Valeria enters the Temple of Demeter’s archive with Marcus Flavius, Titus Celer, and Secundus under escort. The newly sealed copy remains in her custody, guarded by witnesses and temple seals.
The High Priestess waits beside the archive table, where fresh wax, tablets, and the permanent register have been arranged. The escorts close the doors behind the party.
The Clerk
High Priestess, an unfamiliar petitioner has been asking who carried the magistrate’s order here. He would not give his name, and he watched the service entrance.
The High Priestess
Then the copy does not enter the register until its custody is witnessed again. No seal is broken, and no bearer leaves unaccounted for.
Marcus Flavius
Keep Secundus and Titus inside the chamber. If someone followed the order, they may be seeking the witnesses rather than the tablet.
Secundus
Varro will not need to seize the evidence if he can make its witnesses disappear.
Titus checks the barred door while Marcus studies the narrow passage beyond it. The High Priestess gestures toward Valeria and the sealed copy, leaving the next decision before them.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the evidence beyond ordinary seizure
“"This is starting to look very grave. They may attempt to seize the records and silence the witness. I suggest this: Let Secundus remain in the sanctuary of the temple until the case is heard. If you can give me a sealed message package -- blank papers will do -- I will simply leave under the spy's very nose, false document in hand, and refuse any questions. Let him follow me as far has he pleases."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled -2)
Valeria Asiaticus
Let Secundus remain under the temple’s sanctuary until the case is heard. Give me a sealed package, even blank papers, and I will carry it away.
The High Priestess
Granted. You will leave openly, answer no questions, and carry only what the temple seals before witnesses.
The anxious clerk, a slight young adult man with olive skin, short brown hair, and a russet wool cloak over a pale linen tunic, folds blank papyri into a narrow packet and seals it with temple wax. Secundus is led behind the inner screen, where sanctuary protection places him beyond immediate seizure.
Secundus
Then let him follow you. If he believes the copy travels in your hands, he may reveal whom he serves.
Marcus checks the seal, Titus bars the true evidence beneath the archive table, and Valeria receives the decoy. The temple spends fresh wax and assigns an escort to witness her departure.
Valeria Asiaticus
The seal is false, but the witness protection is real.
Valeria walks through the service entrance with the package plainly visible and refuses the anxious clerk’s last question with silence. Outside, the watcher, a lean middle-aged man with weathered skin, a narrow face, and a dark hooded cloak, abandons his concealment and follows, while the temple doors close behind Secundus.
Quest Complete
Secure the evidence beyond ordinary seizure
+ New Item Acquired
Sealed decoy packet