The war room hushes as Arimari lays ledger and manifests before Lord Matsudaira. Rain taps the shutters, and the hidden margin marks line up with the river chain like a road drawn in ink.
Arimari Tiarasan
The same hand marks the ferry clerk, the tea house, and the western chain.
Lord Matsudaira
Then Lady Shizue is feeding Tukeyo by route, not rumor. How many crossings remain open?
Matsudaira spreads the map flat, his finger landing on the western ports. The second handoff mark sits where a clerk can be bribed, not where a soldier can be seen.
Reina
Cut the ferries, and the chain starves. Tukeyo loses what keeps him fed.
Lord Matsudaira
Good. We move at once. Goro takes the river clerk, Arimari takes the ledger trail. If Shizue runs, she runs into my men.
The lord seals his decision with one hard nod. Outside, distant hoofbeats answer the order, as if the estate itself has begun to wake for war.
“I follow the ledger trail”
SUCCESS (Legendary Investigation, rolled +4)
Arimari draws the ledger back to his side and turns one page at the marked crossings. The ink trail continues beyond the estate map, into a clerk's tally of ferries, tolls, and reed landings.
Arimari Tiarasan
This handoff moves with the river, not the road.
He traces the sequence with one finger, then stops at a tiny notation beside a western landing. The clerk's correction marks are fresh, and the route bends toward a port staffed by men too small to be watched closely.
Lord Matsudaira
Name the ports, Arimari. Which one breaks the chain first?
Arimari compares the manifests to the ledger trail, and the pattern resolves cleanly. One port feeds the next, then the next, until the route collapses into a single guarded crossing near the mouth of the river.
Reina
Then the western chain has a throat. Cut that, and the rest cannot breathe.
Matsudaira straightens, already reaching for the seal stamp. Outside, the hoofbeats gather and pass, carrying his order toward the shore as the marked map holds its shape under Arimari's hand.
“Is the guarded crossing the chain's choke point?”
YES (VeryLikely, rolled 77)
Arimari studies the final junction on the map, noting the convergence of three distinct supply lines into a single, narrow passage. The geography confirms his suspicion, as the river narrows significantly against the jagged cliffs of the western pass.
Arimari Tiarasan
The terrain leaves no other path for the Kurogane shipments. This crossing is the only way through.
“I mark the western river chokepoint”
Arimari lowers the lens and sets his mark at the chokepoint. The ink lands cleanly on the narrow crossing, turning the bottleneck into a target on Lord Matsudaira’s map.
“I seal the order for the western ports”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled -1)
Arimari presses the seal stamp into the warmed wax. The lord's mark bites deep, fixing the order to the western ports.
Lord Matsudaira lifts the paper, checking the impression in the candlelight. The stamped edge shines wet, then slowly dulls as it sets.
Lord Matsudaira
Good. This leaves no room for denial.
Reina leans in, her gaze moving from the fresh seal to the inked chokepoint. Her tail is still, watchful.
Reina
The route is named now. If they move grain or rice by water, we will know where to meet them.
Arimari Tiarasan
The seal holds cleanly. The order is now official.
A runner appears at the door, waiting for the folded command. The candle flame flickers against the map, and the western river stays marked in black.
Quest Complete
Secure the western river ports
New Gift: River Port Strategist