At first light, Aurelia and Nestor accompany Valeria through the Subura toward a distribution point beneath the towering arches of the Aqua Claudia. Castor and Pollux remain behind to guard the house.
The arches thunder with falling water and carts. Grain measures, wax tablets, and anxious petitioners crowd the shaded station, where a discreet official waits beside a locked records chest.
The Clerk
I serve the plebeian administration, not a patron’s household. A contract may be witnessed, copied, and recognized without placing the worker beneath anyone’s protection.
Nestor
Recognition is useful only if the record survives pressure. Who may inspect it, and who may alter the copy once your superiors take interest?
The Clerk
The public copy bears the clerk’s seal and two witnesses. It establishes payment, duties, and limits. It does not grant authority over the woman named within it.
Aurelia
And if officials demand that association as the price of safety? A visible connection could attract precisely those who profit from controlling her.
The clerk glances toward the crowded roadway, then lowers his voice. Behind him, fresh tablets wait beside the chest, offering protection that may also leave a trace.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure independent public recognition of the exhibition contract
“"If that is your concern, we need only record the contract in the archives of the Temple of Demeter, which we have already visited. The temple can also offer sanctuary, if we are threatened with violence or arrest."”
SUCCESS (Great Politics, rolled -3)
Valeria Asiaticus
If that is your concern, we need only record the contract in the archives of the Temple of Demeter, which we have already visited. The temple can also offer sanctuary, if we are threatened with violence or arrest.
The plebeian clerk studies Valeria, then unlocks the records chest and selects a fresh tablet. The cost is immediate: two filing asses and the loss of the morning’s quiet anonymity.
The Clerk
That is lawful. The temple archives may preserve a copy, and sanctuary may be claimed there, though invoking it publicly will draw attention.
Nestor
Attention is preferable to an altered account. We will pay the filing fee, copy every term, and keep the sealed contract in our possession.
Under the Aqua Claudia’s thunder, the clerk records the three bouts, the advance, the disability clause, and the limits on sponsorship. Two witnesses press their seals into the wax.
Aurelia
Then the Temple of Demeter holds the public copy, while our house holds the original. No patron may claim that silence was part of the bargain.
The clerk hands them the sealed archival receipt. The contract is recorded, sanctuary is confirmed as an available protection, and the family leaves with less coin but stronger legal shelter.
Quest Complete
Secure independent public recognition of the exhibition contract
+ New Item Acquired
Sealed archival receipt