The six swordsmen slip through the ajar postern, securing the narrow service passage without a shout. Thomas Rusk, Abel Norr, Hugh Pritchard, Silas Wren, Matthew Cole, and Corporal James Venn hold every turn.
Beyond the passage lies the comptroller’s abandoned office. Dust veils the desk, but the drawers stand disturbed, and an iron cabinet waits locked against the wall.
Arus Gandon
Someone searched this room recently, and left in haste.
Corporal James Venn forces the cabinet with a narrow blade. Inside, surviving memoranda rest beneath ruined account books, including a torn section matching the missing clerk’s crate.
Corporal James Venn
Sir, these entries do more than expose the Baron’s accounts. They record payments, deliveries, and protection arranged through John Carter.
The pages name Carter beside coded sums and dates, proving the intercepted papers were part of Billings’s financial network, not an isolated theft. Outside, the estate remains unnervingly quiet.
Thomas Rusk
The household has not raised an alarm. Shall we secure the office and search for the steward’s key, sir?
✓ Quest Accepted
Recover the missing comptroller’s memoranda
“"No need for the key, Mr. Rusk, nor our forgotten warrants, now that we have the evidence we were seeking partially in-hand. I know where some of what is missing is already safely in the Viscount's possession. Now we only need the testimony of the accused. I will ask which two of men are most ready to stand guard over the cabinet contents and the comptroller's office while the rest pursue persons of interest.”
SUCCESS (Good Intrigue, rolled +1)
Arus Gandon
No need for the key, Mr. Rusk, nor our forgotten warrants. We have enough evidence in hand, and the rest is safely with the Viscount. I want testimony now. Which two of you are readiest to guard this office while the others pursue persons of interest?
Arus rests one hand on the ruined ledger books, making the choice sound like a mark of discipline rather than a test. The six swordsmen glance from the cabinet to the silent corridor.
Thomas Rusk
Corporal Venn and I, sir. We can hold the cabinet and office without disturbing the papers, while the others seek whoever still answers to these entries.
Corporal James Venn
Agreed. Abel, Hugh, Silas, and Matthew should spread through the household and find the steward or any servant named in these memoranda.
Venn takes position beside the iron cabinet, while Rusk secures the office door and gathers the loose pages into a careful stack. Their restraint preserves the evidence exactly where it lies.
Corporal James Venn
The office is secured, sir. We will admit no one without your word, and the others may begin questioning the household at once.
The four remaining swordsmen move into the passage with quiet purpose, leaving Venn and Rusk as a fixed guard over the cabinet and the surviving memoranda.
✓ Quest Accepted
Obtain testimony from the accused
− Scene Quest Removed
Recover the missing comptroller’s memoranda
“"Very well, Corporal. I will send a relief to aid your collection of the evidence as soon as the first elements of the rest of the Regiment reach the estate grounds. For now, merely hold this office with the authority of The Sheriff of Cornwall's orders that these effects are confiscated, and now property of a formal investigation of the Crown." I will then wait for their acknowledgement, and I will lead the remaining detachment into the halls of the manor house, searching for Baron Alfred Billings and his Stewardess of the estate, questioning servants briskly for their whereabouts along the way.”
SUCCESS (Good Intrigue, rolled -1)
Arus Gandon
Very well, Corporal. Hold this office under the Sheriff of Cornwall’s authority. I will send relief when the Regiment arrives, and lead the others through the house.
Corporal James Venn
Acknowledged, sir. Mr. Rusk and I will guard the confiscated papers as Crown property, and admit no one without your word.
Arus leads Abel, Hugh, Silas, and Matthew into the manor halls. Servants falter beneath their questions, then point toward the west study when the Sheriff’s authority is invoked.
A Household Servant
The Baron went to the west study with the stewardess. She carried the household keys and ordered everyone away.
The detachment reaches the west study without resistance. Sir Alfred Billings stands behind the desk, while an elderly woman in a dark green gown, iron-gray hair, and a ring of keys faces the door beside him.
Sir Alfred Billings
You enter my house with soldiers and no warrant in hand. This is an outrage, Gandon, and a reckless abuse of the Sheriff’s name.
Margery Vale
Margery Vale, my lord. I will answer for the household, but I will not let these men pretend their search is lawful merely because they speak loudly.
“The very warrants you request come not far behind us, Mrs. Vale. And from thereafter, a rather quiet journey to an audience with the Viscount Falmouth, the new Sheriff of Cornwall, who now insists on the matter. And you will forgive me, Sir Alfred, for I bring a daughter's plea for merciful prudence, my lord. Your daughter begs you to surrender peacefully and throw yourself upon the mercy of the King to forgive your sins in dignified discretion rather than create a scene of even greater scandal than that which the Sheriff if already fully aware of... For your lordship's courtesy, I will now convey you to the Viscount's castle with discretion if you and the good Madam Vale wisely come peacefully and without duress”
SUCCESS (Good Intrigue, rolled -1)
Arus Gandon
The very warrants you request come not far behind us, Mrs. Vale. Come peacefully with Sir Alfred to an audience with the Viscount, and spare this household a greater scandal. Elizabeth begs her father to surrender with dignity and seek the King’s mercy. I will convey you discreetly, without duress.
The appeal settles over the study more heavily than a shouted order. Margery’s fingers close around her ring of keys, while Sir Alfred studies the soldiers and recognizes that resistance would make his daughter’s plea a public humiliation.
Sir Alfred Billings
Very well. I will not have Elizabeth’s name dragged through a spectacle of my making. I surrender to the Viscount’s authority and will answer his questions in person.
Margery Vale
I surrender as well, my lord. These are the household keys, and I will identify the rooms and records without concealment. But I expect lawful treatment for every servant left behind.
Margery places the keys on the desk and steps away from them. Sir Alfred comes around it without being touched, his pride intact but his authority spent, while the four swordsmen open a quiet route through the hall.
Sir Alfred Billings
You have won the quiet passage you wanted, Gandon. Remember that I yielded for Elizabeth’s sake, not from trust in you. At the Viscount’s castle, you will answer for every word spoken here.
“"Very well, Sir Alfred." I will then address the men, "Mr. Norr, Mr. Pritchard, you will allow the Baron to collect his necessary personal effects but not weapons. Then escort him with respect towards the landing craft and place him in the Commander's custody as soon as you can bring Sir Alfred to him. Wren, you run ahead to the meet the Commander or most senior Officer to have landed when you reach the beach and report to them with an update of the situation. Cole, you're with myself and Madam Vale as we collect evidence."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +0)
Arus Gandon
Very well, Sir Alfred. Mr. Norr, Mr. Pritchard, let the Baron collect necessary personal effects, but no weapons. Escort him respectfully to the landing craft and place him in the Commander’s custody.
Arus Gandon
Wren, run ahead to meet the Commander, or the senior officer ashore, and report the situation. Cole, you are with me and Madam Vale while we collect the evidence.
The assignments settle the household’s confusion into orderly motion. Sir Alfred is permitted a brief visit to his chamber, while Norr and Pritchard remain close enough to prevent any concealed weapon or sudden flight.
Sir Alfred Billings
I will take only my coat, papers of personal consequence, and my spectacles. You shall have no cause to accuse me of arming myself.
Wren slips ahead through the service passage toward the shore. Cole joins Arus and Margery in the west study, where the stewardess unlocks cabinets and points out ledgers, correspondence, and sealed packets concealed behind the paneling.
Margery Vale
These ledgers concern household disbursements. The packets behind the lower panel record private deliveries, and this desk contains the keys to the Baron’s coded accounts.
Margery opens the concealed compartment, and the evidence comes into Arus’s hands without damage: coded accounts, delivery records, and correspondence linking the estate’s payments to the wider smuggling network. On the shore, Wren reaches the senior officer and begins his report.
+ New Item Acquired
Coded accounts
+ New Item Acquired
Delivery records
+ New Item Acquired
Estate correspondence
“I will personally collect all of this most sensitive and valuable operational intelligence and gather it into my satchel, unloading every other worthless decoy item of ballast left in it and turning it once again into a satchel full of secrets. Then I will escort Madame Margery Vale to the Commander to be returned to Pendennis Castle with the Baron in custody, and inform the Commander that I have additional business to conduct on the Viscount's orders. He is to collect all of the remaining evidence in the manor house, including the comptroller's office with Madam Vale's cooperation, and then escort her aboard the Cutter as well for their journey to The Viscount's investigation. I cannot wait that long, and will depart on one if the estate's finest horses.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
Arus empties the satchel of decoys onto the study floor, then packs the coded accounts, delivery records, and sealed correspondence into its renewed secret burden. Margery watches every movement.
Arus Gandon
Madam Vale, come with me. We will deliver you and Sir Alfred to the Commander, while the remaining evidence is gathered lawfully under your direction.
Margery locks the west study behind her and walks beside Arus through the service passage. Cole and the surrendered Baron follow under escort, while the loaded satchel rests close beneath Arus’s cloak.
The 25th Regiment Commander
I will take both prisoners aboard and return them to Pendennis Castle. What of the manor’s remaining records?
Arus Gandon
Collect every record, including the comptroller’s office, with Madam Vale’s cooperation. Escort her aboard the cutter afterward. I have further business for the Viscount and will ride at once.
The 25th Regiment Commander
Understood. I will preserve the evidence, keep Vale beside the search, and carry both prisoners and records to Pendennis Castle.
The Commander accepts the satchel’s absence without protest, having the estate’s remaining evidence placed under his charge. Arus crosses to the stable, chooses the finest sound horse, and rides beneath the falling dusk toward his next duty.
“From leaving St. Michael's Mont, I will be in search of John Carter, starting with searching at Bessy's Cove first, if I'm lucky.”
FAILURE (Fair Streetwise, rolled +0)
By dusk, Arus reaches Bessy’s Cove and searches the cliffside alehouse, the concealed paths, and the shadowed storage doors where John Carter once moved freely.
Bessy Bussow, an adult woman with a broad, weathered face, dark braided hair, and a russet wool dress, watches him from behind the bar. Her look hardens before he reaches the cellar stair.
Bessy Bussow
You are late, Arus. Carter has not slept here since the night the tide carried you away, and I will not have you tearing open every hiding place in my house.
The search ends at the locked cellar, not with Carter found but with Bessy barring the stair herself. The cove’s fishermen fall silent, and the old refuge becomes a closed door.
Bessy Bussow
He left no meeting place, only a message for anyone clever enough to ask: the black lantern still burns at Flushing when the tide turns against Mount’s Bay.
Arus Gandon
Carter is gone from the cove, but Bessy has given me a trail that leads away from his old refuge.
Bessy keeps the cellar sealed and refuses further directions. Flushing is no longer a guess but a marked destination, while the cove offers nothing more without forcing a quarrel Arus has chosen not to begin.