After three hard days, the escort reaches Hanor with its provisions nearly gone. The gate wardens admit the coach without delay, and the tired horses carry them toward the magistrate’s office.
The office door hangs broken from one hinge. Inside, shelves lie overturned, drawers gape open, and Pike’s case files litter the floor beneath splintered wood.
King Gandien stands amid the wreckage in gold and steel plate, examining a torn folder without disturbing the scattered papers. The magistrate, a middle-aged woman with a sturdy build, olive skin, cropped dark hair, and a red wool dress beneath a gray cloak is nowhere in sight.
King Gandien
You arrived with the evidence, then. Keep the sealed coach secured. This destruction happened recently, but I found no sign of the magistrate.
The unfamiliar goblin paladin crouches near the rear passage, her fierce gaze fixed on faint, bloodless boot marks crossing the dust. They lead through a back exit toward the service lane.
Beelz
Fresh tracks. Someone left through there after searching these files, and they walked cleanly away. No wounded magistrate dragged behind them.
The mud-stained pilgrim remains beside Dagg, while the watcher beyond the hedgerow watches the street from the office threshold. Behind them, the sealed evidence stays locked in the coach, untouched and waiting.
✓ Quest Accepted
Find the missing magistrate
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine who searched the magistrate’s office
“{Dagg inspects every inch of the building to find any evidence of what happened here} {After h is done he follows th etracks inspecting every inch and determining exactly where they went using his skills of finding his herd of cattle from his ranch} I see a small set of tracks following the magistrates, they seem to be from a gnome. {Dagg looks towards the King} Hello random person, do you know of any nefarious gnomes about this city?”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +1)
Dagg searches every room, shelf, drawer, and splintered panel. His relaxed nature makes the careful work drag, but official habits focus him on seals, written margins, and disturbed dust. He finds a narrow line of clean dust where a folder was removed, plus boot marks leading toward the rear passage.
He follows the marks outside, comparing their spacing and depth as he would follow scattered cattle across his ranch. The trail crosses the service lane, skirts a rain barrel, and turns toward a narrow alley behind the magistrate’s building.
The smaller prints separate from the magistrate’s boot marks at the alley mouth, then continue alone toward the east wall and a low postern gate. Dagg identifies the traveler as a gnome by the compact stride and distinctive narrow heel marks.
Dagg Nabbitt
Hello, random person. Do you know of any nefarious gnomes about this city?
King Gandien
I am King Gandien, not a random person. I know of no nefarious gnome, but these tracks are fresh enough to matter.
The inspection costs the escort valuable morning time, and the office’s scattered papers leave one uncertainty: Dagg can identify the gnome’s route, but not which stolen file the traveler carried. Still, the trail ends clearly at the east postern.
Beelz
Then stop questioning the king and guard that gate. Someone small left with purpose, and purpose is enough to follow.
“Wait! This is the King Gandien I have heard so much about? I was told you had long hair tied back into a ponytail? What happened there? Also can we show im the evidence before we find thie magistrate, if he is as honorable as the stories I have been told, he will help us there.”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled -1)
Dagg Nabbitt
Wait! You are King Gandien, the king I have heard about? I was told your long hair was tied in a ponytail. What happened to it?
Dagg’s suspicion, fed by every old tale of disguises and royal impostors, studies the king’s face, armor, hair, and bearing. His habit of reading official accounts steadies the judgment: the description matches the records he has read.
King Gandien
The ponytail remains, though the road and this ruined office have made it less orderly. Yes, I am Gandien. Ask what you must, then show me the evidence.
Dagg Nabbitt
Can we show you the evidence before we find the magistrate? If you are as honorable as the stories say, you can help us here.
Dagg brings King Gandien to the secured coach and presents the sealed testimonies, Pike’s writ, ledger, broken tally, and the letter that warned of the road meeting. The seals remain intact.
King Gandien
You have my help. I will review these records, protect their chain of custody, and lead the search for Odran Pell without allowing this evidence to disappear.
“{Dagg gets a snaking suspicion that this is not the real King Gandien. His armor does not look like what the stories have told, he has not presented any royal information showing his staus, and he remembers hearing about Gandien having a pulled back ponytail and golden hair, Dagg also knows that the real Gandien can turn into a massive lion to dispatch his enemies} I wish to see the lion {Dagg says confidently and vaguely in hopes of catching what he thinks is an imposter off guard}”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +0)
Dagg Nabbitt
I wish to see the lion.
The request sounds casual, but Dagg’s superstitious caution tightens around every tale of disguises and hidden enemies. His memory of official accounts steadies him: the recorded king bears golden hair, a pulled-back ponytail, and the power to become a massive lion. He holds the suspicion plainly, though a brief hesitation betrays how much he fears being wrong.
King Gandien
You have asked for proof, and I will give it. Stand clear of the coach.
King Gandien steps into the open yard. Gold and steel shift as his body swells, his armor falling away from a vast golden-maned lion form. The change is swift and complete, and the animal’s heavy paws settle against the stones.
Beelz
That is the king. No counterfeit wears truth so heavily.
The lion lowers his head toward Dagg, then resumes Gandien’s armored shape. Dagg’s strained composure leaves him quieter than before, but the proof is undeniable, and the escort’s authority is secured.
“{Daggs love of animals makes him smile widely, he knows that this is a person in animal form but he can not hold back his excitement} So it is the King! You have my full attention now, lets track down this magistrate.”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +0)
Dagg Nabbitt
So it is the King! You have my full attention now. Let us track down this magistrate.
Dagg smiles broadly at the remembered lion, delighted by the living animal shape despite knowing the king remains a person. Then he turns toward the postern, ready to work.
King Gandien
Good. Odran Pell knows these offices better than anyone. We will follow the tracks before the city’s traffic erases them.
At the east postern, Dagg reads the compact heel marks through damp grit and notices a faint scrape where the traveler paused. They continue along the wall toward the old records cellar.
His relaxed habit costs precious minutes as he lingers over a torn paper corner and its careful ink, unwilling to leave a useful detail unread. Still, the animal-like trail fixes the route.
Beelz
There. A barred cellar door, and breathing behind it. Open it before the trail becomes meaningless.
Gandien lifts the bar, and the search succeeds. Odran Pell, a middle-aged woman with a narrow build, pale freckled skin, cropped brown hair, and a rumpled gray clerk's dress, sits inside among scattered files, shaken but alive, with the missing folder beside her. She says the gnome fled after leaving her locked in the cellar.
Quest Complete
Find the missing magistrate
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Good→Great
New gift: Questions Witnesses