The practice exchange closes beneath Decimus’s watch. Retiaria remains on the sand with the dulled net and trident, while Marcus accompanies Valeria toward the records room.
The records room is narrow and cool, lined with wax tablets and sealed cords. A middle-aged woman with a severe face, graying hair, and a dark red stola unlocks a chest.
The Examiner
The Retiaria entry, the related scheduling tablets, and the purse notation are all here. We compare them without altering a mark.
She places the documents side by side. The lawful bout, witnessed payment, and separate practice terms agree, but one scheduling tablet bears a faint overwritten margin.
Marcus Flavius
That mark resembles the earlier alterations. Not proof of an author, but proof that someone reused the same habit.
The Examiner
Precisely. The purse notation was entered correctly, then copied through a damaged line. I will preserve the inconsistency and name no culprit without stronger evidence.
The Examiner seals the comparison beneath fresh wax. Marcus waits beside the table, leaving the records open for Valeria’s inspection and response.
“She examines the tablets.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled -1)
Valeria bends over the tablets without touching their seals. She compares the Retiaria entry, purse notation, and scheduling copy, following each stroke where wax has been scraped and rewritten.
Valeria Asiaticus
The overwritten margin is older than the fresh seal, but newer than the original entry.
At the damaged margin, three faint strokes remain beneath the later layer: a filing abbreviation, not a personal signature. The copied line repeats the error but adds no new instruction.
The Examiner
You have found the distinction. This is evidence of careless reuse or deliberate copying, but it does not identify the hand that first altered the record.
Marcus Flavius
And it leaves the lawful terms untouched. Whoever handled the schedule copied a flaw, but did not gain authority over her bout or purse.
The Examiner records Valeria’s observation beside the comparison, preserving the faint strokes beneath fresh wax. The three tablets now establish both the valid agreement and the unexplained alteration.
“"This bears some thinking on. Who had access to these tablets, other than yourself?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
Valeria Asiaticus
This bears some thinking on. Who had access to these tablets, other than yourself?
The Examiner studies the sealed cords before answering. Marcus remains beside Valeria, while the cool room holds the faint smell of wax and old cedar.
The Examiner
The records clerk who copied the schedule, the steward who carried it from the roster, and Decimus Severus when he verified the purse. I opened this chest only after the comparison was ordered.
The Examiner
The tablet also passed through the hands of the roster attendant and the payment clerk. Neither had authority to alter terms, but both could have handled the wax.
Marcus Flavius
That is a narrow circle, but not a conclusion. The repeated flaw may belong to the copying room rather than the person who ordered the change.
The Examiner turns the scheduling tablet toward Valeria and points to the filing strokes. Beside them, a small clerk’s abbreviation identifies the copying station, not an individual hand.
The Examiner
The abbreviation places the tablet in the eastern records stall before it reached this chest. I will request that stall’s access list and preserve it beside these tablets, without accusing anyone prematurely.
✓ Quest Accepted
Obtain the eastern records stall access list
“"Then let's have a look at it."”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +4)
Valeria Asiaticus
Then let us examine the tablet.
Valeria bends over the scheduling tablet without disturbing its seal. In the cool light, she follows the overwritten margin, the copied strokes, and the filing abbreviation beneath them.
The Examiner
The lower wax preserves a second impression. It matches the eastern stall’s filing stamp, not the clerk’s personal mark.
The Examiner tilts the tablet toward the lamp. Beneath the scraped layer, a narrow line records the hour and station where the copy was made.
Valeria Asiaticus
The alteration was made at the eastern stall, before the tablet entered the chest.
The Examiner
That gives us more than suspicion. The stall’s access list can now be compared against this precise hour, narrowing who could have handled the wax.
Marcus Flavius
Good. We have a place, a time, and a preserved mark. No accusation yet, but the next record may finally name the hand.
“"Then let's talk to the clerk."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Oratory, rolled -1)
The Examiner leads Valeria and Marcus to the eastern records stall. A young adult man with a narrow build, ink-stained fingers, cropped brown hair, and a faded blue tunic looks up from his tablets.
Valeria Asiaticus
We need to compare your access list with this filing mark and the hour beneath the overwritten margin.
The Clerk
Then you have come to the right place. I keep the stall’s daily list and will show it without altering the record.
The clerk unrolls a waxed schedule beside the preserved tablet. Names, stations, and hours run in orderly columns, witnessed by a small seal at the bottom.
The Clerk
At that hour, the tablet was handled by me, the roster attendant, and a payment clerk. The steward arrived later, after the copying was complete.
The Examiner
Record that statement precisely. It narrows custody without declaring guilt, and the access list will remain sealed with the comparison.
The clerk points to his entry and the two others, then adds a witnessed copy to the packet. The hour and eastern-stall mark now have named custodians, while the original remains untouched.
Quest Complete
Obtain the eastern records stall access list
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Good→Great
+ New Item Acquired
Eastern stall access list