Hoofbeats climb the shrine road, followed by a clear brass bell. A middle-aged woman rides into view, an official blue mantle over travel leathers, iron-gray hair braided close, and a scar crossing her left eyebrow. A locked evidence case hangs from her saddle, while a wax-sealed writ rests in her gloved hand.
Maelin Voss
By authority of the Northern Road Office, I require custody of the confessed caravaner and all materials connected to this forgery. I am Examiner Maelin Voss.
She dismounts without haste and holds the writ where every witness can read its red-bordered seal. The Armed Travelers keep their positions, while the Caravaners cluster around their recovered goods and the confessed culprit.
Maelin Voss
This forged seal appeared in another accusation along the northern road three days ago. The same crescent flaw was found there. Someone is manufacturing treason charges, and your prisoner may know who supplies the molds.
The Condemned Guard
Then the road has been hunting loyal guards with the same lie. I will answer questions, but I will not surrender a man whose confession was secured here without hearing the writ tested.
Tomas Rell
An official mantle and a sealed case prove appearance, not authority. Let us inspect the seal, the wording, and the chain of custody before anyone leaves with evidence.
The examiner sets the case on the altar beside the broken mold but does not open it. Her writ names the confessed caravaner, the false seal, and the recovered ledger, leaving the shrine divided between duty and suspicion.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify who is manufacturing the false treason charges
“Before we proceed I need to see your identification as a authority”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled -3)
Daniel Smith
Before we proceed, I need to see your identification as an authority.
Maelin Voss
A reasonable demand. I will show both the writ and my office token.
Maelin opens a hidden pocket in her mantle and produces a bronze badge stamped with the Northern Road Office seal. She lays it beside the red-bordered writ for inspection.
Daniel Smith
The badge, seal, and wording agree, but the writ's exact reach still needs checking.
Tomas Rell
The token confirms her office, but not every power claimed by that office. Read the limits carefully.
The inspection establishes Maelin's identity and authority, though comparing the writ's clauses with the Road Office's jurisdiction consumes more daylight. The Armed Travelers and Caravaners wait in guarded silence.
Maelin Voss
You have verified that I am commissioned. I will answer questions about the writ before custody changes hands.
“What about your contract and commission? Allow us to examine the exact wording of what you have been ordered to carry out. Understand please that for a seal to be forged as accurately such as the one on the ledger, prior knowledge to a real seal is needed which would likely be provided by an insider.”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled +2)
Daniel Smith
What about your contract and commission? Let us examine the exact wording of what you were ordered to carry out. A seal forged this accurately likely required an insider's knowledge of the genuine seal.
Maelin turns the writ toward Daniel and unfastens its ribbon. The red-bordered document lies open beside the bronze badge, its clauses written in precise black script.
Maelin Voss
Read it fully. My commission orders custody of the confessed caravaner, the forged seal, and the recovered ledger, but grants no authority to seize witnesses or conduct arrests beyond this case.
Daniel traces the jurisdictional clauses, comparing each named object and limitation with the badge's stamped authority. The wording is genuine, narrow, and consistent with the Northern Road Office's mandate.
Daniel Smith
The commission is valid, but it does not explain who knew the true seal well enough to copy it.
Tomas Rell
Then the forged crescent is not merely proof against the prisoner. It points toward someone with access to the Road Office's seals, records, or trusted couriers.
Maelin Voss
That is the implication. I will add insider access to my inquiry, and the exact commission confirms that custody may proceed without turning this shrine into a wider arrest ground.
“Lets move to questioning the suspect before we hand him over to you”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled +3)
Daniel Smith
Let us question the suspect before we hand him over to you. His confession may reveal who supplied the mold.
Maelin inclines her head and steps aside from the altar. The confessed caravaner remains under watch, his hands visible, while Daniel faces him across the recovered ledger.
Daniel Smith
Who taught you the genuine seal's crescent flaw, and where did you obtain the mold?
Caravaner 1
A records clerk in Dunmere sold me the pattern. Her name is Elira Quent. She said the mold came through a trusted Road Office courier.
The confession gives the inquiry a living trail: Dunmere, a named clerk, and a courier route. Tomas's expression tightens as Maelin immediately writes the details onto a clean page.
Maelin Voss
That is sufficient for my inquiry. Elira Quent will be questioned before any courier is warned, and I will record that Daniel obtained this lead before custody changed hands.
Tomas Rell
Then the confession does more than clear the guard. It gives us a direction, and a chance to find the hand behind these accusations.
“And why manufacture false treason charges?”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled +0)
Daniel Smith
Why manufacture false treason charges? What did you hope to gain by turning loyal guards into accused traitors?
The confessed caravaner lowers his gaze beneath the gathered scrutiny. Maelin's pen pauses, while the condemned guard remains still, listening for an answer that might explain the danger behind the forgery.
Caravaner 1
Fear opens purses and closes mouths. The supplier promised payment for every guard disgraced, and said frightened caravans would pay extra for protection from an invented enemy.
His admission widens the crime beyond one grudge. The false charges were meant to create panic, discredit honest guards, and make paid protection seem necessary along the road.
Maelin Voss
That motive fits the pattern in my reports. Manufactured treason creates vacancies, frightened contracts, and opportunities for the same network to sell its remedy.
Tomas Rell
Then the clerk and courier may serve a larger operation, one profiting whenever trust on the northern road collapses.
Maelin adds the motive beneath the names of Elira Quent and the unnamed courier. Around the shrine, suspicion changes shape: it now points toward a scheme built on manufactured fear.
“So do you mean to say you know who is doing this?”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled +1)
Daniel Smith
So do you mean to say you know who is doing this?
Maelin Voss
I know the operation's immediate agents. Elira Quent supplies genuine seal patterns, and a trusted Road Office courier delivers them to hired forgers like this man.
Maelin taps the written confession, then the forged crescent beside it. Her certainty is measured, but the answer leaves no doubt about the network's working hands.
Maelin Voss
I do not yet know the mastermind's personal name. I do know who is doing this: the Dunmere records channel, its trusted courier, and the contractors they pay to manufacture treason.
Tomas Rell
Then the question has an answer, even if the highest name remains hidden. Elira and the courier are not rumors anymore. They are the trail.
The condemned guard exhales quietly as Maelin seals the confession with fresh wax. The investigation now has a confirmed operation, a named clerk, and a courier to expose before the network can retreat.
Quest Complete
Identify who is manufacturing the false treason charges
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Superb→Legendary