Oswin Pell stays beneath the ruined tollhouse, too wounded for the marsh road. Elianor and Maurice follow the cart tracks west, birches closing around them in wet silence.
The trees thin before a low stone chapel crouched beyond Blackmere. Its door stands open beneath a darkened bell rope, and the household cart rests beside the wall.
Inside waits Father Ceredan, an elderly man with a narrow build and weathered face. Gray hair circles his bald crown, and a dark priest’s robe hangs beneath a rain-stained mantle.
Ash is worked into the scar crossing his cheek. Provisions fill the cart behind him, untouched, while the chapel’s bare altar and cold hearth offer no welcoming warmth.
Father Ceredan
Maurice Headsman. You bring the silver-marked woman yourself, then. I expected pursuit, not an executioner’s escort.
Maurice stops at the threshold, broad shoulders blocking part of the doorway. His hand settles near his sword, but he does not draw.
Maurice Headsman
We came for the provisions and the truth. No guards answer your silence, Father. Explain why the Baron wants her alive.
“I demand Ceredan explain the capture order”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled +0)
Elianor Vale
Father Ceredan, explain the Baron’s capture order. Why does he demand that I be brought here alive?
Father Ceredan studies Elianor’s silver brand, then reaches beneath his mantle and draws out a folded writ sealed in dark red wax. Maurice Headsman shifts forward, blocking the altar.
Father Ceredan
The Baron ordered your living delivery because your healing gift is tied to the mark. He believes the old chapel can bind that gift to his service.
Father Ceredan
He calls it a lawful consecration. In truth, he wants a healer who cannot refuse his commands, and he intends to make the chapel witness his claim.
The priest offers the writ across the bare altar. As Maurice Headsman takes it, the wax seal cracks loudly in the cold chapel, and Father Ceredan’s eyes sharpen with suspicion.
Father Ceredan
You have forced the matter into the open, silver-marked woman. Now I know the Baron’s order has reached someone who can challenge it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the Baron's writ as evidence
“Where can we find the Baron's writ”
FAILURE (Fair Reasoning, rolled -1)
Elianor Vale
Where can we find the Baron’s writ?
Father Ceredan glances from Elianor to the cracked seal in Maurice’s hand. The chapel’s damp air tightens around the question, and the priest does not reach for the document.
Father Ceredan
That is the writ. The Baron’s chancery sent it here with the riders, but the original order remains in his keeping. I was given only this sealed copy.
Maurice Headsman
A copy proves intent, but not who witnessed the order or what authority the Baron claims.
Maurice unfolds the parchment beside the altar. The cramped script names Elianor’s living delivery and the chapel, but the lower margin is smeared where a second seal or signature should be.
Father Ceredan
The missing endorsement was on the original. Without it, you cannot show whether the Baron acted alone, or under a higher seal.
Maurice Headsman
Then this copy will not lead us to the writ. It leads us to the chancery, and the people who saw the order prepared.
Quest Complete
Learn Father Ceredan's role in the Baron's capture order
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Great→Superb
“I ask Ceredan to testify against the Baron”
FAILURE (Good Diplomacy, rolled -4)
Elianor Vale
Father Ceredan, testify against the Baron. Tell the Duchess’s court what he ordered and why he wants me bound to his service.
Ceredan’s weathered face tightens. He looks toward the cracked writ in Maurice’s hand, then toward the chapel door, as though the request has made every stone a witness.
Father Ceredan
I will not. My testimony would name me as the man who received the order, prepared the rite, and kept silent while armed riders brought you here.
Maurice Headsman
Silence will not cleanse your part in this. It only leaves the Baron’s account unchallenged.
Father Ceredan
You mistake fear for loyalty. If I accuse him without protection, his chancery will call me a traitor and make the accusation proof of my guilt.
Ceredan steps backward and drops the chapel’s heavy crossbar into its brackets. The rough timber seals the door from within, turning the sanctuary into a temporary enclosure.
Father Ceredan
You will not carry me before any court today. Stay here, and perhaps I can offer names that matter more than my voice. Resist, and I call this an abduction.
“I promise Ceredan protection for his testimony”
SUCCESS (Good Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Elianor Vale
Father Ceredan, I promise you protection for your testimony. You will face the Duchess’s court under our guard, not the Baron’s reach.
The promise settles in the cold chapel. Maurice turns toward Ceredan, while the priest studies Elianor’s branded throat and the sealed door behind him.
Maurice Headsman
I will guard him to the Duchess’s court, as I guard you. No one takes him from us without facing me.
Father Ceredan
You offer protection knowing my testimony implicates me. That is more than the Baron ever offered. I will testify.
Ceredan lifts the crossbar from its brackets and opens the chapel door. Rain breathes across the threshold, and the road beyond lies empty.
Father Ceredan
The names are Chancellor Veyr, who drafted the order, and Sister Maelin, who witnessed the Baron’s seal. Both can confirm what he intended.
Maurice Headsman
Then we leave with the writ, the provisions, and your testimony. The Duchess’s court will hear how the Baron sought to bind her healer.
“I escort Ceredan to the Duchess’s court”
FAILURE (Fair Agility, rolled -2)
They leave the chapel with Ceredan between Elianor and Maurice, provisions secured beneath the cart cover. By dawn, the road reaches Blackmere’s swollen crossing.
The stone causeway has collapsed beneath the floodwater. On the far bank, a timber barricade blocks the higher road, marked with the Baron’s red seal.
Maurice Headsman
The crossing is impassable, and the barricade is deliberate. We cannot reach the Duchess’s court by this road without being seen.
Father Ceredan
There is another way. A ferry serves the old abbey ford, but the ferryman answers to the Baron’s toll captain.
Across the water, three mounted men, each a broad-shouldered adult man with a weathered face, dark hair, and a charcoal cloak over a rust-red tunic appear beside the barricade. Their cloaks bear no household colors, but each wears the Baron’s red cord openly.
Maurice Headsman
They have seen us. Stay with Ceredan and the cart. I will speak first, unless they give us cause to do otherwise.
Father Ceredan
If they recognize me, the Baron’s testimony may end before it reaches any court.
“I ask the mounted men for lawful passage”
SUCCESS (Good Diplomacy, rolled +1)
Elianor Vale
Mounted men, I ask lawful passage for myself, my guard, Father Ceredan, and these provisions under the Duchess’s protection.
The mounted leader reins in before the red-sealed barricade. His weathered gaze moves from Elianor’s silver brand to Ceredan’s ash-marked scar, while the other riders keep their hands near their weapons.
the mounted leader
Your request is lawful in form. Show the Duchess’s authority, and I will open the barricade for your party.
Maurice produces the household credentials and the cracked writ. The mounted leader examines both, then signals one rider to lift the timber barrier. The passage opens, but their suspicion remains fixed on Ceredan.
Maurice Headsman
You have granted passage. Remember that the Duchess’s protection covers the priest and every witness traveling with us.
the mounted leader
Pass, then. But your names and faces are now known to the Baron’s men, and I will report that Ceredan crossed under your protection.
Father Ceredan
The road is open, but the Baron now knows exactly where my testimony is headed.
Quest Complete
Secure the Baron's writ as evidence
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Fair→Good
+ New Item Acquired
Baron's writ