The portal opens into the Hall of Welcome’s receiving chamber and releases Kynes with the register, Ilyd’s page, and foreman’s ledger secured against him. The passage closes without fanfare.
Bren guides Maelin Vey to a plain chair beneath the agreed custody seal. Maelin remains unbound, watched closely, while the chamber offers no hidden demand and no movement beyond ordinary lamplight.
Bren
Your custody remains yours, Maelin. You may speak, refuse, or correct the record, but no one here will turn testimony into surrender.
Slaan, Nhal, Mara, Ledger, and Rowan arrange writing desks around the room. Fresh parchment, ink, comparison copies, and witness seals are placed within easy reach.
Slaan
We record her admission first, then compare it against the register and Ilyd’s page. No embellishment, no convenient omissions.
Mara
The seals will mark who heard each statement and which document supports it. That should leave little room for another altered account.
Rowan opens the Hall’s ordinary record book while Ledger sets a second copy beside it. Nhal watches Maelin, and Bren leaves Kynes room to decide where the testimony begins.
“I begin recording Maelin’s admission verbatim”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +0)
Kynes opens a fresh sheet beside the register and writes Maelin’s admission word for word, preserving every pause, repetition, and correction without interpretation.
Maelin Vey
We treated refusal as impossible because obedience kept the Gray Glove powerful. We called coercion consent, forged inheritance into authority, and used witnesses as living keys.
The ink settles cleanly. Kynes adds the date, the Hall’s location, Maelin’s name, and the witnesses present, then leaves space beneath the statement for her confirmation.
Maelin Vey
I knew the chain was unlawful when we enforced it. I helped preserve the lie because admitting the truth would destroy our reports, bargains, and claims.
Mara compares the written lines against the register and Ilyd’s page. Rowan copies Kynes’s transcription into the Hall’s ordinary record book while Ledger checks each name.
Mara
The wording matches the quarry testimony. No alteration appears between her spoken admission and Kynes’s record.
Kynes places the finished sheet before Maelin. The admission now exists in two matching records, witnessed and dated, without any new magical demand or hidden condition.
✓ Quest Accepted
Obtain Maelin Vey’s confirmation of the recorded admission
“I invite Maelin to correct any wording before she confirms the record.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +0)
Kynes
Before you confirm it, correct any wording that does not match what you meant. The record should carry your statement, not my interpretation.
Kynes leaves the sheet before Maelin with the ink still fresh. No seal, spell, or pressure follows the invitation, only the quiet attention of the witnesses.
Maelin Vey
The wording is accurate. Add one clarification: I called coercion consent knowingly, not through ignorance. I understood the distinction and chose to conceal it.
Kynes adds the clarification beneath her admission, preserving her phrasing. Mara compares the new line with the quarry testimony, while Rowan copies it into the Hall’s ordinary record book.
Mara
The correction is consistent with what we heard. The record now distinguishes her knowledge from the Gray Glove’s broader practice.
Maelin Vey
I confirm the full record, including the correction. I will not claim it was forced from me, and I will not ask you to surrender the register.
Maelin signs beneath the statement. The witness seals mark her confirmation and the two matching copies, leaving the admission complete without altering the custody terms.
Quest Complete
Obtain Maelin Vey’s confirmation of the recorded admission