The palace receiving office lies under Nohara guard. Odran’s keys and the copyist’s sworn testimony rest in witnessed custody while dust-muted sunlight cuts across the ledgers.
The Palace Copyist
The concealed compartment is beneath that desk. I saw Odran place the original register there after correcting the order.
The masked clerk kneels beside the receiving desk and unfolds fresh parchment. Veyra guards the door, while the palace copyist points toward a narrow seam beneath the wood.
The Masked Clerk
Let the seam be recorded before it is opened. Correction ink and warding wax may preserve the sequence better than any confession.
Beneath the desk, blackened ink threads through old wax in a deliberate crescent. The warding has faded, but its residue still prickles across the stone floor.
Veyra
No hands on the compartment until the clerk marks it. If the palace built a trap here, patience keeps it from choosing our evidence.
Odran watches in rigid silence under guard, his keys already surrendered. The receiving office waits around the sealed seam, its hidden register and altered chain nearly within reach.
“"Open it."”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled +3)
Doku slides a thin tool into the faded seam and follows the old warding’s grain. With a precise turn, the concealed compartment releases without disturbing the desk or wax.
Inside rests a narrow blackwood register, three folded correction slips, a stoppered vial of dark ink, and a brass key stamped with the palace receiving crest.
Doku Nohara
The register was hidden after the order was altered.
The Masked Clerk
The compartment is open, and its contents remain undisturbed. I will record each item before removal.
The Palace Copyist
That is the register. Odran kept it beneath the desk, and the black ink matches the corrections I saw.
The masked clerk marks the compartment, key, slips, and vial in sequence before lifting the register into a fresh evidence sleeve. Veyra keeps Odran covered.
Clerk-Marshal Odran
You have opened a protected palace compartment. Whatever you find there will still require lawful interpretation.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish the hidden register as decisive evidence
+ New Item Acquired
Blackwood Register
“"Oh it will. No one will override my authority. You Odran however will never see the light of day again. Now everyone, we got what we wanted. I'll handle the talking when presenting all the evidence."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Doku Nohara
Oh, it will. No one will override my authority. Odran, however, will never see the light of day again. Everyone, we got what we wanted. I will handle the talking when presenting all the evidence.
Doku’s declaration fixes the receiving office under her command. The ledgers, register, correction slips, ink vial, and brass key are gathered into witnessed Nohara custody without dispute.
Clerk-Marshal Odran
You would bury a palace officer in your private cells and call it authority?
Veyra steps behind Odran and secures his wrists with warded restraints. Blue sigils close around his bindings, recording his custody and preventing escape or outside extraction.
Veyra
Not private cells. A documented Nohara holding chamber, with every transfer witnessed. He will not leave unless Lady Nohara orders it.
The Masked Clerk
I will seal the register and its contents under chain of custody. Your presentation can place each confession beside the mark that proves it.
The palace copyist lowers her gaze in relief as Odran is led away. Doku remains with the assembled evidence, now holding both the authority and the complete record needed to expose the conspiracy.
Quest Complete
Establish the hidden register as decisive evidence
+ New Item Acquired
Correction Slips
+ New Item Acquired
Dark Ink Vial
+ New Item Acquired
Brass Palace Key