The lay brothers drag the discarded sword across the rain-slick stones. Its point catches an iron grate beneath the herb beds, exposing a hollow dark with water.
Below the grate lies a soaked blue wagon token and a strip of oilcloth bearing a copied line from the custody demand. The ink has run, but the wording remains legible.
Ser Garran Holt
Do not touch that.
The mail-clad man recoils before the brothers can lift the token. His face tightens, and his eyes dart from the blue mark to the convent wall.
Sister Agnes
You recognize it. Brothers, lift both pieces without rubbing them. Novice, summon the recorder and keep everyone from that grate.
Elianor Vale
That token echoes the wagon Martin remembered. Someone prepared this place, or watched the convent closely enough to use what was hidden here.
The lay brothers secure the sword and oilcloth separately. Rain washes soil from the grate, revealing a fresh scrape where the hiding place was opened recently, while the attacker stands trapped among witnesses.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify the unseen collaborator who prepared the hidden cache
“I will examine the blue token and oilcloth with the witnesses.”
FAILURE (Good Perception, rolled +0)
Maurice crouches beside the grate while the lay brothers hold the blue token and oilcloth above the mud. He examines them with the witnesses, never taking either into his hands.
Rainwater runs across the oilcloth before its copied line can be compared fully with the demand. The blue token’s face is turned away, beyond Maurice’s reach.
Sister Agnes
Hold them higher. No one touches the surfaces, and the recorder must see exactly what the water has spared.
As a brother angles the oilcloth, Maurice glimpses the surviving words: west wall, third bell, receive the marked bearer. The sentence ends where the ink has dissolved.
Ser Garran Holt
That scrap proves nothing. It is a trap meant to make the convent accuse the wrong office.
The examination falls short, but the glimpse changes the ground. The hidden cache was arranged for a timed handoff at the west wall, and the attacker knows that schedule.
Sister Agnes
Record the surviving words and his objection. The token and cloth go into separate sealed witness packets, not back beneath the grate.
“I question the attacker about the cache's collaborator”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Maurice Headsman
Who helped you prepare this cache, and who was meant to receive the marked bearer?
The mail-clad man studies the sealed packets, then the converging brothers. With his sword secured and every answer witnessed, his practiced defiance loses its shape.
Ser Garran Holt
A clerk from the western roads office arranged it. He called himself Vey, though I never saw his face. He was to collect the bearer at the third bell.
Ser Garran Holt
I was promised written authority after delivery. The blue token was his sign, not mine. He said the convent would be blamed for hiding a fugitive.
The novice arrives with ink and witnesses the admission. Sister Agnes orders the words entered beside the oilcloth’s surviving line, preserving the attacker’s distinction between messenger and arranger.
Sister Agnes
You have named a Roads Office collaborator and admitted the intended handoff. Give the recorder every mark, hour, and instruction you received.
Ser Garran Holt
The instruction came three nights ago. Vey knew the blue wagon testimony and said the cache would make the convent appear complicit. That is all I know.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the garden as a defensible refuge
Quest Complete
Identify the unseen collaborator who prepared the hidden cache
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Good→Great
“Ask the name of the mail-clad man. And ask him if he would serve penance for his transgression by aiding in the defense of the refuge.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +1)
Maurice Headsman
Give the recorder your name. Will you serve penance for this transgression by aiding in the defense of this refuge?
The mail-clad man lowers his gaze beneath the rain. Around him, the lay brothers hold the sealed packets, while Sister Agnes waits for an answer before the witnesses.
Ser Garran Holt
I am Ser Garran Holt, formerly sworn to the western roads. I will serve that penance, if the convent accepts my sword under its rules.
Sister Agnes
Your sword will guard doors, not settle disputes. You will remain under witness, surrender every written order, and obey the convent’s defense commands.
Ser Garran Holt
I accept. I will name every road office contact I know, stand watch where ordered, and answer for the seizure attempt when the duke’s court calls.
The novice records Garran’s name, consent, and conditions beside his confession. One lay brother retrieves the discarded sword, while the other escorts Garran from the grate without binding him.
Elianor Vale
Then let his penance protect people who cannot defend themselves, and let the record show that he chose it freely.
“I find my sword and keep it at hand”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled +2)
Maurice searches the rain-dark garden and finds his sword beneath the cloister bench where it was set aside during the alarm. He draws it and keeps it ready at hand.
The familiar weight settles into his grip. Garran watches the blade, then lowers his eyes, while the lay brothers maintain their guarded positions around the sealed evidence.
Sister Agnes
Keep it sheathed unless defense requires otherwise. This house recognizes your protection, Maurice, and will not mistake readiness for aggression.
Ser Garran Holt
I understand the distinction now. Your empty hand stopped me, but I will not test what you can do armed.
The novice records Maurice’s recovered sword beside Garran’s surrendered weapon, noting their separate custody and the continued presence of armed witnesses.
Elianor Vale
With your sword at hand, the west wall is guarded. Let the record show that lawful protection did not depend on surrender.
Quest Complete
Secure the garden as a defensible refuge
Skill Upgrade: Survival Good→Great
+ New Item Acquired
Sword