The windows explode inward in a spray of glass. Armored hands seize the rafters, and booted shapes drop into the tavern, steel ringing against stone.
Captain Vaelen lands among them, scarred and hard-eyed, moving at once to the High Inquisitor's side. The way he takes position cuts the room in two.
Captain Vaelen
No one leaves. Elf, lower the spell, or I have you bound in iron.
The Hooded Figure
Hah... yes. Let the pretty lattice break. Let everyone see what bites from underneath.
The violet binding lattice flares bright and steady around the trapped caster. Cold air pours through the shattered windows, and the tavern seems to shrink under the weight of drawn blades.
The High Inquisitor does not look away from Walksfar Seesmuch, while the Burly Gate-keeper shifts his stance, readying himself for the next command.
+ Scene Quest Added
Survive the confrontation at the tavern
“I call the spellbook open and strike first, silencing thing held by lattice containment while saying to inquisitior and Capt, he cast spell first, I merely as good citizen restrained him, no one is harmed, yet”
SUCCESS (Legendary Magic, rolled +0)
Walksfar Seesmuch
I call the spellbook open, and the violet lattice snaps inward on the trapped figure. Then I answer the inquisitor and captain, he cast first, I only restrain him as a good citizen, no one is harmed yet.
The charm bracelet bursts into a fan of glowing pages. Letters of pale gold whip through the air and seal across the lattice like iron script.
The Hooded Figure jolts silent, their mouth still open from laughter as the bind clamps shut over sound and motion. The grinding voice cuts off at once.
The High Inquisitor
Spare me your pretty phrasing. You are warding a dangerous caster in the middle of my gatehouse.
Captain Vaelen
And the spell is yours, I take it. Fine work, elf. But keep your hands where I can see them.
For a heartbeat, the room sees the proof. No blade has fallen. No body lies broken. The violet cage holds steady, and the pressure in the tavern shifts by a hair.
The Gray-Mantled Stranger
Interesting. She binds without losing control, even under steel and holy eyes.
The Burly Gate-keeper straightens, no longer ready to lunge, while the red-faced nobleman peeks over a fallen chair at the frozen spell. The inquisitor lifts one hand, demanding the next move.
“"my hands remain for you to see Captain, any idea whom this magic user is," as I ensure trapped individual remains contained, strangely the Inquisitior is more concerned with me then the culprit, perhaps one of theirs”
SUCCESS (Good Diplomacy, rolled +1)
Walksfar Seesmuch
My hands remain where you can see them, Captain. Any idea who this mage is?
Walksfar keeps the charm bracelet open at chest height, and the gold script continues to cinch the violet lattice around the hooded prisoner.
Captain Vaelen
If I knew, I would have said so already. I know only that the spell looks old, and expensive.
The High Inquisitor
Expensive is one word. Familiar is another. I have seen bindings like this in court vaults, not taverns.
The Gray-Mantled Stranger
And yet it sits in the elf's hands as if it were born there. That is the more interesting problem.
Burly Gate-keeper
You lot can glare later. Right now, I want to know whether the bound one is a threat or a witness.
The High Inquisitor
Lift the hood. If the seal recognizes the face, we may all learn who has been prowling my gate.
“find spell "reveal cloaked" pulling down hood to see face while keeping prisoners mouth silenced and held in place”
SUCCESS (Legendary Magic, rolled +3)
Walksfar twists the open charm bracelet, and the violet lattice answers at once. The hood jerks back by invisible command.
Under the hood is not a face but a mask, pale metal scored with old runes, and a seal ring pinned at the throat.
The High Inquisitor
There. That mark belongs to a vault-courier. Not a random prowler.
Captain Vaelen
So the prisoner is a message carrier. Or bait.
The Gray-Mantled Stranger
No, captain. Look at the throat seal. Someone wanted the mouth hidden from this room.
The hood slips fully aside. A rune-blackened token falls into Walksfar's reach, glinting on the floorboards.
Burly Gate-keeper
Well. That changes the question. Do we unmask the courier, or keep listening to the one who sent them?
+ New Item Acquired
rune-blackened token
“Capt I believe as rankingperson here, its your call, tho Inqusitor may think its a religuos event, perhaps betwen the two you can tell me what you want to happen, while I keep this magic user contained”
FAILURE (Good Diplomacy, rolled -2)
The High Inquisitor
A courier with a sealed mouth and a vault mark is not a tavern concern. It is a church concern. Yet you, elf, are the one holding him together.
Captain Vaelen
And I am the one responsible for the gate. If this turns into an inquest, I need facts, not theater.
The Gray-Mantled Stranger
Facts begin with the token. That piece is not common coin, captain. It is a summons, or a key.
The burly gate-keeper crouches, palms braced on his knees, studying the dark token as if it might speak back. The violet lattice hums around the prisoner, steady and bright.
Burly Gate-keeper
I have seen vault-runners before. They come scared, or bleeding, or both. This one has been handled by someone who knew exactly how to keep him quiet.
The High Inquisitor
Then we are past wondering whether he is innocent. We are wondering who can afford to hide him from a room full of armed witnesses.
The Gray-Mantled Stranger
Or who fears what he carries enough to seal his own tongue. Walksfar Seesmuch, your magic did not catch an ordinary thief.
Vaelen lowers his blade another inch, not relaxing, only listening harder. The inquisitor keeps his gaze on the masked face, waiting for some crack in it, while the prisoner hangs silent in the spell's grip.
“there's more I say producing the scroll beneath my cape and handing to Capt Vaelen, note the church's own mark, 2 times in one place, something far deeper in the shadows is going on, and he's here to cover up, point at Inquisitior, so now I leave to you to ensure the truth is revealed”
SUCCESS (Good Diplomacy, rolled -2)
Walksfar Seesmuch slips a folded scroll from beneath her cape and presses it into Captain Vaelen's hand. He takes it, eyes narrowing at the church mark stamped twice in the wax.
Captain Vaelen
Twice in one seal... that is not carelessness. That is warning, or concealment.
The High Inquisitor's gaze flicks to the scroll, then to the priestly sign, and his jaw tightens as if the room has shifted under him.
The High Inquisitor
That mark belongs to my office. It should not be here.
The Gray-Mantled Stranger straightens from her crouch, interest sharpening into clear recognition. The dark token seems smaller now, but no less dangerous.
The Gray-Mantled Stranger
Two seals on one packet means two hands touched the truth. Someone inside the church is hiding something larger than a courier.
Vaelen closes his fingers over the scroll and shifts his stance toward the inquisitor, no longer guarding the prisoner alone. The burly gate-keeper rises from his crouch, waiting for the order that decides who is lying.
Captain Vaelen
Then you will explain why your sign is on this. Or I answer to the city with your name attached to it.
+ Story Quest Added
Expose the truth behind the church-marked scroll
“before we condem the Inqusitor, thisa scroll fell from Burly Gate Keeper and Red Faced man. perhaps the church doesnt know everything, and Inqusitor is innocent”
FAILURE (Good Diplomacy, rolled -2)
Walksfar Seesmuch
The air feels brittle. If the Inquisitor falls, the church will likely purge the entire district.
Walksfar Seesmuch
Wait. Before you draw steel, look at where that scroll actually landed. It was found between the Gatekeeper and the nobleman, not the Inquisitor. Perhaps the church seal is being used to frame him, and he is as much a victim of this deception as we are.
Captain Vaelen
A convenient defense for a man whose robes are stained with shadow, princess. But the girl has a point about the proximity.
The High Inquisitor
The princess observes more than she admits. My office has been under internal scrutiny for months, Vaelen. Someone wants these seals to be found in the wrong hands.
The Gray-Mantled Stranger
She protects him. Why would a runaway elf princess care for the survival of a man who represents the very order that seeks her kind?
The Gray-Mantled Stranger
If you are innocent, Inquisitor, then you have a long night ahead. What do you intend to do with that scroll, Captain?
Quest Complete
Survive the confrontation at the tavern
Skill Upgrade: Diplomacy Great→Superb