On the upper landing, Kynes’s casting hand remains locked rigid as the shadow sea coils around Magistrate Vey’s guarded door. Candlelight bends inward, swallowed by impossible darkness.
Bren
The mark has finished its warning, love. We can still leave before this becomes a conversation, but I doubt that would suit your reputation.
Beyond the door, furniture scrapes across the floor. Several men take positions, their muffled boots answering one another while a bolt draws back halfway, then stops.
Magistrate Orlan Vey
Who has entered my rooms? Name yourself, or I will have the guards tear this door apart and drag you before the watch.
Bren
He wants certainty, love. Show him the parchment, let the shadows speak first, and give him no detail he can twist.
The darkness gathers at the threshold, shaping a tall, faceless silhouette beside the door. Inside, a man curses softly, and steel leaves several scabbards.
Magistrate Orlan Vey
I will ask once more. Who are you, and why does Larloch’s shadow stand outside my door?
“I pull the door off the wall with telekinesis " Vey, long time how was prison ." I say as I walk through where the door stood.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled +1)
Telekinetic force clamps around the guarded door and tears it cleanly from its hinges. Wood, bolts, and splintered frame lift aside as the shadow sea parts before Kynes.
Kynes
Vey, long time. How was prison?
Kynes walks through the open wall with his casting hand still rigid, the removed door hovering beside him like a silent shield. Bren follows through the breach.
Magistrate Orlan Vey
Kynes. Of course. I should have guessed only you would arrive wearing a lich’s warning and destroy my door.
Magistrate Orlan Magistrate Orlan Vey, a gaunt middle-aged man with close-cropped iron-gray hair, a black high-collared coat, and a signet ring, stands behind a writing desk.
Bren
He asked about your prison sentence, Magistrate. Try answering before your guards mistake embarrassment for courage.
Magistrate Orlan Vey
Brief, unpleasant, and undeserved. Unlike this intrusion, which is both obvious and actionable. Guards, hold your blades.
“" so Vey, why are you harassing the lass,Elira." I ask.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Kynes
So, Vey, why are you harassing the lass, Elira?
The question cuts through the room with quiet authority. Vey’s guards lower their blades by degrees, watching him instead of the shadow sea beyond the ruined doorway.
Magistrate Orlan Vey
Because Elira received a brass-bound vessel meant for my custody, and refused to surrender it. I believed pressure would correct her mistake.
Bren
Pressure? You sent men to search her shop twice tonight. That sounds less like correction and more like panic.
Magistrate Orlan Vey
The vessel bears a seal I cannot identify, and Elira is the last person who handled it. I intended to learn who entrusted it to her.
Vey’s composure thins beneath Kynes’s stare. Behind him, ledgers and sealed letters crowd the desk, while the guards stand uncertainly between duty and retreat.
Magistrate Orlan Vey
Now I understand the connection. You are protecting her, which means the vessel matters to you. Call off the shadows, and we can discuss its transfer without further disturbance.
“" no you insufferable prick, I'm protecting her because your " I pause " well because your a prick.". I look between the guards, then back to vey. " You just admitted you wanted vessel, thought force would get it. And now try to demand me to back down." I smirk”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
Kynes
No, you insufferable prick. I’m protecting her because your... well, because you’re a prick. You admitted you wanted the vessel and thought force would get it, then demanded I back down.
Kynes pauses, looking between the guards before returning his smirk to Vey. The silence makes the magistrate’s demand sound smaller than it did moments ago.
Bren
There is the argument, love. He named the pressure, admitted the intent, and still expected you to surrender the advantage.
Vey’s mouth tightens. One guard lowers his sword completely, and the other glances toward the broken doorway as though reconsidering whose orders deserve obedience.
Magistrate Orlan Vey
You are right. I wanted the vessel, and I used pressure because I believed authority would make resistance inconvenient. That was a miscalculation.
Magistrate Orlan Vey
The guards will stand down. Elira will not be searched again, and I withdraw my demand that you call off the shadows. We can discuss the vessel without coercion.
The guards sheath their blades. Vey steps away from the desk, conceding the room’s balance as the shadow sea continues to coil beyond the ruined threshold.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure Vey's formal surrender of his claim to the vessel
“" I like this idea better" I look to the guards and let my void power flash my eyes. " Run boys"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intimidation, rolled +0)
Kynes
Run, boys.
Kynes turns his gaze upon the guards. Void light flashes through his red eyes, deep and cold, throwing their shadows sharply across the chamber walls.
The guards break at once. One stumbles through the ruined doorway, while the other drops his sword and follows, fleeing down the stair without waiting for permission.
Bren
That was clearer than a formal dismissal, love. I suspect they will remember the distinction.
Magistrate Orlan Vey
Cowards. I ordered them to stand down, not abandon me.
Magistrate Orlan Vey stands alone behind his desk, the open doorway and empty scabbard-lines making his surrender newly visible. The shadow sea coils behind Kynes like a patient witness.
Magistrate Orlan Vey
Very well. The vessel remains with Elira for now. Tell me what Larloch wants, and perhaps we can reach terms before this becomes more humiliating.
“" you really want to know what Larloch wants?" I ask looking to Bren with a smile”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
Kynes
You really want to know what Larloch wants?
Kynes looks to Bren with a smile. Behind him, the shadow sea coils silently, while Magistrate Orlan Vey stands alone amid the wreckage of his authority.
Bren
Oh, he wants to know now, love. You have made curiosity more frightening than the answer.
Magistrate Orlan Vey
Yes. I want the truth, plainly stated. No riddles, no theatrical warnings, and no more assumptions that I can be intimidated into ignorance.
Magistrate Orlan Vey leaves his desk and raises both empty hands. His voice remains controlled, but the confession costs him more than surrendering the guards did.
Magistrate Orlan Vey
If Larloch expects one future service, I need to know what kind of service can threaten this city, and why you accepted it.
Bren
There, love. He is listening instead of bargaining. The room is yours.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reveal what Larloch promised Kynes
− Scene Quest Removed
Secure Vey's formal surrender of his claim to the vessel
“" one favor. That is all." I turn and leave”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Kynes
One favor. That is all.
Kynes turns from Magistrate Magistrate Orlan Vey and walks toward the ruined doorway. The shadow sea parts around him, preserving a clear path through the wreckage and down toward the stairs.
Magistrate Orlan Vey
One favor, then. No more, no less. I understand.
Magistrate Orlan Vey lowers his hands and remains beside the abandoned desk. His guarded certainty has become calculation, but he does not call after Kynes or attempt to follow.
Bren
A remarkably brief lesson in restraint, love. You gave him the truth and denied him every handle he wanted.
Bren falls into step beside Kynes on the stair, her dark coat brushing the fading edge of the shadow sea. Behind them, Magistrate Orlan Vey’s chambers settle into uneasy silence.
Magistrate Orlan Vey
One favor from Larloch is still enough to endanger a city. But it is not a chain I can seize from him.
Quest Complete
Reveal what Larloch promised Kynes
New Gift: Pact-Reader's Mastery