Boots scrape over Saint Orra’s broken threshold. The royal warrant-bearer, a lean middle-aged woman in a rain-darkened royal coat, steps from the flooded stair, her cropped black hair plastered to a scarred cheek and warrant tucked beneath one arm.
The Royal Warrant-Bearer
Veyran. A price has been posted for your capture. The crown wants the records returned intact, and it will pay handsomely for your cooperation.
Veyran steps between the royal warrant-bearer and the ledger, one hand hovering over the copied page. Behind him, rubble seals every route except a narrow passage beneath the fallen arch.
Rose
Let me take the reins, darling. Smile, soften, and make the warrant-bearer forget which way the blade points.
Rose’s pressure surges behind Mariposo’s eyes. His body leans toward the royal warrant-bearer with a sly, fawning tilt, but the movement falters before it becomes an invitation, leaving his hands clenched at his sides.
Veyran
Forgive him. The cistern left us both half-drowned and witless. Stay behind me, Mariposo.
Veyran catches Mariposo by the scruff and pulls him upright, placing himself squarely between him and the royal warrant-bearer. Fading light cuts one clear path through the rubble, while the warrant-bearer’s hand settles on her sword.
Mariposo's turn“"Right, Veyran goes back alive and is tried for treason, and what of me?" I asked. "Do you even know who I am?" I asked, revealing a hidden knife I had concealed beneath my sleeve.”
FAILURE (Great Willpower, rolled -2)
Mariposo's turn“"Right, Veyran goes back alive and is tried for treason, and what of me?" I asked. "Do you even know who I am?" I asked, revealing a hidden knife I had concealed beneath my sleeve.”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled +0)
Mariposo’s fingers hook a narrow blade from the rubble beside the fallen arch and slip it beneath his sleeve. Rose surges through his posture, drawing him forward with a sly, fawning tilt.
Mariposo
Right, Veyran goes back alive and is tried for treason, and what of me? Do you even know who I am?
He reveals the knife beneath the warrant-bearer’s guarded gaze, its point low but unmistakable. His nose flares in Rose’s hungry manner, yet a tremor catches his breath and betrays the strain of holding himself together.
The Royal Warrant-Bearer
I know what you are, though not yet what name you wear. A survivor, an accomplice, and a knife away from becoming a corpse.
Rose
Let her wonder, darling. Fear is a door, and you have just found the latch.
The warrant-bearer’s hand pauses above her sword. Her eyes drop to the blade, then return to Mariposo’s face; the threat has landed, but his faltering composure has not escaped her notice.
+ New Item Acquired
Narrow blade
Mariposo's turn“"Then you know that I know you won't let me come back alive. I'm Rukkhadevata. I'm the last survivor of my clan. And I'm going to kill you before you can kill me," I announce, and without hesitation I slice at her throat.”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled -1)
Mariposo's turn“"Then you know that I know you won't let me come back alive. I'm Rukkhadevata. I'm the last survivor of my clan. And I'm going to kill you before you can kill me," I announce, and without hesitation I slice at her throat.”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled -1)
Mariposo's turn“"Then you know that I know you won't let me come back alive. I'm Rukkhadevata. I'm the last survivor of my clan. And I'm going to kill you before you can kill me," I announce, and without hesitation I slice at her throat.”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled +2)
Mariposo
Then you know I will not come back alive. I am Rukkhadevata, the last survivor of my clan. I will kill you first.
Mariposo’s narrow blade flashes from beneath his sleeve. He steps inside the warrant-bearer’s guard and cuts cleanly across her throat before her hand can reach the sword.
Blood darkens the rain-soaked collar. The warrant-bearer staggers against the broken arch, eyes wide with furious disbelief, then collapses among Saint Orra’s fallen stones.
Rose
That is my darling. No hesitation, no mercy, and such a lovely red answer.
The blade hangs low in Mariposo’s hand as the corpse settles. His breath comes hard, Rose’s hunger bright behind his eyes, while the shrine swallows the last echo of the struggle.
Veyran
Saints preserve us. You killed her. Take the warrant and the sword, then move before the crown sends another pair of eyes.
Veyran stoops beside the fallen warrant-bearer, stripping the royal warrant from beneath her arm while keeping his body angled toward the jungle entrance. The narrow passage remains open.
✓ Quest Accepted
Deliver the evidence to a powerful ally
Director's notewhole tale
Veyran says he will sacrifice himself and stay with the body, so they will take him in when they find him and lose Mariposo's trial.
Mariposo's turn“"A- And what about you..? Are you not coming with?" I ask, my eyes glancing to the corpse. Not my first kill, won't be my last.”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled +1)
Mariposo
And what about you? Are you not coming with?
Mariposo’s eyes flick toward the corpse beneath the broken arch. Veyran finishes taking the warrant, then looks from the dead warrant-bearer to the narrow passage.
Veyran
No. I stay here with her body. When the crown’s people find me, they will take me in, and your trial will vanish with me.
Veyran folds the warrant beneath his robes and steps back toward the corpse, deliberately placing himself between it and the passage. His scraped palm leaves a dark mark across the stone.
Veyran
Take the passage north. Keep the copied page hidden. If they find you with me, they will bind your name to mine before you reach the jungle.
Beyond Veyran, the narrow passage descends into darkness. Behind him, Saint Orra’s broken arch frames the dead warrant-bearer and the choice he has made.
Veyran
Go, Mariposo. Let them arrest one witness instead of two.
“I feel regretful, Veyran was a friend, perhaps he could have been more, but this is no time for sentimentality when I've lacked it for so long. "Goodbye, Veyran," I said giving him one last kiss before I turned and left with all of the resources.”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled +2)