The passage opens beneath Saint Orra’s fallen arch, where Captain Coldcock waits with drawn sword and two rain-soaked royal soldiers behind him. Mariposo has vanished into the rainy, shadowy darkness of the twirling branches of the emerald jungle.
Veyran
Hello, captain. Pleasure it is to see you again. Let's get this over with, then.
Coldcock
Where is he?
Mariposo's turn“I watch silently from the shadows as Coldcock tries to intimidate information out of Veyran.”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled -2)
Mariposo's turn“I watch silently from the shadows as Coldcock tries to intimidate information out of Veyran.”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +0)
From the twirling branches, Mariposo watches unseen. Coldcock’s sword remains leveled while two rain-soaked soldiers spread behind her, sealing the arch and the passage.
Coldcock
Where is he? Answer plainly, and perhaps I let you keep your teeth.
Veyran
He is gone. You may search the jungle, but you will find only rain and the corpse you came to explain.
Coldcock’s gaze cuts toward the branches, but Veyran laughs softly and steps into her swordpoint. His hand stays hooked in Mariposo’s scruff, keeping the hidden man low.
Veyran
Take me instead. The warrant names me, the body is here, and your report can say the accomplice was captured. His trial disappears with mine.
The soldiers advance. Veyran gives Mariposo’s scruff one playful tug, then releases him into the darkness, turning his body to shield the copied page’s route.
Coldcock
Bind him. If the fugitive returns, the jungle will give him back to us.
− Story Quest Removed
Deliver the evidence to a powerful ally
Veyran
“North, Mariposo. Let them bind the man who stayed.”
Rain stitched the darkness together as Veyran stepped into Coldcock’s reach, the copied page hidden beyond any search.
Coldcock
“Bind him if the fugitive returns. He answers for this.”
Mariposo
He bought me the road. I will not waste it.
Mariposo slipped north through the soaked branches, carrying the truth toward shelter while Veyran carried the crown’s anger alone.
By dawn, the evidence had crossed beyond Coldcock’s immediate grasp, and the lie meant to bury it had become Veyran’s shield. Mariposo vanished into the northern dark, free for the moment, while Veyran’s sacrifice fixed the cost of freedom in memory. The rain fell on both roads, and the chapter closed.