The covered charcoal track emerges beside a roofless weigh station overlooking the eastern road. Broken beams jut against the rain, and the old scales hang crooked above a mud-choked platform.
Edric Vale
That counter was used by Roads Office clerks. See the three cuts beneath the rim? They marked consignments dispatched under Fen’s instructions.
Edric crouches beside the shattered counter, while Tomas watches the road and Mara scans the dripping pines. Brother Harl keeps the cipher wrapped beneath his mantle.
Edric Vale
I saw this mark in Redmere. The clerk who sent me carried the same pattern on his dispatch board, though he called it routine accounting.
Beneath the scales, a fresh scrap of oiled paper clings to the mud. Its edge bears red sealing wax, and the ink has not yet bled in the rain.
Edric Vale
That was placed recently. Fen’s agents are sending instructions ahead toward Redmere, likely warning the office that the ledger has been found.
Mara Quill
Then we read it quickly and leave no sign we stood here. The eastern road will not remain quiet once that message is missed.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure credible proof linking Fen’s clerks to the forged writ
“I ask Edric to compare the scrap’s mark with Fen’s dispatch pattern.”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +1)
Maurice Headsman
Edric, compare this scrap’s mark with the dispatch pattern Fen used.
Maurice crouches beneath the broken scales and lifts the oiled scrap from the mud by its dry edge. He carries it to Edric without smearing the red wax.
Edric Vale
Hold it beside the counter mark. Yes, the three cuts match, but the slanting notch is added here.
Edric turns the scrap toward the grey light, comparing its inked device with the pattern beneath the counter’s rim. Rain ticks against the warped beams.
Edric Vale
Fen’s dispatch board used this notch to mark urgent custody orders. This message warns Redmere that the seventh ledger is in our hands.
Mara Quill
Then the missing message matters less than its direction. Edric, can you read where it was meant to go?
Edric Vale
East by the lower road, to Redmere’s records office. The mark orders immediate sealing of the ledger’s entry and detention of anyone carrying it.
+ New Item Acquired
Oiled dispatch scrap
“I lead everyone east toward Redmere”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -1)