Brother Osric snatches the hearing tablet back from the desk edge and clears a fresh space with brisk, careful hands. The scriptorium is all low murmur and wax smoke until the door bangs open.
A travel-worn messenger staggers in from Willowford, mud on his hems, breath ragged, a letter clutched hard to his chest. The chapel seal shows red at the fold.
The Messenger
Brother Osric, from Willowford. It must be read at once.
Osric takes the letter, breaks the seal, and scans the first lines. His face tightens, then stills, as if the page has named a wound he already feared.
Brother Osric
This is not an idle complaint. It speaks of ledgers, gifts, and men taking silence for custom.
Bren Riverglade
Willowford is tied to Northmere by more than one thread.
He looks up at Bren, Alexandre Reaper, and The Cleric, then folds the letter once and sets it beside the Northmere papers. The hearing has changed shape, and Osric means to follow it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Pursue the Willowford corruption lead
✓ Quest Accepted
Hear the Willowford complaint in full
“I look at Brother Osric and wait to see if he will state what is in the letter.”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +0)
Bren studies Osric’s face instead of the page, and the records keeper answers the silence with a grave inhale.
Brother Osric
It names a second trail. Willowford ledger marks, chapel gifts, and men who called hush money custom.
The messenger swallows hard by the door, while the cleric’s hands still over the Northmere papers.
Brother Osric
Not a local fault, then. This reaches across parishes.
Osric folds the letter open again and taps one dark line with two fingers, as if fixing the words in place for all present.
Brother Osric
Willowford asks whether the hearing can bear a wider charge. It names ledgers, favors, and a silence kept for years.
Bren holds still as the room shifts around him, the hearing tablet and the Willowford seal now sharing the same desk.
Quest Complete
Hear the Willowford complaint in full
Quest Complete
Pursue the Willowford corruption lead