The winter hall doors open beneath the royal guards’ watch. Valia Wulfharth enters in court wizard’s robes, snow silvering her ash-brown hair, unaware of the full charge gathering against her house.
Valia Wulfharth
Your Majesty, I request a private word with Beareth before you summon me formally. Whatever this inquiry concerns, I would hear it from my brother.
The royal clerk draws the marked records close against his chest. Tilla’s escort remains near the chamber doors, while Tilla watches Valia with guarded uncertainty.
King Theodan Valiks
You arrive bearing the authority of my court, Valia, but these pages bear your family’s seal. I must weigh kinship against testimony.
Valia Wulfharth
I understand, Your Majesty. I have served your crown faithfully, and I will not ask you to set that duty aside for blood.
Theodan studies her, then glances toward Beareth and the sealed tome. Valia’s presence turns the inquiry from distant records into a family reckoning standing within arm’s reach.
King Theodan Valiks
You may speak with him under guard and in my hearing. No page leaves this chamber, and no appeal to family loyalty will outweigh the crown’s duty.
“"Sister, it is good to see you are well. What concerns you?"”
FAILURE (Mediocre Diplomacy, rolled -2)
“"Sister, it is good to see you are well. What concerns you?"”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Beareth Wulfharth
Sister, it is good to see you are well. What concerns you?
Valia’s guarded composure falters. The clerk’s grip tightens on the marked records, and a royal guard steps closer as the cost of the private exchange becomes suspicion.
Valia Wulfharth
I am concerned by the charge gathering here, Beareth, and by hearing our family named among criminals without understanding what you have placed before the king.
Valia Wulfharth
I do not ask you to surrender the tome or soften your testimony. I ask whether you believe our house knowingly committed these acts, or whether someone used its seal.
King Theodan remains silent, listening. The clerk lowers his eyes to the pages, while Tilla’s attention fixes on Valia’s face.
Valia Wulfharth
He has always spoken plainly when honor demanded it. Let his answer tell me whether I defend my family or face what it has done.
Valia Wulfharth
Tell me what concerns you most, brother. The records, the crown’s response, or what our family may do when judgment reaches the south.
“"I fear what our family will do. They have fallen from our vaunted histories. They willfully and gleefully deal with criminals, demons, and cultists all in efforts to obtain greater power."”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled -1)
Beareth Wulfharth
I fear what our family will do. They have fallen from our vaunted histories, dealing willfully and gleefully with criminals, demons, and cultists for greater power.
The words strike the winter hall into silence. Valia’s face loses its guarded certainty, while the clerk’s quill halts above the parchment.
Valia Wulfharth
You speak of deliberate dealings, Beareth. Not coercion, not forged seals, but choices made by our own blood for power?
King Theodan Valiks
Clerk, record this warning exactly. The inquiry will examine every criminal, demonic, and cultic connection named or implied by these records.
The royal guards tighten their watch around the chamber doors. Tilla’s expression hardens, and the marked records are placed beneath a second royal seal.
Valia Wulfharth
Then I will not defend what I cannot deny. If our house has chosen such allies, I will help the crown uncover the truth.
King Theodan Valiks
Your warning is heard, Beareth. I will protect the tome, the witnesses, and this inquiry from any retaliation House Wulfharth attempts.
“"Dear sister, you know of the arcane far better than I. Perhaps your eyes can discern any wards our kin have placed upon the tome. If they have used magic to hide graver sins we must know before those deals can be brought to bear against the crown and people of our home."”
SUCCESS (Good Magic, rolled +0)
Beareth Wulfharth
Dear sister, you know arcane matters better than I. Inspect the tome for wards hiding graver sins before these dealings are brought against crown and people.
Valia approaches the sealed tome beneath the king’s watch. She does not touch it at first, instead tracing the air above its cover with two careful fingers.
Valia Wulfharth
I will examine it without breaking the seal. If our kin hid anything, the magic may reveal where the ink refuses honest light.
A pale lattice of runes blooms over the leather, visible only when Valia speaks an old revealing charm. Beneath the family seal, darker sigils coil like thorns.
Valia Wulfharth
There are wards here, Beareth. Three concealments bind the pages: one veils names, one disguises payments, and one suppresses references to summoned powers.
Valia lays a crystal lens beside the tome and guides its light across the cover. The wards answer, exposing faint marks that point to concealed passages without damaging the book.
Valia Wulfharth
The hidden dealings are real, and this book contains more than its first reading shows. I can unravel the wards for the crown, under guard and with every step recorded.
✓ Quest Accepted
Uncover the tome's concealed dealings
“I turn to Tilla, "I thank you for seeing me this far, but you may find it needed to return to your family. Retribution will be delivered by mine, and House Valren must not fall."”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Beareth Wulfharth
I thank you for seeing me this far, Tilla, but you may find it needed to return to your family. Retribution will be delivered by mine, and House Valren must not fall.
Tilla studies him in the ward-lit chamber. Her guarded expression softens, though the decision costs her a place beside the inquiry and the protection her presence offers.
Tilla Valren
You have carried this burden far enough without asking me to carry it in your place. I will return to House Valren and warn them to stand clear of your family’s retaliation.
Tilla Valren
But hear me, Beareth. House Valren will not abandon you. If the crown calls for testimony, I will answer, even from my own halls.
Tilla turns to her escort and gives the order to prepare the road south. One guard removes the Valren travel pennant from the chamber standard, marking her withdrawal from the royal audience.
King Theodan Valiks
Her departure is granted, and House Valren will receive safe passage under my seal. The inquiry will continue without her presence, but not without her testimony.
Valia Wulfharth
He has persuaded her to leave for safety, yet neither of them mistakes distance for surrender.
“Looking to the king, I speak "My king I thank you for your offer of protection, but I can hardly sit by well my family has time to prepare, more of my kin will likely be arriving under the pretense of contesting my accusations. If only to obtain the tome and me as prisoner. There is no sin they will not commit. Allow me to survey the walls and attempt to fortify them against my House's treachery."”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Diplomacy, rolled -1)
Beareth Wulfharth
My king, I thank you for your protection, but I cannot sit idle while my family prepares. More kin may arrive claiming to contest my accusations, while seeking the tome and taking me prisoner. There is no sin they will not commit. Allow me to survey the walls and fortify them against House Wulfharth’s treachery.
King Theodan Valiks
Granted. Take my guards, inspect every gate and post, and strengthen this hall as you judge necessary. The crown will not wait helplessly for treachery to knock.
Beareth surveys the winter hall with the royal guards, testing doors, counting windows, and tracing the old ward-lines beneath the stone. Valia follows, lending arcane insight without touching the tome.
Valia Wulfharth
The eastern stair is the weakest approach. Reinforce its inner bar, and let the ward-light answer only to those bearing the king’s seal.
Under Beareth’s direction, guards drag a second iron brace across the eastern stair and shift heavy tables beneath the lower windows. The work succeeds, but the brace scrapes loudly across the floor.
King Theodan Valiks
The sound will carry through the palace, but concealment has already failed. Let every listening ear learn that this hall is ready.
By the time the survey ends, the winter hall has hardened into a defensible chamber, its entrances watched and its wards aligned to royal authority. The tome remains secured beneath the crown’s seal.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure Valia's testimony to the inquiry
“I ask Valia to record her ward findings before the crown.”
FAILURE (Mediocre Diplomacy, rolled -3)
“I ask Valia to record her ward findings before the crown.”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled -1)
Beareth Wulfharth
Valia, record every ward finding before the crown, including what each concealment hides and how it may be safely unraveled.
Valia sets parchment beside the sealed tome and begins writing beneath the king’s watch. Her script separates the three concealments, their signatures, and their suspected purposes.
Valia Wulfharth
I will record the names ward, payment ward, and summoned-power ward, along with the revealing charm and the limits of my examination.
The crystal lens brightens over the parchment, drawing faint symbols from the tome’s cover into Valia’s written account. Each mark settles as a precise arcane notation.
Valia Wulfharth
There. The crown has a faithful record of what I found, what remains concealed, and which signs would prove the wards were disturbed.
A sharp crack breaks the quiet as the crystal lens fractures across its center. The record remains legible, but the lens is spent and cannot guide another reading.
King Theodan Valiks
Clerk, seal this account with the tome’s evidence. Valia’s findings now stand before the crown as testimony, not family conjecture.
Quest Complete
Secure Valia's testimony to the inquiry
Quest Complete
Uncover the tome's concealed dealings
Skill Upgrade: Diplomacy Mediocre→Fair