The chapel is dim and close, thick with stale incense. Father Hallowell hunches at the altar with his back to the door, just as if he has been waiting decades for this confession.
Bren Riverglade steps in with Alexandra's folded note in hand. The red wax flakes on the floor catch the weak light as Hallowell turns.
Father Hallowell
So the trail reaches me at last.
Father Hallowell
You have found it. I knew the matter could not stay buried forever.
Bren Riverglade
The seal, the ledger, and his face all match.
Father Hallowell
I kept the bargain, and I kept my silence. Both have rotted the same way.
The old rector does not reach for the note. He only stands there, shoulders bowed, as the truth settles between altar and door.
✓ Quest Accepted
Confront Father Hallowell with the evidence
+ New Item Acquired
folded note
“"Father Hallowell, why does the chapel make these payments to the Lord Mayor?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Theology, rolled -2)
Bren Riverglade
Father Hallowell, why does the chapel make these payments to the Lord Mayor?
Father Hallowell
Because it was never just tithes. It was hush money, dressed in prayer so no one would ask why the ledger kept changing hands.
Father Hallowell
When grain ran thin, when roofs failed, when a name needed burying, the Mayor took coin and called it order. I let the lie stand too long.
Bren Riverglade
The payments were not charity, then. They were a bargain with a seal on it.
Father Hallowell
I know. I signed what should never have been signed, and I taught myself to call it mercy. That is the stain you have found.
The rector reaches at last for the folded note, but stops short, as if the paper itself burns. A few red wax crumbs cling to his sleeve when his hand falls back to his side.
Father Hallowell
You have the proof, Bren. If you speak it, the chapel’s old debt will stand in daylight at last. If you hold it back, then I have asked you to bear my sin alone.
Quest Complete
Confront Father Hallowell with the evidence
“"You acted with mercy, father. But I must take this to the clerk to be recorded. We cannot allow the Lord Mayor to extort the chapel."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Bren gathers the folded note and steps away from the altar, his boots crunching softly through the scattered red wax. Father Hallowell lets his hand fall, watching him go with a face drawn tight by shame.
Bren Riverglade
You acted with mercy, father, but I must have this recorded. We cannot let the Lord Mayor extort the chapel.
Father Hallowell
Then let it be written. I will not deny what you carry, even if the ink cuts deeper than the old seal.
Bren turns from the altar and crosses the chapel floor, the note secure in his hand. The stale incense gives way to cooler air near the door, where Alexandra stands ready to admit him out.
Alexandra
So it is done. Take it to the clerk before he can be sent off, and make him set it down while there are still witnesses.
At the threshold, the nervous clerk waits with his sealed scroll and narrowed eyes, as if he has heard enough to fear the rest. Bren arrives with the evidence plainly in hand, and the question of the chapel’s debt is no longer hidden.
The Clerk
If you mean to accuse a lord and a rector alike, then speak it cleanly. I will record what is said.
Quest Complete
Expose the chapel's corruption
New Gift: Discern Corruption
“I tell the clerk of the corrupt payments and show him the mayor's seal on the note.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Theology, rolled -1)
Bren Riverglade
This is the Lord Mayor’s seal. These are the payments that were hidden as tithes.
Bren holds the note up where the clerk can see the broken wax and the stamped signet, then lays the paper flat in the chapel light.
The Clerk
...By the seal, it is his mark. Then this is no parish accounting.
The clerk’s sealed scroll lowers a finger’s breadth, his eyes moving from the wax to Father Hallowell and back again.
Father Hallowell
It was not alms. It was silence bought year after year, and I let it be called by a cleaner name.
Behind Bren, Alexandra tightens her grip on the doorframe, while the wax crumbs at his feet catch the pale chapel light like spilled embers.
The Clerk
Then I will set down exactly what this seal proves. Speak it plainly, and I will not soften a word.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the clerk’s formal record of the corruption
“"This ledger shows by the mayor's seal that the mayor collected a portion of alms paid by the chapel as acts of mercy."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Theology, rolled -1)
Bren Riverglade
This ledger shows the mayor’s seal on the payments. They are not chapel tithes, but mercy money taken for his own use.
Bren taps the signet, then turns the page enough for the clerk to see the repeated entries and the matching amounts. The folded note, the prayer strip, and the broken red wax rest together in the chapel light.
The Clerk
Repeated dates, repeated sums, and the seal beside every line. This is a pattern, not a mistake.
Father Hallowell
Yes. I let it be dressed as alms, and I kept the lie in the dark.
The clerk’s jaw tightens. He draws his scroll closer, then sets his stylus to the wax tablet with a careful hand, as if the room itself might bruise the words.
The Clerk
Then I record this as embezzled offerings, concealed by the rector and marked by the Lord Mayor’s seal. Speak on, if there is more to set down.
“I tell the clerk that is the extent of my knowledge of the matter.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Bren Riverglade
That is the extent of my knowledge of the matter.
Bren keeps his voice level and lets the paper rest where it is. The clerk pauses with the stylus above the wax, then lowers it again and writes the line as it stands.
The Clerk
Then I set that down as your full account.
He drags the tablet a little closer, breathing through his nose. The scrape of wax on wax sounds loud in the hush, while Father Hallowell looks on from the altar with folded guilt.
Father Hallowell
If there is no more, then let the record stand.
Alexandra shifts at the doorway, one hand touching the frame as she watches the clerk’s tablet. The broken red wax, the note, and the open ledger lie together like proof finally set in stone.
Quest Complete
Secure the clerk’s formal record of the corruption
New Gift: Investigative Insight