Ink and lampblack cling to the narrow room. The printer works beside a low press, rolling fresh sheets into a tight stack while rain ticks at the shutters.
Arimari Tiarasan stands in the doorway, travel dust on his hem, taking in the hidden bundle of pamphlets tied with twine.
The Printer
You have arrived at last. Good. The roads are watched, and I would rather not trust this to any messenger with a loose tongue.
He slides one page forward, then another, letting Arimari see the sharp brushwork and the defiance in every line.
The Printer
A daimyo in the west can still be reached before the next levy is named. If your clan means to stand near the future shogun, you must place the right hands in the right place.
He seals the bundle with a press of his palm and lifts it toward Arimari, eyes fixed, as if weighing whether the room has just become a passage or a trap.
The Printer
Will you carry these to the lord I name, or leave them here and let the presses cool?
✓ Quest Accepted
Bring the pamphlets to the lord the printer names
“Ask the printer for the lord's name and location.”
FAILURE (Fair Reasoning, rolled -2)
Arimari Tiarasan keeps his voice low and asks for the lord’s name, and where the pamphlets are meant to go.
The Printer
You want the whole road before you take the first step, yes? Then listen. He is Lord Matsudaira of the western road, and his men hold the hill fort beyond the cedar pass.
The Printer
If his steward asks who sent you, say only that the sheets come from an honest hand. No more. Names travel faster than paper.
The printer does not meet Arimari Tiarasan’s eyes. He slides the bundled pamphlets a little closer, as if the answer itself is a risk.
The Rain
Water ticks at the shutters, steady and impatient.
The Printer
You can still refuse. Or you can take them now, before the ink grows damp and the road grows worse.
Outside, rain hammers the wood in a thin, relentless sheet, and the bundle waits between them.
“Ask the printer for the lord's name and location.”
SUCCESS (Fair Reasoning, rolled -1)
Arimari Tiarasan
Lord Matsudaira, beyond the cedar pass. That is enough for me.
Arimari Tiarasan takes the bundle at last, fingers careful on the paper wrap.
The Printer
Careful on the road. His steward will want a clean answer, and his men will want a brave one.
The printer lifts his hand away, as if releasing the sheets also releases a burden.
The Printer
Do not linger in the yard. Go at once, before the rain turns the path to clay.
Water rattles hard against the shutters, and the lamp shivers over the table as the room waits for Arimari Tiarasan to move.
+ New Item Acquired
Bundled pamphlets
“Tuck pamphlets under cloak and leave”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled +4)
Arimari Tiarasan folds the bundle beneath his cloak in one smooth motion, hiding the pamphlets against his ribs as if they were no more than a folded fan.
The printer watches the trick land, and the tightness in his shoulders eases by a finger's width.
The Printer
Good. Keep your head down, and if a steward asks, you have seen nothing but rain.
Arimari steps for the door. The lamp flares, then dips, throwing his shadow long across the wall.
The Printer
Go by the side lane. The yard is watched more closely than the street.
Outside, water hammers the eaves. A loose slip of paper skates from the threshold and stops at Arimari's foot, stamped with a faint red seal.
The Printer
Take that too. It is the lord's mark. You will need it if his men challenge you.
“Hide the seal and take the side lane”
SUCCESS (Good Stealth, rolled +1)
Arimari slips the red seal beneath the folded pamphlets and tucks both inside his cloak, leaving no flash of paper at the threshold.
The printer sees only a blur of motion, then nothing but a dark hem and the sound of rain.
The Printer
That is the mark. If they stop you, show them nothing else.
Arimari turns into the side lane instead of the yard, shoulders narrowing as he slips under the eaves and into the wet dark.
The seal matches the lord's name.
Behind him, the print shop door stays open a finger's width, spilling lamplight onto the rain-slick stones.
The Printer
Go now, before the watch changes.
+ New Item Acquired
Red seal
“I take the pamphlets to the lord”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled +0)