The magistrate leads Valeria under the Basilica Julia's shadowed arch, away from the crowd's hiss and the Forum's glare. The Praetorian Captain follows close, still watching the tablet in her hand as if it might bite.
The Magistrate
Bring her here. If Messalina has touched this, I want every hand named.
Praetorian Captain
And if she has not, then someone is trying to make it look so. We need the chain of custody, now.
Inside, the cool stone quiets the noise outside. A clerk hurries to set down wax and stylus, while the examiner reaches for the tablet again, his face sharp with professional doubt.
Valeria Asiaticus
The second seal matters more than the first.
The Examiner
This tablet was altered after sealing. The blood was added later, and the inner impression does not match the outer one.
The Magistrate
Then someone in authority lies under oath. Valeria Asiaticus, if you can name the path that brought this to you, you may yet step clear of the trap.
The captain's hand tightens near his sword, not on it. The question has changed the room, from suspicion of Valeria to the danger of whoever wants her blamed.
✓ Quest Accepted
Have the magistrate confirm Valeria's protection
“"I have told you everything I know about it, but I don't understand the mystery of the seal. Messalina considers me a personal enemy and may want to see me dead or at least disgraced, but she did not need magic for that. Some other hand is at play here, something very sinister. I can feel the presence of evil."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -2)
Valeria Asiaticus
I have told you all I know of it. Messalina may hate me enough to want my disgrace, or my death, but this does not smell of her alone. Something else works in it, something dark.
Valeria Asiaticus
The stain on the tablet looks wrong in this light. So does the seal beneath it.
The Examiner
He is right. This is no simple forgery. The work is deliberate, and it is not the hand of a frightened servant.
The Magistrate
Then we name a conspiracy, not a defendant. Valeria Asiaticus is not to be treated as the maker of this fraud.
Praetorian Captain
Good. Then she stands under the court's notice, not under arrest.
The clerk scratches furiously as the magistrate leans back, one hand raised in formal restraint. The captain lets out a controlled breath, though his fingers still hover near his sword. The Basilica's hush deepens, broken only by the distant watch whistle outside and the dry scrape of stylus on wax.
The Magistrate
State plainly what you mean by evil, Valeria Asiaticus. If you have seen a hand behind this, speak it now, and we will hear you in order.
Quest Complete
Have the magistrate confirm Valeria's protection