Under the dim Allburn docks, the Quartermaster snaps the ledger open again, right on the hidden cipher he found before. The Harbor Master sees it and goes rigid.
The ledger marks do not match his story.
The Quartermaster
Captain, there. The approval mark is not approval. It is a route note, and a summons.
Captain Arnold Runner squares with the book as the Harbor Master’s paw starts to shake. The neat seal he offered now looks like a signal flag in ink.
The Harbor Master
No, that cannot be. I only stamped the papers. I only... arranged the clearance.
The Quartermaster turns a page and traces the cipher line by line. It points to a vulnerable berth, a waiting contact, and a timed approach that matches the ship’s movement exactly.
The Quartermaster
He is not reluctant, Captain. He is baiting us into position for whoever watches the harbor.
The Harbor Master swallows hard, ears flattening as the trap closes in around his confession. Allburn’s official welcome has become a nailed-down conspiracy.
✓ Quest Accepted
Force the Harbor Master to confess the true buyer
“"You will tell us who your true buyer is!" Arnold gently pets the seal, feeling for broken ribs from being stamped, "and I'm going to keep your seal as my pet!"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Communication: Command, rolled +0)
Captain Arnold Runner
You will tell us who your true buyer is.
Captain Arnold Runner’s paw settles on the seal stamp, almost gentle, as if testing a kennel latch. The Harbor Master flinches at the touch.
The mark is clipped and flipper-shaped, the carved edge nicked where it was pressed too hard. The Quartermaster’s ledger stays open, waiting.
The Harbor Master
I did not mean for this to reach the docks. I only carried the orders... from the harbor commissioner.
His shoulders sag at the admission. He stares at the seal in Arnold’s paw like it has betrayed him as much as he has betrayed the port.
The Quartermaster
Write that down, Captain. The commissioner is the hand behind the mask.
The Harbor Master
There is a buyer beyond him, but I have never met that one. I only see the commissioner’s seal, and the route notes it leaves behind.
The Harbor Master swallows, then lets the truth sit between them, exposed and ugly, while the ledger receives it line by line.
Quest Complete
Force the Harbor Master to confess the true buyer