +0)
Janet
And you are, recruit?
Janet reaches for the fallen white rapier and swings at the frozen Pinno. Her numb fingers barely guide the blade before the reinforced ice catches it.
The rapier strikes the crystalline shell with a sharp flash. Instead of shattering the Pinno, the impact fractures the outer ice into jagged plates and sends the sword skidding across the court.
The frozen creature remains trapped, but its silhouette is now broken into overlapping facets. Marlene’s original growth pattern is visibly disturbed, making the evidence harder to interpret.
Kellan
Recruit Kellan. And that was exactly why I told you not to reach for it.
Marlene
The containment holds, but the fracture has obscured the first layer. Janet, keep your hand still. Kellan, do not reinforce anything else.
Quest Complete
Secure Marlene's testimony supporting Janet's field judgment
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Good→Great
“And you are*I say cutting the pinno and it shatters into pieces*recruit”
FAILURE (Good Strength, rolled -1)
Janet
And you are, recruit?
Janet retrieves the white rapier and cuts across the frozen Pinno’s fractured shell. The blade bites into a crystalline plate, but the reinforced frost diverts the strike.
The shell bursts into loose ice slabs instead of separating the creature. Several plates collapse inward and lock together around the Pinno, obscuring its form beneath a denser, uneven casing.
Kellan
Recruit Kellan. You nearly compromised the entire containment.
The rapier jerks in Janet’s numb grip as cold surges back through the fractured field. A fresh ridge seals over the cut, leaving the Pinno trapped but impossible to read clearly.
Marlene
Stop there. The evidence is damaged, but the creature remains contained. Another cut could bury the pattern completely.
Kellan
Her first instinct is still direct intervention, even with one arm nearly useless.
“And you are*I say cutting the pinno and it shatters into pieces*recruit”
FAILURE (Good Strength, rolled -2)
“And you are*I say cutting the pinno and it shatters into pieces*recruit”
SUCCESS (Good Strength, rolled +3)
Janet
And you are, recruit?
Janet drives the white rapier through the fractured casing. Ice flashes along the blade, and the frozen Pinno’s shell shatters into weightless crystalline pieces across the court.
The pieces dissolve into pale vapor instead of blood or remains. The Pinno’s presence vanishes with them, leaving only disturbed frost and an empty space where its monstrous shape stood.
Kellan
Recruit Kellan. You just broke the containment.
Marlene lowers her camera, staring at the scattered ice. Her original pattern is gone, but the photographs preserve the creature’s posture before the break.
Marlene
The Pinno is gone, and the primary shell is unusable. The earlier footage still proves you contained it and protected the pedestrian.
Cold pulses through Janet’s numb arm as the rapier settles in her grip. Kellan watches her cautiously, while Marlene retrieves the camera and secures the evidence.