The footsteps outside Iven Marr’s gate become a disciplined march. Armed agents in soot-dark coats carry clay firepots and hooked poles, while smoke curls beneath the barricade and workers flee toward the market lanes.
Iven Marr
They found me sooner than expected. The surviving ledger is still inside, and they mean to burn the yard before Merrow’s statement reaches the streets.
Bren crouches beside the gate, short and athletic, her obsidian skin and white hair stark against the smoke. Pellis stays behind her with the recovered records secured beneath his coat.
Bren
Merrow stayed at the council hall with the clerks. Iven stayed here to protect the ledger. We are the only ones between Hale’s allies and both.
A hooked pole scrapes across the gate’s iron bands. Beyond it, a young agent with a red scarf, a lean young man with close-cropped dark hair and a soot-dark coat raises a firepot while two older men drag a second barricade into place.
Pellis Marr
The red scarf is Gray Glove work. They will seize Iven if they can, then destroy every account linking Hale’s office to the crossings.
Iven Marr
Tell me where to stand, and I will hold the inner door. But decide quickly. The smoke is thickening, and the gate will not endure another strike.
“I walk up with a paper with all of Hale's allies written on it. " This is why Sil'thalis detested the archive. " I fold the paper in half and give the mental command for all who's name is on the paper to bow on their knees with arms outstretched.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled +1)
Kynes walks through the smoke toward Iven’s gate, holding a folded paper covered with Hale’s allies and their identifying marks.
Kynes
This is why Sil’thalis detested the archive.
He folds the paper in half and gives the command through his mind. The names answer at once, wherever their bodies stand.
Outside the gate, the red-scarfed agent drops his firepot and sinks to his knees. His arms extend rigidly before him, palms exposed.
The two older agents follow, kneeling in the smoke with their arms outstretched. Far beyond the yard, other names on the paper obey in offices, alleys, and guarded rooms.
Iven Marr
That is not ordinary intimidation. The people named in that paper are surrendering without knowing why.
Pellis Marr
Then the list is more than evidence. It is a chain of reach, and every link has just revealed itself.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep Iven Marr and the surviving ledger safe
“" however pellis, such things are unnatural. And luckily there are very few with the spell craft to do this." I say coldly”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intimidation, rolled +2)
Kynes
However, Pellis, such things are unnatural. Luckily, very few possess the spellcraft to do this.
The words cut through the smoke with cold certainty. Beyond the gate, the kneeling agents remain motionless, their surrendered hands exposed beneath the red scarf and soot-dark coats.
Pellis Marr
Few, yes. But one of them knew my letter, Bren’s name, and the signet’s meaning. That narrows the field considerably.
Iven Marr
And every distant agent who bowed just now has shown us where the chain reaches. Their offices, routes, and allies can be found before they recover.
The firepots cool in the wet grit. Workers peer from the market lane as the unnatural command settles over the yard, leaving the gate and ledger untouched.
Bren
Then we do not waste the advantage, love. Secure Iven’s ledger, mark every surrendered agent, and find the intermediary before the spell’s impression fades.
Pellis Marr
If Kynes is right about the rarity, the forger is no ordinary courier. Someone trained them, or placed the craft in their hands.
“I give the mental command for everyone names to walk with hands up to the jail”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled +0)
Kynes’s command passes through the names like a silent bell. Beyond Iven’s gate, every surrendered agent rises together, hands raised, and turns toward Daggerford’s jail.
the red-scarfed agent
We are going to the jail. No resistance. No flames.
The red-scarfed young man leads the column through the smoke, followed by the two older agents. Farther across the city, other named servants emerge from offices and alleys to join them.
Iven Marr
The yard is safe, and the firepots are cooling. I will secure the ledger while the jail receives them.
Pellis Marr
Every agent arriving alive gives us another route, another payment trail, and another chance to identify the intermediary.
Bren
Then we preserve the evidence and follow the chain, love. No witness needs to face it alone.
The agents reach the jail under the eyes of startled guards, still walking with hands raised. The gate closes behind them, and the Gray Glove chain stands exposed in custody.
Quest Complete
Keep Iven Marr and the surviving ledger safe
Skill Upgrade: Stealth Superb→Legendary
“I mentally command the one who sent the signet to Bren to come forward”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled -1)
Kynes’s command leaves him without gesture or sound, traveling through the signet’s altered impression and the hidden reach that joined it to Bren’s letter.
At the far end of the market lane, a middle-aged woman steps from a cooper’s doorway. She has a narrow build, weathered brown skin, iron-gray hair, and a blue-gray traveling cloak fastened with a brass clasp.
the records intermediary
I am here. I pressed the second mark, joined the signet to Pellis’s letter, and sent the message toward Bren.
The woman walks toward Iven’s gate with empty hands raised. Jail guards notice her and hold their position as the surrendered agents turn to watch.
the records intermediary
My name is Veyra Sol. I carried records between Daggerford and Blackwater Quay, and the Gray Glove paid me to redirect witnesses.
Pellis Marr
You handled my letter after it left my custody. Tell us who ordered the false signet and why Bren was named.
Veyra Sol
Magistrate Hale gave the order, but the purpose came from someone above him. The signet was bait, meant to draw Bren toward a sealed crossing beneath Blackwater Quay.
✓ Quest Accepted
Have Veyra Sol provide the full account
“" let her speak" I say”
Kynes
Let her speak.
Kynes’s command stills the gathered guards and agents. Veyra Sol lowers her hands slightly, remaining in the open beside the cooper’s doorway while Pellis watches her closely.
Veyra Sol
The order came through a registrar called Odran Pell, but he served a hidden patron known only as the Quay Benefactor.
Veyra Sol
Bren was named because the patron believed she could open the crossing. They knew her witness mark was genuine, and thought the signet would compel her trust.
Pellis’s expression hardens at Odran’s name. Behind him, Iven keeps one hand on the gate while the secured ledger remains safely inside the yard.
Veyra Sol
The sealed crossing lies beneath an abandoned salt warehouse at Blackwater Quay. It leads to a custody chamber where names are traded as guarantees.
Veyra Sol
I never saw the Benefactor’s face. I carried the altered letter, pressed the false mark, and was told Bren would be taken alive if she entered.
Quest Complete
Have Veyra Sol provide the full account