The heavy doors of the magistrates' offices swing inward, and the room falls still. A tall envoy in Gravathiir colors steps through, scroll in hand, eyes like polished flint.
Clerks freeze over their ledgers. Captain Hestia shifts beside Tragold, her sleeve marked with fresh ink, her stare hardening at the newcomer.
The Envoy
By leave of Gravathiir, I bring a formal inquiry. Your city’s new practices touch our trade lanes, and our patience.
The envoy unrolls the scroll just enough to flash wax seals and copied names. Several clerks glance at one another, suddenly less certain of the room.
Tragold
This is not a routine hearing. Someone expected this.
The Envoy
I am called Sareth. Which clerk here signs these complaints, and who taught them to count fear as evidence?
Captain Hestia
If you have proof of meddling, present it. If not, we will still hear you, Sareth.
✓ Quest Accepted
Answer Sareth’s formal inquiry
“Does the scroll contain the same names that the clerk was tracking as debts?”
YES (Likely, rolled 41)
Tragold
The names on that scroll... they are the same ones I saw in the clerk's ledger earlier.
Sareth
These individuals are not debtors, Captain. They are citizens of Gravathiir, and their names have been marked for extraction by your own staff.
“Are the clerks marking citizens for unlawful detention?”
YES (VeryLikely, rolled 28)
Tragold
The ink on the clerk's ledger matches the official seal on the envoy's scroll. They are not just tracking debts, they are cataloging people for removal.
Clerks
We only follow the directives provided by the magistrate's office, envoy. If the names are marked, it is because they have been processed for relocation.
“Are the clerks hiding a magistrate's order?”
YES (VeryLikely, rolled 66)
Tragold
The clerk's hand is shaking too much to be simple fear of an envoy. They are shielding a document tucked beneath the ledger.
Clerks
We have no other orders to show you, envoy. The ledger is the only record of our current business.
As the clerk shifts their weight, a corner of a heavy, wax-sealed parchment slips from beneath the ledger, bearing the unmistakable crest of the magistrate.
“Tragold points to the hidden parchment. "Hestia! That is same symbol on letter you shows about 'gatherings'! Mag... mage..." he struggles with the word 'magistrate'. "One in charge starts it all!"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled -2)
Tragold lifts a claw and points straight at the slipping parchment. The chamber goes tight and still.
Tragold
Hestia, that symbol... same as your letter about gatherings. Magistrate... the one in charge starts it all.
The clerk jerks back from the desk, and the hidden seal shows clearly for a heartbeat, red wax stamped with the magistrate's crest.
Captain Hestia
So it is not clerical drift. It is a directive.
Sareth
Then your office has been sorting my people for removal under city authority.
One clerk swallows hard, their quill dropping and leaving an ink blot across the ledger as they lose their grip on the page.
Captain Hestia
Show me every name beneath that seal, now.
Quest Complete
Find out who is targeting kobolds through the law
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Superb→Legendary
“Tragold leans forward as the clerk opens the seal. One name stands out clearly to him. 'Vekra'. Tragold openly gasps. Not only has the magistrate been targetting kobolds, but has somehow infiltrated his tribe to learn specific names of those within it. "H-how...?" Tragold says, his jaw quivering as fear threatens to take him. He looks up at Hestia and Sareth, a silent plea for help to protect his people.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +2)
The clerk peels the seal free with shaking fingers. The parchment opens wider, and one line near the center catches Tragold’s eye.
Tragold
Vekra.
His breath breaks in a sharp gasp. The name is not a tally mark or a street note, it is his own tribe, named like a target.
Tragold
H-how...?
Tragold lifts his gaze from the page to Hestia, then to Sareth, looking for a shield in their faces before the shame can become fear.
Captain Hestia
Then say it plainly, all of it. If they reached into your people’s names, I need every detail you can give me.
Sareth
And if my citizens are being marked from within this city, I will hear the truth under your roof, not after.
The chamber holds still around him, not with peace, but with attention. For once, the magistrates’ office waits on Tragold’s answer.
“Somehow, the magistrate's people have gotten names of those within his tribe. He shakes his head. "Tragold... not know. They not do anything. Tragod is only one in tribe to come into city. They not hurts anyone," he explains. "Crone Vekra is teacher, and shaman to chief. She raises Tragold. She raises many kobolds to be good."”
SUCCESS (Great Persuasion, rolled +4)
Tragold
Tragold shakes his head. He says the people in his tribe do nothing wrong, and that he is the only one who has come into the city.
Tragold
He adds that Crone Vekra is their teacher and shaman to the chief, the one who raises kobolds to be good.
Captain Hestia
Her stern look eases, and the suspicion in her jaw gives way to something harder to name.
Sareth
Then the city has been measuring a whole people by one frightened ledger. That is not trade practice, that is a stain.
Captain Hestia
I hear you, Tragold. If Vekra guides your people, then her name belongs in this inquiry too, not buried under theirs.
Sareth
And if this Crone shapes the tribe toward peace, I would know her methods. Names that are handled like debts can be corrected, but only if we keep speaking plainly.
The clerk's shoulders sink as the page lies open between them. Hestia marks Vekra's name on the inquiry scroll, and Sareth studies Tragold with formal, assessing respect.
Quest Complete
Answer Sareth’s formal inquiry
New Gift: Diplomatic Mediator
“"What do Tragold need to do?" he asks, barely containing his fear.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled -2)
Tragold
What do I need to do?
The words leave Tragold rough, but clear. The room seems to lean toward him, waiting on the answer.
Sareth
You tell us what you know, plainly and in full. Who made the lists, who ordered them, and who else was named.
Captain Hestia
And you stay with the truth even if it stains my office. If this reaches beyond clerks, I need it named before dusk.
Sareth
A witness who asks what is required is rarer than a witness who hides. This kobold may be the hinge of the matter.
Hestia slides the marked inquiry scroll toward Tragold, but the ink on Vekra's name is still wet. The clerk swallows hard, and the spilled blot on the parchment darkens under the lamp.
✓ Quest Accepted
Help expose who ordered the kobold purge lists
“Tragold shakes his head. "Tragold not knows," he admits. "Chief is Grom. He orders kobolds to wait for Tragold and hunts only for food. Krixix is head of warriors, and Flit head of scouts and hunters. They all good, never cause teouble for tribe." Tragold swallows, panic threatening to rise in him as fear for his people grows. "Why...? Why magi...mager... why one in charge want kobolds gone?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -2)
Tragold shakes his head, and the desk goes still around the small motion. His answer comes out careful, then rougher at the edges as he names Grom, Krixix, and Flit, and says they keep order for the tribe.
Tragold
Tragold not knows. Chief is Grom. He orders kobolds to wait for Tragold and hunts only for food. Krixix is head of warriors, and Flit head of scouts and hunters. They all good, never cause teouble for tribe.
The clerks flinch at the names, and the ink blot on the desk spreads under a twitching quill. Tragold swallows hard, but he keeps going, because the question in the room is bigger than his fear.
Tragold
Why... why mage... mager... why one in charge want kobolds gone?
Sareth
Then the order is not against a rabble at all. It is against a peaceful people with leaders, structure, and names.
Captain Hestia
Names matter. If they wrote your tribe into debt ledgers, then they were building a case, not recording a fact.
Hestia’s jaw tightens, but her eyes stay on Tragold, not the cowering clerks. Sareth lowers the inquiry scroll to the desk beside Vekra’s wet mark, and the room feels less like a hearing now, more like the start of proof.
Quest Complete
Help expose who ordered the kobold purge lists