The service passage narrows around Azera, cold stone pressing close. Ilotha keeps the silver clasp lifted between two fingers, and the dim light catches a second mark scratched into its back, a neat little loop of ink.
Xene leans over the hatch above, eyes fixed on the clasp. Their mouth tightens, as if they recognize the mark before anyone speaks of it.
Ilotha
This was never just kitchen trash. Someone used it to pass messages through the house.
Ilotha angles the clasp toward Azera, then toward the ceiling, making the connection plain. The inked loop matches a tiny stitch of dye on Xene’s sleeve, fresh enough to glisten in the lantern glow.
Xene
Careful. That clasp changes hands only when people want secrets moved quietly.
Bince stiffens at the hatch, staring between Xene and the clasp. Below, Ilotha’s guarded calm turns sharper, like a blade finally finding its edge.
+ Story Quest Added
Uncover who uses the silver clasp to pass messages through the estate
“I inspect Xene’s sleeve for the dye mark”
SUCCESS (Fair Perception, rolled -1)
Azera’s gaze drops to Xene’s sleeve, and her fingers catch the fresh dye stitch at once. The mark is not decoration, but a tiny counter-sign, hidden where a cuff would brush it away.
Azera
It is matched on purpose.
She tilts the fabric toward the lantern light. Under the glisten, the dye line is recent, still tacky enough to cling faintly to her fingertips.
Xene
Careful. That is not a performer’s trick. Someone has been using my sleeve as a signal.
Ilotha
So the clasp goes where the loop goes. That means the messenger is inside the house, not outside it.
Bince’s eyes dart from the sleeve to the clasp, then toward the passage beyond the hatch, as if the walls themselves have started listening.
Azera has the shape of it now, the silver clasp is passing notes through Xene, and the trail points inward to Lord Loridulus’ estate. Xene lifts a hand abruptly, as if to stop the next accusation before it lands.
Quest Complete
Uncover who uses the silver clasp to pass messages through the estate