The cottage is a ruin of splintered pine and floating dust. Haldan lies motionless on the floor, his breathing ragged, while Wolfie leans heavily against the frame, yearning for a bed that no longer exists.
Courier
Master Wolfie! The Magistrate is beyond patience. Three days you have ignored the summons regarding the garden incident.
Wolfie
My head is pounding, and my soul is begging for a week of uninterrupted REM sleep. Why does the universe insist on being so loud?
Wolfie
Take the scroll back, good fellow. Tell the Magistrate that I am currently engaged in a very important study of vertical alignment and floorboard structural integrity.
Courier
I am but a messenger, sir. My orders are to deliver this, and I suggest you read it before the Magistrate sends the watch to drag you from this mess.
+ Scene Quest Added
Respond to the Magistrate's summons regarding the garden incident
+ New Item Acquired
Magistrate's scroll
“Ask the messenger, what if he.. just so happened to, not find me to deliver the message, perhaps I wasn't here...”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Persuasion, rolled +2)
Wolfie
Surely a man of your professional standing could overlook a minor discrepancy in geography. I was not here when you arrived, and you simply could not find me to fulfill your delivery.
Courier
He is trying to bribe me with a logic puzzle. Still, the Magistrate is a dangerous man to disappoint.
Courier
Sir, my ledger requires a signature, or at least a confirmed sighting. If I return without either, my own head sits on the block.
Wolfie
He is sweating. If I lean on his fear of the Magistrate, I might just get my nap.
Wolfie
Listen closely. If you leave that scroll on the crate and walk away, your ledger remains unblemished. You saw no one. You spoke to no one. The Magistrate gets his message, and I get... absolute silence.
Courier
He speaks as if he has already won. Maybe it is better to leave him to his ruin than to stay here with that unconscious knight.
Courier
Very well. The scroll remains, and I was never here.
Quest Complete
Respond to the Magistrate's summons regarding the garden incident
Fault Removed: Feared Reputation