Beneath the broken arch, Veyran unwraps the ledger from its oilskin and spreads it beside the altar. Gray daylight catches columns of names and careful payments.
He moves along the shrine wall, brushing moss from faded inscriptions. Fragments of names emerge among prayers to Saint Orra, some matching entries in the ledger.
Veyran
There. The same abbreviated hand appears beside three offerings and two royal disbursements. Someone used this shrine as a quiet ledger before the crown buried it.
Veyran kneels by the altar and begins copying the clearest entries onto a broad strip of scraped parchment, leaving space for marks he cannot yet decipher.
Veyran
I want a second copy hidden here. If one record is seized, burned, or carried into a river, the truth must still have somewhere to wait.
Veyran
Help me identify which marks belong to the crown’s accountants. Look for repeated signs, initials, anything that separates a payment from a prayer.
He turns the ledger toward Mariposo, placing it beside the weathered wall. Outside, jungle water ticks from the vines while the shrine keeps its patient silence.
✓ Quest Accepted
Create a second copy of the evidence
Mariposo's turn“"What is the significance of this place, Veyran?" I ask, beginning to read over the ledger.”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled +2)
Mariposo
What is the significance of this place, Veyran?
Mariposo bends over the ledger, following repeated initials through columns of offerings and payments. The same marks recur beside names etched into Saint Orra’s wall.
Veyran
Saint Orra’s shrine was once a refuge for the dispossessed. Petitioners left names, debts, and testimonies here, trusting the keepers to preserve what rulers preferred forgotten.
Veyran taps a faded inscription beneath a royal payment. Its abbreviated name matches an entry in the ledger, while a small notch marks the testimony as witnessed.
Veyran
That is why the crown used this place, then buried it. The accountants could disguise payments as offerings, but the shrine’s old marks preserved who received them and why.
Reading across the columns, Mariposo recognizes three repeated marks: disbursement, witness, and silence. The ledger’s payments are not charitable gifts; they are indexed records of suppression.
Mariposo's turn“"C- Captain Coldcock..." I said, my breath hitching and grip trembling. "C- Captain Coldcock was... Was the one who..." I stuttered, reading over the page that revealed to me what I was too shocked to repeat: Captain Coldcock was the one who slaughtered the Rhukkhadevata clan- He was sent at the crown's behest.”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled -2)
Mariposo
C-Captain Coldcock... She was the one who... who slaughtered the Rhukkhadevata clan. The crown sent her.
The final notation makes the ledger’s meaning undeniable: Coldcock’s name stands beside the suppression marks, with a royal authorization beneath it. Mariposo knows the killer of his clan was acting under orders.
His grip tightens on the ledger until the pages crease. The discovery costs precious time; while he verifies the seals and dates, the shrine’s remaining light fades toward evening.
Veyran
Cold... Coldcock? The captain who pursued us through the cistern? Mariposo, are you certain?
Mariposo
The witness mark is beside her name. The order came from the crown.
Veyran
Then this is more than proof of a cover-up. It names the hand that carried the slaughter out. We copy this page before we move.
Veyran draws the parchment closer and begins copying the entry, his careful hand faltering only once. The truth is complete, but its weight settles heavily between them.
Mariposo's turn“"C- Captain Coldcock..." I said, my breath hitching and grip trembling. "C- Captain Coldcock was... Was the one who..." I stuttered, reading over the page that revealed to me what I was too shocked to repeat: Captain Coldcock was the one who slaughtered the Rhukkhadevata clan- He was sent at the crown's behest.”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled +2)
The copied entry ends beneath Veyran’s hand. Coldcock’s name, the royal authorization, and the suppression mark leave no room for doubt: the slaughter was ordered, not merely tolerated.
Veyran
Then he was not simply hunting survivors. She was finishing the crown’s work, wherever the survivors fled.
Veyran’s voice drops beneath the shrine’s dripping silence. He steadies the parchment with one hand and keeps the ledger open to the marked page.
Veyran
We preserve this exactly. Names, dates, seals, every mark. If Coldcock denies it, the page answers for us.
He folds the fresh copy into the oilskin beside the ledger, then glances toward the broken arch. Evening shadows lengthen across the shrine floor, turning each fallen stone into a hiding place.
Veyran
We have the truth now. Next we find someone powerful enough to fear what it proves, and honest enough to keep it alive.
Quest Complete
MariposoCreate a second copy of the evidence
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Great→Superb