Kynes and Bren return to their rented room above the Baldur’s Gate boarding house, leaving the townhouse and its gathered witnesses behind. The payment notes and sealed name-card remain dry beneath Bren’s cloak.
The room is narrow but private, with two chairs, a washbasin, and a shuttered window overlooking the waking merchant quarter. No vessel is here; Elira and Veyr remain elsewhere with it.
Bren
Ilyra stays with Quill and Vey for now, love. Elira keeps custody of the vessel, and that separation protects both the proof and her choice.
Bren places the receipts on the small table and sets the sealed name-card beside them. Morning light touches the oilskin while distant bells fade over the roofs.
Bren
We need a meeting that does not look like a transfer. Elira should bring the vessel only if she chooses, with Ilyra arriving separately and no magistrate directing either woman.
Bren
If Quill’s employers learn where Ilyra is before Elira is ready, the proof becomes a leash again.
Bren
How do you want to arrange it, love? A quiet visit at the chandlery, or somewhere neither claimant can be cornered?
“" let's do it in the common area here in the inn." I say plainly. " I use a spell that turns the place into hallowed ground. The other part of the spell only permits myself, Bren and the main parties involved. No more, the spell laps in 72 hours.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled +0)
Kynes
Let’s do it in the common area here in the inn.
Kynes marks the common room’s thresholds with quiet violet light. The spell settles through floorboards, hearthstones, tables, and rafters without disturbing the waking inn.
Kynes
I hallow this ground for seventy-two hours. Only Bren, myself, and the parties directly involved may enter under its protection.
Arcane force spreads in a clean circle, sealing the common area from casual intrusion. The room becomes a protected meeting place, its boundary bright only when someone unwelcome approaches.
Bren
Good, love. Elira and Ilyra can meet here without turning custody of the vessel into another spectacle, and no stranger can force their way between them.
The hallowing recognizes the people bound to the dispute and those standing with them: Elira, Ilyra, Quill, Vey, and Veyr. Its permission rests quietly over the room.
Bren
Now we can invite them separately, keep the inn’s other guests safe, and let both women choose what happens next.
“I invite Elira and Ilyra to meet here, I ask Bren to summon Quill and Vey.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +0)
Kynes
Elira and Ilyra are invited to meet here, in the protected common room. Bren, summon Quill and Vey as well.
Bren nods and crosses to the hearth, laying two fingers against the violet boundary. Her summons travels through the ward without disturbing the inn beyond it.
Bren
They will come separately, love. Elira keeps her choice, Ilyra keeps her voice, and neither man gets to control the meeting.
A soft knock sounds at the common-room door. Elira enters first, cautious but composed, followed by Ilyra in her dark green coat and copper-braided hair.
Elira Thorne
I came without the vessel. It remains secure, and I will decide when it joins this conversation.
The ward brightens twice as separate arrivals answer Bren’s summons. Marrow Marrow Quill and Magistrate Orlan Magistrate Orlan Vey step into the protected room, watched closely by Bren.
Marrow Quill
You have gathered everyone with an interest in the truth. Very well, Kynes. Let us hear what this meeting is meant to settle.
“" you see, this is so you two insufferable pricks and learn a thing on honesty. " I pause " and Quill you suffering the same fate as the magistrate is still on the table. " I turn to the magistrate. " How's your day going so far, eh " as I look on his face with the word liar carved into it.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intimidation, rolled -2)
Kynes
You see, this is so you two insufferable pricks can learn a thing about honesty.
The protected room falls silent. Marrow Quill’s composure tightens, while Magistrate Orlan Vey’s marked face remains exposed beneath the word liar.
Kynes
And Quill, you suffering the same fate as the magistrate is still on the table.
Marrow Quill
Understood. I will speak honestly, but do not mistake compliance for trust. You have made yourself a threat I must account for.
Kynes
How’s your day going so far, eh?
Magistrate Orlan Vey
Publicly branded, privately cornered, and compelled to hear my own allies bargain around me. By any fair measure, it is a poor day.
The threat lands cleanly. Marrow Quill keeps his hands visible and accepts that another lie could bring the same mark, but his cooperation now carries a debt of trust rather than goodwill.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure honest participation in the protected meeting
“"Quill, your first mistake was thinking I trusted you." I say " shall we get this started." I say”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Kynes
Quill, your first mistake was thinking I trusted you. Shall we get this started?
The warded common room holds its silence. Kynes’s words strip away Quill’s practiced distance, leaving the broker with no useful advantage in pretending this is a negotiation between equals.
Marrow Quill
Yes. Let us begin honestly. I concealed Ilyra’s location, accepted money from people opposing her claim, and directed pressure toward Elira’s vessel.
Elira Thorne
Then start with the part that matters most. Why did you believe threatening my chandlery would make the truth safer?
Marrow Quill
Because my employers wanted the succession proof controlled before Ilyra could present it. I told myself custody would prevent chaos, but I was protecting their theft.
Ilyra Voss
That is the first answer you have given without hiding behind procedure. I will hear the rest, but the vessel remains with Elira until I choose otherwise.
Magistrate Orlan Vey
And I will identify every order I received, every payment I accepted, and every person I used. If honesty is the price of leaving this room, I will pay it.
Quest Complete
Secure honest participation in the protected meeting