The family has barely finished supper when a temple courier knocks at the Asiaticus door. Castor and Pollux fall silent, while Nestor rises from beside the household ledger.
the temple courier
Nestor, formerly tutor and household servant of the Asiaticus family. A sealed notice from the Temple of Demeter, entered under the morning’s filing.
The courier offers a wax-sealed tablet. Beneath the temple impression lies a smaller secondary mark, pressed sharply into the wax and shaped like an official magistrate’s sign.
Nestor
The clerk recorded our contract, as promised. But this second mark links the record to the Magistrate’s office. Someone has followed the trail.
Aurelia
Then sanctuary is no longer merely a shield. If we invoke it now, we announce that danger has reached our threshold.
Nestor
The archive preserved our rights, but it also gave Rome a thread to pull. The Empress’s agents need only find where it leads.
The courier waits beneath the lintel, tablet extended. Inside, the twins hover near the hearth, and Aurelia keeps her hand above the household seal without touching it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure evidence showing whether the Magistrate’s office is threatening the household’s legal protection
“"There is nothing to fear, yet. The sealed contract remains secure and inviolable. There is, however, the off chance that someone may purchase the debt from the creditor and try to impose different terms. However, we are not obliged to agree."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +3)
Valeria Asiaticus
There is nothing to fear yet. The sealed contract remains secure and inviolable. If someone purchases the debt and offers different terms, we are not obliged to agree.
Valeria’s words settle over the hearth. The tablet remains unopened in the courier’s hand, while the household ledger and exhibition contract lie secure beyond the reach of any creditor.
Aurelia
Correct. A buyer may purchase a claim, but not rewrite the bargain that defines it. We accept only lawful terms we have already acknowledged.
Nestor
And the sealed account gives us proof. Any proposed alteration must be presented openly, compared with the public record, and refused if it exceeds the lawful debt.
the temple courier
The temple notice confirms that principle. The archive will recognize no substituted account without the household’s assent and the clerk’s witnessed correction.
The courier turns the tablet, revealing a second line beneath the seal: the Temple of Demeter has ordered the creditor’s account preserved beside the exhibition filing.
Nestor
They can buy the debt, but they cannot buy the record. That gives us time, witnesses, and a lawful refusal.
Identify who is tracking the household’s legal record
Quest Complete
Secure evidence showing whether the Magistrate’s office is threatening the household’s legal protection