Heat hits like a wall as the forge door swings wider. Poppy blocks the hinge-side, and the hidden occupant has nowhere to go.
The figure jerks, fumbles, and drops the lantern. Fire spills across the floorboards in a trembling pool, throwing soot-black walls into harsh relief.
A face snaps into view, streaked with ash and strain, the look of someone who has been running on fear for hours.
The Wounded Smith
Wait. Do not come closer. I was forced to seal the papers, not forge the lie.
Vael steps into the doorway beside Poppy, blade level and steady, his eyes fixed on the paper scraps near the hearth.
Vael
Then speak plainly. Who used your mark, and what were they hunting?
The smith swallows, trapped between the sword and the fire, while the stamped seal at Poppy's boot seems to answer the question in silence.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get the Wounded Smith to confess who used the seal
“I kick the stamped seal toward the smith to force a confession.”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled -2)
Poppy snaps the stamped seal with a sharp kick, sending it skittering across the ash toward the smith's boots.
The mark lands face-up in the firelight, and the smith flinches hard enough to betray the answer before a word is said.
The Wounded Smith
No... that seal should not be here.
Vael does not lower his blade. He shifts one step wider, cutting off the forge mouth and waiting for the name.
The Wounded Smith
Veyr used it. Cinder-Caller Veyr made me press the seal on the lies.
The confession lands, but the floorboard fire crawls under the scattered scraps and licks toward the workbench, hissing hotter as Poppy's kick stirs the ash.
The Wounded Smith
If you want more, stop the flames... or I lose what proof is left.
Quest Complete
Get the Wounded Smith to confess who used the seal
Quest Complete
Learn who forged the lie
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Great→Superb