The group threads through service alleys toward the south countinghouse, with Guard Two bound at the wrists and watched by Steven and Garrick. Rain darkens the cobbles, while Merrin, Joe, Edrin, and BonerFart keep close behind.
Guard Two
The archive entrance is ahead. Veyr will have heard the alarm by now, but the inner vault has only one keyway.
The countinghouse door hangs ajar. Inside, record chests stand open beneath guttering lamps, their papers scattered as though hands searched in haste. A silver thread clings to a splintered drawer.
Merrin
Fresh. Whoever opened this drawer left quickly, and left something worth fearing behind.
Footsteps rush deeper within. Several clerks flee across the archive, clutching bundles of ledgers, while a heavy inner door booms shut beyond them. Edrin points toward the sound.
Edrin Vale
They are running for the vault. The route maps and Barack’s correspondence will be behind that lock.
From somewhere beyond the sealed door, a man curses and metal scrapes against stone. Guard Two lowers his gaze, recognizing the voice before anyone asks.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure a reliable route to Barack
“I put my dagger to the guards throat ordering him to communicate to the other side of the door that its him, its safe, and to let him in before it becomes unsafe.. and I make it clear to the guard that if he is unable to persuade the one on the other side to cooperate it means his life.. as we can find another way without him. The others poised and ready for action, or reaction...”
SUCCESS (Fair Willpower, rolled +1)
BonerFart
Tell him it is you. Tell him the way is safe, and make him open that door. If you cannot persuade him, your life has no use to us.
BonerFart’s acid-edged dagger rests beneath Guard Two’s jaw. The guard’s breath catches, and the others settle into ready positions around the archive, silent and watchful.
Guard Two
Veyr, it is me. The way is clear. Open the door and let me through, before this becomes unsafe.
For a moment, Guard Two’s voice falters under the threat. His composure cracks visibly, but he forces the words through and keeps his gaze fixed on the sealed door.
Guard Two
You hear me, Veyr. Open it now. I bring news from the outer archive, and I am not alone.
The scraping beyond the door stops. A bolt withdraws, then another. The heavy door opens inward just wide enough for a man to admit the bound guard.
Guard Two
There. I have done what you ordered. Do not make me prove the rest of my loyalty with my life.
“I ask the guard, are there any traps or alarms? Is he the ONLY one in there? And upon answering i throw the guard out of the way.. ready a lightning arrow, bust open the door and put the arrow in veyr's chest at the shoulder, NOT killing severely wounding...”
FAILURE (Great Ranged Combat, rolled -2)
BonerFart
Are there traps or alarms beyond that door? And are you the only one inside?
Guard Two
A bell-thread across the threshold, and a ward keyed to the lock. Veyr is inside, with two archive clerks. No guards.
BonerFart throws the guard aside. The man tumbles against a chest as BonerFart draws the lightning bow and drives his shoulder into the heavy door.
The door bursts inward. Veyr, a lean middle-aged man in dark sleeves sewn with silver thread, stands behind the lock with two terrified clerks crouched near the vault.
BonerFart releases. Blue lightning cracks across the chamber, but Veyr twists aside. The arrow strikes the iron vault frame, bursting the bell-thread into a shrill magical chime.
Veyr
Fool! You have triggered the inner seal. The vault is closed to every living hand now.
Violet lines race over the floor between the group and the vault. The clerks flee toward a side passage, while Veyr retreats behind the sealed iron door, clutching the keyway.
✓ Quest Accepted
Capture Veyr
− Scene Quest Removed
Secure a reliable route to Barack
“We assess every single detail about the room using EVERY advantage we can to find a clear path forward to capture Veyr. Dispatch of the guard and try to capture the clerics too... if we can. Lethal means are acceptable in this instance.”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +1)
BonerFart’s keen senses map the chamber in a breath: the violet lines are a warded lattice, but a narrow gap runs along the left wall beneath the hanging ledgers.
BonerFart
The ward answers the lock, not the room. The left wall is safe.
He marks the path with two fingers. Garrick drags Guard Two behind a chest and binds him tighter, silencing his warning before it can carry.
Steven crosses the safe strip first, hooks one fleeing clerk’s ankle, and pulls him down. Merrin intercepts the second, a young woman in a dark green dress with braided auburn hair at the side passage, powder pouch raised.
Merrin
Hands where I can see them. Kneel, and this ends without pain.
Both clerks surrender beneath the group’s weapons. Edrin gathers their keys while BonerFart advances along the unlit margin, leaving the ward untouched.
Veyr
You cannot reach me through the seal.
“I have merrin connect with the woman and joe to connect with the older man.. finess and persuade the information we need out of them to keep us all safe and open the door.. quickly and quietly. Be sure they know it is not THEIR blood we are after! Help us and be on your way”
SUCCESS (Superb Persuasion, rolled +2)
BonerFart
Merrin, take the woman. Joe, take the older man. Tell them plainly: we want information, not their blood. Help us, then leave safely.
Merrin lowers her powder pouch and crouches beside the young woman, while Joe approaches the older clerk with open hands. The warded lattice hums beneath their careful voices.
Merrin
You are not our quarry. Tell me how to quiet this seal and keep everyone breathing, and you walk out unharmed.
The Young Clerk
The threshold bell is already spent. Veyr can release the inner ward from the brass plate beside the vault, but he must turn the key twice.
Joe
You heard her. We need the door open, and we need the safe path. Give us both, and no one here becomes a name in our ledger.
The Clerk
The left margin remains clear. Veyr keeps the release phrase beneath his sleeve. It is, 'By witness, unbar.' He will obey if he believes we are leaving.
The clerks whisper the phrase toward the sealed vault. Veyr’s expression tightens, then he turns the brass plate and speaks the words. Violet lines fade, the iron door unlocks, and a quiet passage opens.
“I use my keen senses, arcane insight, and trackers intuition to assess the "quiet passage" and get a good sense of Veyr's whereabouts and any further traps or obstacles. Once I have a good sense of surroundings I shadow step my way to a safe vantage ready to pounce should I encounter him on my way. My team behind me following the swift and talented moves of their leader until we apprehend Veyr.”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +1)
BonerFart studies the quiet passage through keen senses and arcane insight. The ward has truly faded: no bell-thread remains, and the stones hold no fresh spell beyond the vault’s brass release.
BonerFart
Veyr is moving toward the countinghouse’s rear records gallery. He is alone, and the left-hand alcove gives me the safest approach.
Tracker’s intuition catches Veyr’s fading trail in dust and lamp soot. Beyond the passage, one concealed tripwire hangs harmlessly, already cut; no other obstacle threatens the route.
BonerFart shadow-steps across the safe margin and reappears in a dark alcove overlooking the rear gallery. From there, Veyr’s silver-threaded sleeves show between stacked ledgers.
Merrin, Joe, Garrick, Steven, and Edrin follow his swift route without disturbing the fading ward. They spread silently behind him, sealing the passage and every retreat.
Veyr bends over a shallow chest, unaware of the ring closing behind him. BonerFart settles into the perfect striking angle, bow ready and shadow gathered around his feet.
“My eyes and hands bo the talking telling Garric to punch as my arrow strikes. I signal to merrin to have a smoke bomb or other impairment ready with Steve ready to strike as a plan b.. i signal to garick with a head nod... aim and loose an arrow striking veyr in the ass hurting him but not killing him. As we approach the wounded and get all the value we can out of him before we dispatch of him.”
SUCCESS (Great Ranged Combat, rolled +0)
BonerFart’s hands speak first. He signals Merrin to ready smoke, then marks Steven for the second strike and gives Garrick a sharp nod. The allies understand without a word.
His lightning-enchanted bow rises. The arrow crosses the gallery and drives into Veyr’s rear, dropping him against the shallow chest with a strangled cry. Ledgers spill across the floor.
Veyr
You could have taken the records without this. Barack will bury every witness before dawn.
Garrick reaches him first, wrenching the bow away and forcing him facedown across the scattered ledgers. Merrin uncorks a smoke bomb, while Steven covers the gallery’s rear arch.
Veyr
The correspondence is in the black chest. Barack’s private seal opens it, and the final orders are beneath the false bottom. He planned the canal ambush himself.
BonerFart and the others close around the wounded clerk. Garrick binds his hands, Merrin keeps the smoke ready, and Veyr’s secrets now lie within reach before his fate is decided.
Quest Complete
Capture Veyr
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Good→Great