Mara enters the Private Council Room beside Arus, one hand on the silver chest’s handle. Bracken remains stabled below, while the leather case stays beneath Arus’s cloak.
The Viscount Guard stands by the door in the familiar embroidered crest, arranging chairs and papers beneath the council room’s stern portraits. The Viscount waits at the table, while Elizabeth watches from beside the charts.
The Viscount Guard
My lord, Mara Trevithick has arrived with the recovered silver and requests the protection promised under your authority. The chest remains locked and accounted for.
Elizabeth Billings
That phrase. And the seal on his crest. I have seen both in my father’s household records, beside payments marked for trusted intermediaries.
The room stills. Mara’s fingers tighten around the chest, while the Guard’s hand settles near his coat and the Viscount turns sharply toward the embroidered crest.
The Viscount
Explain the seal, Guard. If Billings’s influence reaches this room, then promised sanctuary may be a snare dressed in official colors.
Mara Trevithick
I came for written protection, my lord. I will not surrender the chest, my name, or my testimony until I know whose hand truly commands this household.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure Mara’s written protection
✓ Quest Accepted
Agree with the Viscount on plans for Mara, the mission, and secrecy standards
“I will interrupt pleading for a moment of calm from all on behalf of my own oaths of service, including to provide good counsel wherever it can be given, and where is currently only wherever absolute secrecy can be assured, and thusly insist all others present besides Mara and the Viscount leave the chamber, with my lord's agreement.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intrigue, rolled +0)
Arrus Gandon
My lord, grant us a moment's calm. By my oaths of service, and my duty to give good counsel, this matter demands absolute secrecy. Let everyone leave but Mara and yourself.
The request falls softly, but its shape gives the room nowhere to hide. The Guard studies Arus, then the compromised crest, while Elizabeth watches the Viscount for his judgment.
The Viscount
Granted. Guard, take Elizabeth into the adjoining gallery and admit no one. This council room is closed until I call for you.
The Viscount Guard
At once, my lord. Lady Elizabeth, come with me.
The Guard opens the door and escorts Elizabeth into the gallery, then shuts it firmly behind them. The portraits, locked chest, Mara, and the Viscount remain within the sealed chamber.
The Viscount
Now we speak without witnesses. Mara, keep your hand on the chest if you wish. Arus, give me the counsel you judged too dangerous for another ear.
“I will then begin to recount the story of our meeting on the road to Lord Falmouth, for his own edification, and then let Mara explain her own account of how she came to be caught in a web of betrayal when wealthy men were sent to claim the proceeds of illegal taxation under law, now the contents of the wooden chest we brought to the castle, now converted into the value of what Mara carries into the office as both evidence and proof of her account of it's true origins as well as my account that I believe Miss Trevithick can be trusted with sensitive work even despite the significant financial temptation to break her word of trust already having been demonstrated. I will then show the contents of the leather-bound case acquired from the mysterious information broker, and propose that the now-confiscated small fortune in illegally collected silver be now used as a discreet budget to build our own information collection network throughout Cornwall, infiltrating as many enemies as well.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intrigue, rolled +2)
Arrus Gandon
My lord, I will recount the road from first meeting to this room, then let Mara give her own account of the silver, the paymaster, and the men sent to reclaim it.
Arus lays out the journey plainly: the blocked bridge, the burning causeway, Mara’s cargo, and the bargain that brought both witness and evidence beneath the Viscount’s roof. The Viscount listens without interruption.
Mara Trevithick
Josiah Vane skimmed Crown silver and kept his proof in that chest. When his partners feared discovery, they sent riders to seize it and leave me branded as the thief. I moved it because I wanted the truth out of their hands.
Arrus Gandon
She had ample temptation to flee with a small fortune, yet she kept faith. I judge Mara suitable for sensitive work, provided her terms are written and her accounts remain open to inspection.
The Viscount unlocks the chest and examines the stamped coin, silver plate, and clipped pieces. Mara’s testimony now has weight that can be counted, catalogued, and matched against Vane’s accounts.
Arrus Gandon
The leather-bound case came from the rider at the weigh-house. Its reports name relay points, paid listeners, and customers. I propose using this confiscated silver as a discreet budget to build our own network throughout Cornwall, infiltrating those who threaten your authority.
The Viscount
Agreed, with ledgers, compartmented authority, and no private empire hidden inside my service. Mara may begin under seal, and you will design the network’s first channels. Cornwall’s unseen loyalties will be mapped before they can gather against us.
Quest Complete
Agree with the Viscount on plans for Mara, the mission, and secrecy standards
Skill Upgrade: Deception Superb→Legendary
“"Understood, my lord. And in the future, I shall endeavor to devise many wise locations for us to conduct such business of this most sensitive nature, but it must never again be conducted in your primary chambers, where too many ears prowl and, rightly, expect to hear too many carelessly spoken words. We must always discuss these matters far from the bustle of ordinary business and your regular courtly affairs, my lord. It must always be in secret, far from even your most trusted household guard, for their protection as much as yours. Such carefully collected and valuable secrets must not become a temptation to repeat elsewhere, either to harmless questions of curiosity, nor those only pretending to ask them so..."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intrigue, rolled -2)
Arrus Gandon
Understood, my lord. In future I shall devise secluded places for such business, never your primary chambers or ordinary court. Sensitive counsel must remain secret, even from trusted household guards, lest valuable knowledge become a temptation to repeat.
The Viscount studies Arus across the ledger-strewn table. The advice lands cleanly, but its candor also marks Arus as a man prepared to question the household’s habits before the household itself.
The Viscount
Agreed. This room is too near routine business, and too many servants learn its traffic by habit. Sensitive intelligence will henceforth be discussed only in places chosen for that purpose.
The Viscount
You will design the first three locations, and only Mara, you, and I will know them in advance. No guard will attend unless I summon one for a specific danger.
He closes the council-room ledger and draws a fresh sheet toward himself. The arrangement is accepted, but responsibility for its secrecy now rests visibly on Arus’s judgment.
The Viscount
There is a cost to this confidence, Arus. Until these channels prove themselves, I will keep you outside several household councils. You will receive less comfort, fewer explanations, and more direct accountability.
The Viscount
If a secret escapes through one of your locations, the failure will be recorded against your name first. Establish the places wisely, and this new discretion becomes an instrument of power rather than another weakness.
“"Agreed, my lord. The strategy has the potential to strengthen our fortification of our own treasured information as much as it does to prove the test of worthiness to bear the responsibility of safekeeping such secrets. Miss Trevithick's true service shall be known only in document, should anything happen to me and my ability to attest to her innocence in acts of clandestine service of your lordship, she must have assurance that your household's agents will not deny her protection if you are absent the Castle and she seeks refuge from some unforeseen failure to evade hostile forces without much lead time to explain her activities undertaken in secret service of your lordship. Otherwise we need an alternate story for her false purpose within the household that conceals the movement of an information-gathering and transporting agent known only to the two of us. What story she has been promised to determine for herself, with your leave of course, my lord?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intrigue, rolled +2)
Arrus Gandon
Then let Miss Trevithick choose her cover story, my lord. Her true service must exist in a sealed document, so your agents honor her protection even if I am absent or she reaches the Castle under pursuit. Otherwise, let her name the harmless household purpose that conceals her work for you and me.
The Viscount considers the proposal, then draws a fresh sheet beside the closed ledger. Mara remains silent, her hand still resting on the silver chest’s handle.
The Viscount
Granted. Mara’s protection will be written, sealed, and entered where my agents can verify it without exposing the nature of her service. No absence of mine will void it.
He writes carefully, naming Mara as a protected confidential agent under the Viscount’s authority while withholding the routes, contacts, and methods that would endanger the network.
The Viscount
As for her public purpose, she shall choose it herself. Trader, courier, provisioner, or another respectable function, provided it gives her lawful access and does not contradict the household’s records.
Mara Trevithick
Then I choose provisioner and occasional courier. It explains roads, stores, horses, and sealed parcels without making every stranger wonder why I am present.
The Viscount adds her chosen cover to the document and presses his seal into the wax. Mara receives the assurance she demanded, while Arus’s hidden network gains a lawful face.
Quest Complete
Secure Mara’s written protection
Skill Upgrade: Streetwise Fair→Good
“I then ask for Mara to go introduce herself to the young lady Billings, and instruct her that she will be relying on Elizabeth for a significant amount of her information gathering, and then wait for her to leave before asking the Viscount to share any thoughts or concerns he may have been reserving for a truly confidential moment about my recent actions taken in his service or my achievements in general, or about Mara Trevithick on particular.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intrigue, rolled -1)
Arrus Gandon
Mara, introduce yourself to Elizabeth. Tell her you will rely on her for much of your information gathering, then join her in the gallery until I call you back.
Mara inclines her head, secures the sealed protection beneath her coat, and crosses to the adjoining gallery. The Viscount opens the door, admitting Elizabeth for the introduction.
Mara Trevithick
Lady Elizabeth, I am Mara Trevithick, provisioner and occasional courier under the Viscount’s protection. Arus tells me your knowledge of these households and their habits will be essential to my work. I hope to earn your confidence.
Elizabeth Billings
Then we shall begin honestly. I know which doors open for courtesy, which servants hear too much, and which respectable visitors are never as respectable as they appear. Come, Mara. I will show you the useful paths.
Elizabeth leads Mara into the gallery and closes the door behind them. Their voices recede into deliberate, practical conversation, leaving Arus and the Viscount alone with the sealed protection and the opened ledger.
Arrus Gandon
Now, my lord, share whatever thoughts or concerns you reserved for a truly confidential moment: about my recent service and achievements, or about Mara in particular.
The Viscount
Your achievements are considerable, Arus. You turn danger into leverage, but you increasingly build structures that depend upon your judgment. That is both your strength and my concern. Mara is capable and honest, yet her protection must never become your private patronage. Keep her accounts open, Elizabeth informed, and your own ambitions answerable to the office you serve. Do that, and I see not merely a useful agent, but the architect of a discreet power worthy of trust.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish the first secure intelligence location
“"As you command, my lord. I will be cautious in my activities, but where I see leverage to be gained, I will not hesitate to act upon it without fear. I am encouraged by the nobility of our cause if not our prospects of complete success... To hold the countryside to a higher observation of the Kings laws, in the merest of hopes that it does in life create some semblance of small justice in the unspoken, unrecorded moments lived by the subjects of his realm, be they loyal or at best of questionable feality, his subjects nonetheless."”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +3)
Arrus Gandon
As you command, my lord. I will act cautiously, but where leverage appears, I will seize it without fear. I am encouraged by the nobility of our cause, if not by its prospects of complete success. To uphold the King's laws, even in unspoken moments, is to offer every subject some small measure of justice, whether loyal or doubtful.
The Viscount lets the silence stand. Then he opens the ledger, writes a brief order beneath his seal, and places it before Arus with deliberate care.
The Viscount
That is the resolve I require, Arus. Not certainty, and not empty obedience, but judgment held answerable to law. You have my authority to act when delay would surrender an advantage.
The Viscount
This order grants you access to my confidential accounts and permits you to requisition discreet travel, provisions, and assistance for the work entrusted to you. Use them sparingly, and leave a record each time.
Beyond the closed gallery door, Elizabeth’s voice and Mara’s answer fall briefly silent. The Viscount’s seal gleams beside the ledger, converting Arus’s conviction into practical authority.
The Viscount
Your first judgment is due before sunset. Choose one vulnerable channel, test it without exposing Mara, and return with facts rather than triumph. We will learn whether this cause can make justice habitual.
+ New Item Acquired
Confidential authority order
“"At once, my lord." I will incline to a brief, formal bow to the Viscount, and then place the Confidential Authority Order inside my coat's most secret inner pocket and leave to meet Mara and Elizabeth outside the Viscount's chamber and observe their social interaction and study Mara's ability to mingle with an intelligent, kind-hearted noblewoman, but a noblewoman nonetheless, and see how well she is able to manage etiquette with a lady while eliciting information through her own chosen identify as a provisioner for the castle.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intrigue, rolled +0)
Arrus Gandon
At once, my lord.
Arus inclines in a brief, formal bow, slips the Confidential Authority Order into his coat’s deepest inner pocket, and leaves the Viscount to his sealed accounts.
Outside the chamber, Elizabeth and Mara stand beneath the gallery windows. Arus pauses nearby, studying not merely their words but Mara’s posture, timing, and confidence before a noblewoman.
Mara Trevithick
Lady Elizabeth, the castle kitchens waste more coin on spoiled stores than any provisioner should tolerate. I would value your judgment on which households receive regular deliveries, and which merely claim them.
Elizabeth Billings
You ask as a tradeswoman, yet you listen like an investigator. Very well. The west lodgings consume little, while the chapel household requests fresh provisions far beyond its numbers.
Mara accepts the correction with a graceful dip of her head, neither overplaying humility nor challenging Elizabeth’s rank. She follows with courteous questions about servants, delivery hours, and visitors.
Elizabeth answers readily, amused by Mara’s practical cover and impressed by her restraint. From the gallery’s edge, Arus sees Mara mingle successfully: respectful toward rank, alert to detail, and already drawing useful household knowledge into conversation.
“I will wait until an appropriate moment to clear my throat and approach in a humorous, faux-boastful fashion, "My apologies if I'm interrupting a spirited conversation, I see you've met our provisioner, eh Elizabeth? Quite the chat you two ravenous minds have taken to in only a few minutes absence of anyone with enough thought to check up on your latest committee activities!" And then I will chuckle at my own jest to show a spirit of sincere merriment and charm at the sight of the both of them getting along well. Greeting them both formally, and cordially.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intrigue, rolled -3)
At an appropriate pause in their discussion, Arus clears his throat and approaches with an exaggeratedly solemn stride. Elizabeth turns first; Mara suppresses a grin.
Arrus Gandon
My apologies if I am interrupting a spirited conversation. I see you have met our provisioner, eh, Elizabeth? Quite the chat you two ravenous minds have taken to in only a few minutes absence of anyone with enough thought to check up on your latest committee activities!
Arrus Gandon
My formal greetings to you both, and my sincere compliments on finding such agreeable company in one another.
He chuckles at his own jest and bows cordially. The warmth lands cleanly, though his mention of checking on them leaves no doubt that he has been observing their conversation.
Elizabeth Billings
Your timing is tolerable, Arus, and your wit remains dangerously pleased with itself. Mara has been telling me which deliveries conceal useful questions beneath respectable invoices.
Mara Trevithick
And Lady Elizabeth has shown me which castle households consume provisions beyond their honest needs. Your committee has gained two members, though neither promises to spare you an account of our findings.
Their easy alliance is genuine, but Arus’s watchfulness has become part of the bargain. Elizabeth’s amused glance and Mara’s raised brow make clear that future conversations will require him to explain exactly how closely he listens.
“"My ladies, please withdraw your suspicious thoughts, I merely meant to greet two fearsome adventurers' spirits in what are finally better circumstances than hanging on every breath, steps away from danger and uncertainty, unless, of course, you know, you go in for that sort of thing..." 😉”
FAILURE (Legendary Intrigue, rolled -4)
Arrus Gandon
My ladies, please withdraw your suspicious thoughts. I merely meant to greet two fearsome adventurers' spirits in better circumstances than hanging on every breath, unless you go in for that sort of thing.
The jest reaches them, but not the reassurance beneath it. Elizabeth’s smile narrows, while Mara folds her arms and studies the careful evasions in his phrasing.
Elizabeth Billings
You have greeted us, Arus. What you have not done is explain why you were measuring our conversation from the gallery, or why your compliments arrive dressed as a defense.
Mara Trevithick
Nor have you made suspicion disappear by calling us fearsome. I can accept a jest, but I will not mistake one for an answer, especially from a man who values discreet listening.
The easy alliance stiffens into a small tribunal. Elizabeth turns fully toward him, and Mara steps beside her rather than behind, making their shared concern unmistakable.
Elizabeth Billings
You may keep your charming evasions for hostile rooms. Here, tell Mara plainly whether you trust her judgment, and tell me whether you trust ours together.
Mara Trevithick
A greeting is welcome, Arus. A performance is not. We will hear the plain account now, or continue our work without letting you steer every exchange.
“"My ladies, please withdraw your suspicious thoughts, I merely meant to greet two fearsome adventurers' spirits in what are finally better circumstances to enjoy those mercilessly unforgiving faces than it was while hanging on every breath, steps away from danger and uncertainty, unless, of course, you know, you go in for that sort of thing..." 😉”
SUCCESS (Legendary Deception, rolled -1)
Arrus Gandon
My ladies, please withdraw your suspicious thoughts. I merely meant to greet two fearsome adventurers' spirits in finally better circumstances than hanging on every breath, unless you go in for that sort of thing.
The extravagant apology lands. Elizabeth’s narrowed smile breaks into laughter, while Mara’s folded arms loosen and her stern expression gives way to reluctant amusement.
Elizabeth Billings
Very well, Arus. I withdraw the sharpest of my suspicions, though I reserve the right to restore them whenever your compliments begin marching in formation.
Mara Trevithick
And I withdraw mine for the moment. You were watching because you feared danger, not because you meant to leash our conversation. That is a distinction I can respect.
The tribunal dissolves into companionship. Elizabeth gestures toward the gallery windows, and Mara resumes her account of the castle’s deliveries with a livelier, more trusting tone.
Elizabeth Billings
Come, Arus. Since your fears have been soothed, you may join us openly. Mara has found a curious discrepancy in the chapel household’s provisions, and I want your judgment beside ours.
“"Lead the way, my lady. I go wherever you bid me, for my own good or someone elses, at least, hopefully..." 😬”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intrigue, rolled +2)
Arrus Gandon
Lead the way, my lady. I go wherever you bid me, for my own good or someone else's, at least, hopefully...
Elizabeth Billings
Then come along, obediently if you can manage it. Mara, bring your sharp eyes; Arus may charm a locked door, but you notice what was carried through it.
Elizabeth leads them down the gallery toward the service stairs, her stride quickening with purpose. Mara follows at her shoulder, while Arus joins them openly, leaving the council room and its sealed accounts behind.
Mara Trevithick
The chapel household requested fresh meat, lamp oil, and winter grain in quantities fit for twice its number. Either the ledgers lie, or someone feeds guests who never sit at the chapel table.
Elizabeth Billings
Exactly. The requests arrive on chapel days, but the deliveries vanish through the old vestry passage. We can inspect the provision books first, then ask the steward who signs for them.
They reach the service office, where shelves of household books crowd a narrow desk. Elizabeth produces a ring of keys, Mara examines the dustless lower shelves, and the first discrepancy is already within reach.
“I will keep an eye out throughout the room and listening for all doorways to reveal any potential dangers or shadows lingering a little too closely for need of investigation while Elizabeth and Mara gather the logs before I insist that we examine them somewhere more secure and safe a location to be found immediately.”
SUCCESS (Superb Perception, rolled +1)
While Elizabeth unlocks the provision books and Mara lifts the lower ledgers, Arus watches every doorway and listens beneath the office’s ordinary creaks.
Arrus Gandon
The stair door carries fresh dust marks, and someone paused outside the service passage recently.
His attention catches no hidden movement, but the corridor’s acoustics betray every approach. The office has too many entrances and too little privacy for sensitive reading.
Elizabeth Billings
Here. The chapel requests are copied twice, but this column records no receiving servant. Someone wanted the paper trail to look complete.
Mara Trevithick
And the lower shelf has been disturbed recently. We should not spread these books across a desk where any passing clerk might glance down.
Arrus Gandon
Take the logs somewhere more secure at once. We will examine them in a room with one entrance, a lock, and no convenient listeners.
Elizabeth closes the books while Mara gathers the loose pages. They move toward a disused records chamber beside the chapel, whose single iron-bound door and shuttered window offer the privacy Arus demanded.
“Once the room is secure and the candles are lit, we will divide the reading material equally and begin scanning the records for irregularities.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +0)
The records chamber yields a dry iron lock and a single narrow window. Elizabeth bars the door while Mara sets the lower ledgers beside the provision books.
Arus retrieves his tallow candle stub, and Mara lights it from the chamber’s wall flame. Three pools of candlelight divide the table without leaving the pages in shadow.
Arrus Gandon
The entries repeat too neatly; the omissions will matter more than the sums.
They divide the material equally. Elizabeth takes chapel requisitions, Mara examines delivery receipts, and Arus compares quantities, dates, and signatures across the remaining ledgers.
The pattern resolves quickly under Arus’s scrutiny: unusually large provisions arrive on chapel days, yet no receiving servant signs for them. The duplicate entries conceal the same missing hand.
Elizabeth Billings
The excess is not kitchen waste. It is timed, repeated, and routed through the vestry passage. Someone is feeding an unseen household.
Mara Trevithick
And these initials recur beside the deliveries, though never beside a name. We have a concealed recipient and a clerk willing to preserve the fiction.
By the time the candles gutter, the three sets of notes agree: the chapel accounts conceal regular deliveries to an unnamed recipient, with the vestry passage serving as the consistent route.
Quest Complete
Establish the first secure intelligence location
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Superb→Legendary