The mayor leads Vyce and Tovin through a warped door into a cramped riverside office. Rain rattles the shutters, but the doubled thunder fades behind thick walls, leaving only the river's steady shove.
Vyce laughs kindly, his golden eyes still aching from the Blinkstep, and gestures toward the dripping pair as though rescuing stranded relatives were an ordinary evening errand.
The Mayor
Sit, both of you. I will explain everything before the river invents another disaster.
The mayor unlocks a cedar cabinet and spreads ledgers across the desk. Inked columns, seals, and crossed-out figures describe a bridge levy swollen into a debt no honest mayor could settle before sunset.
The Mayor
The terms demand the purse, the ferry charter, and our family house. They changed the figures after my sibling crossed, then barred every boat from returning.
Tovin
Someone wanted us divided. I was stranded because they knew Marra would spend everything to reach me, whatever the records claimed.
Tovin watches Marra rather than the papers, anger tight beneath his fear. She meets his gaze, and the office settles around their silence while the impossible debt waits open before Vyce.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish the truth of the altered debt
✓ Quest Accepted
Overturn the fraudulent bridge levy
Director's notewhole tale
I clap Tovin jovially on the back to help defuse his frustration as I take a seat beside and read over contracts.
“I wish Pongo, a friend of mine, was here. She's better with contracts than I. But who put out the contract in the first place? And why would they want to alter it? More importantly who supports their claims over yours?”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled +0)
Vyce
I wish Pongo were here. She understands contracts better than I do. Who issued this one, why alter it, and who supports those claims?
Vyce laughs kindly, claps Tovin jovially on the back, and takes the chair beside him. He bends over the ledgers, tracing seals and corrections with a ringed finger.
The Mayor
The original contract came from the Bridgewardens' Office, under Registrar Odran Pell. He claims the levy was approved by our council.
The seal beneath the first figures is old and properly impressed. The later columns use fresh ink, a different hand, and a narrow brass-stamped mark from the office of the river assessor.
Tovin
Odran altered it after I crossed. He needed Marra desperate, because the assessor and three councilors promised to uphold whatever figure he presented.
The Mayor
Councilor Hessa, Councilor Branik, and Councilor Vale signed witness statements. The assessor, Seldo Rusk, holds the only matching copy, or so they insist.
The ledger's altered total contradicts its own dated seal. More importantly, the supporting statements all bear ink from the same bottle, mixed with the assessor's distinctive blue grit.
Quest Complete
Establish the truth of the altered debt