Logan kneels beneath the cot and opens the folded scrap without disturbing its creases. The paper bears Merek Thane’s angular mark, a partial room reference, and an unfinished instruction.
Logan Scarborough
It reads, “Room seven, after the second bell. Deliver the witness to the official who bears...” The rest was torn away.
He holds the scrap beside the hospice ledger. The abbreviated mark, ink color, and cramped strokes correspond with Thane’s entries, while the room reference points deeper into the hospice.
Tomoka
That instruction was written for someone expected to understand the hospice without a full address. The missing words may identify who came after Thane.
Halven Rusk
I know that phrasing. Thane used it when the other official arrived. He called the person...”
Halven stops, his fingers tightening around his faded robe. His clouded eye shifts toward the open corridor, where guild shelter awaits, while Logan keeps the scrap raised.
Halven Rusk
If I finish that sentence, Voss will know exactly what I heard. But the room reference is real. I can tell you who came after Thane.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the hospice instruction scrap
undefined / undefined
A deep bell sounds beneath the hospice, though no bell tower stands nearby. Dust spills from the ceiling, and the open corridor shudders around them.
Halven Rusk
That is the lower ward. It has been sealed since the night of the murder. No one should be ringing it.
The scrap in Logan’s hand darkens along its torn edge, the ink briefly shining blue. From deeper within the hospice comes a muffled locking mechanism.
Logan Scarborough
The writing is reacting to something below us. I can ward the doorway, but I cannot tell whether the effect is magical or merely a trap.
Tomoka
We shouldn't move Halven through an unstable corridor. I'll mark this room and call the guild shelter party inside.
A thread of pale blue light crawls beneath the floorboards, tracing a path from the locked chest toward the unseen lower ward. Halven backs from it, breathing sharply.
Halven Rusk
The other official used that light. He said it would make the room forget what happened. I can show you where the stairs begin.
“"This is the work of the officials? Show us just where these stairs are. Was there any trigger they used to command this sorcery to activate?" I then turn my attention over Logan. "In the off chance that we do manage to accidentally set off this light, it is best that you steer clear from it. At least one of us must recall the events that has occurred thus far."”
SUCCESS (Great Persuasion, rolled -3)
Judge
This is the work of the officials? Show us just where these stairs are. Was there any trigger they used to command this sorcery to activate? Logan, if the light stirs, keep clear of it. At least one of us must remember what happened here.
Halven studies Judge’s mask, then accepts the command. He crosses to the far wall and presses two fingers beneath a warped stone; a concealed stairwell opens as blue light spills down its steps.
Halven Rusk
There. Thane brought me through these stairs after the second bell. The sorcery answered when he pressed his seal to the third step and spoke, “Let the record sleep.”
The blue thread brightens beneath the third step, responding to Halven’s account without being touched. Logan retreats from the stairhead and raises a careful ward across the doorway.
Logan Scarborough
I will keep outside its reach. The light is keyed to the seal and the phrase, not merely the bell, so accidental activation seems unlikely unless someone repeats both.
Halven Rusk
I have shown you the way and named the trigger. In return, I require your written protection before I descend again. If you refuse, I will not risk my life for another official’s hidden chamber.
Halven’s demand places his continued testimony in Judge’s hands: the stairs and trigger are known, but further guidance now requires a formal promise of protection from the authority he has chosen to trust.