The shuttered upper room settles into quiet study. Lillia’s journal, copied seals, and archive dates lie beneath the lamplight while rain whispers against the closed shutters.
Lillia Rhen
This line was not copied from the surrounding entry. See the slant of the letters, the pressure, and the narrower ink strokes.
She angles the journal toward the flame. Beneath the phrase garden where nothing grows, one short line crosses the redacted notation in a visibly different hand.
Marcus Rhen
Royal roads from the eastern quarter lead toward the old irrigation gardens. Most were abandoned after the wells failed, but one path remains watched.
Mikka Rosethorn
Then we should avoid the main road. If guards or guild agents notice five adventurers asking about a dead garden, the clue may vanish before we reach it.
Siegfried Taloss
We can split the questions without splitting the party. Marcus and I can check the market lanes while Mikka and Lillia study the old maps.
Lillia Rhen
Wait. The different hand adds a direction, not a destination. It says, beneath the king’s forgotten shade.
“I ask the party if the phrase is metaphorical rather than literal, as I could recall someone describing a place 'a garden where nothing grows'.”
SUCCESS (Fair Reasoning, rolled +3)
Issac Rivendohr
Could the phrase be metaphorical? I recall someone describing a place as a garden where nothing grows.
Lillia Rhen
Yes, but not as a poetic expression. In old lore, it describes a cultivated place whose growth was deliberately suppressed by either the world or by humans.
Lillia turns several journal pages, then draws a small circle beneath the copied phrase. Her certainty sharpens as the memory finds its place.
Lillia Rhen
The phrase appears in records about royal shade gardens, but maybe there was once a city that could be described as a 'garden'.
Marcus Rhen
Then beneath one of the king’s forgotten shade points to one of those old 'cities', not merely an abandoned garden. I think I know where to begin looking.
Mikka Rosethorn
The eastern irrigation gardens have a collapsed king’s walk. If that is the place, we can reach it before nightfall without asking anyone.
Lillia Rhen
And I found more than the meaning. The old map marks a location beyond the city walls. Its stones might bear the same split-crown seal.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the party's agreement to investigate the royal shade garden
“With night falling, I suggest that we first rest then begin the search tommorrow, with a vote of confidence from Siegfried.”
FAILURE (Mediocre Persuasion, rolled -1)
Issac Rivendohr
We should rest tonight, then begin searching tomorrow. Siegfried, will you support that?
Night settles beyond the shutters. Issac’s proposal hangs over the journal and its copied phrase, while the others exchange uncertain looks.
Siegfried Taloss
I support you standing your ground, Issac, but not waiting without knowing what watches that garden. I cannot give that plan my vote.
Mikka Rosethorn
The clue may be safest at dawn, but Siegfried is right about losing time. We should at least reach the outer path tonight.
Marcus Rhen
Agreed. We rest only long enough to gather supplies, then move before the streets empty completely. Tomorrow can be for searching, not traveling.
Lillia Rhen
The garden lies beyond the walls. If we delay here, we spend daylight crossing ground we already know. I will mark the route now.
Lillia rolls up the map, and the proposed overnight rest gives way to a hurried departure. The party begins preparing for the eastern road instead of settling in.
Quest Complete
Secure the party's agreement to investigate the royal shade garden