The ledge shudders under a fresh crack. Enanita holds her ground at the bridge mouth, relic raised, while the Magistrate skids to a stop before her. Behind her, Veyl and Brann fight for balance as snow lashes sideways.
The Magistrate
You cannot mean to doom us all for a grudge. Let me pass, and I will answer elsewhere.
The relic flares in Enanita's hand, and the air over the bridge shivers with stolen light. The mountain answers with a groan from below, as if it too has heard the lie.
Enanita
Veyl
Do not let him bargain. He has had years to speak truth, and chose rot instead.
Brann
Enanita, the bridge will not hold long. Make him yield, or cast him back, but decide now.
The Magistrate glances at the bridge, then at the cliff edge behind him. For the first time, there is no road left that does not pass through judgment.
+ Scene Quest Added
Make the Magistrate yield
“Is the Magistrate trapped with no escape?”
YES (VeryLikely, rolled 70)
Enanita
The stone beneath his boots is crumbling into the abyss, and there is nowhere left for him to run.
The Magistrate looks down at the sheer drop, his face draining of color as he realizes the path behind him has vanished into the clouds.
“I pin the Magistrate to the ledge”
SUCCESS (Good Strength, rolled -1)
Enanita lunges in and drives the Magistrate back against the broken edge. His heel skids, then stops short of open air.
The Magistrate
No, wait, I yield, I yield!
His hands fly up, palms open, chin tucked hard to his chest as the wind claws at his robes.
Brann
Hold him there. Do not let him touch the snow behind him.
Veyl
Good. Let him feel the edge he made for others.
The ledge shudders under their weight, and loose grit patters into the void below.
The Magistrate
What do you want from me? Say it, and I will answer.
Quest Complete
Make the Magistrate yield
+ Scene Quest Added
Question the Magistrate about the archive corruption
“I question the Magistrate about the archive corruption”
SUCCESS (Great Persuasion, rolled +0)
The Magistrate
Ask, then. I have little left to bargain with.
Enanita
Who ordered the archive records altered, and what were they hiding?
The Magistrate
The ledgers were scrubbed to bury the names of the hungry, the jailed, the disappeared. I signed the seal. I told myself it was order.
Brann
Names in place of numbers. That is how corruption survives.
Veyl
Say the rest. Who carried it out?
The Magistrate
A clerk in the inner archive, under my hand. He brought me copies, and I marked them clean. He said the original vault would never be checked.
The Magistrate
If you need proof, there is a false key in the seal room, and a second ledger hidden behind the winter rolls.
Quest Complete
Question the Magistrate about the archive corruption