Lo pi climbs back to the twentieth floor, carrying the rolled cave map and folded red silk. His aunt waits beside the open record room, while the cousins remain gathered nearby.
The northern ledger lies open on the writing table beside a blank descent token, its untouched surface pale beneath the lanternlight. The blackened key rests near the aunt’s sleeve.
Lo pi's aunt
You have returned with the evidence and left the records in order. Before I mark your descent, explain what each piece proves.
Lo pi's aunt
Tell me what the ledger establishes about the caves, what the silk establishes about Hoanto Fung Mulla, and what remains uncertain.
She touches the blank token without lifting it. The cousins watch in silence, their ring looser than before but still keeping the stairway and service door plainly visible.
Lo pi's aunt
The token will authorize inquiry, not vengeance. If your account is sound, I will inscribe the limits of your passage.
Lo pi
The blank token awaits the evidence I give.
✓ Quest Accepted
Receive the inscribed descent token
“A posession of others curse is leading already without morals humans out of mongolia to innact their foul will together and must be purged correctly”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +1)
Lo pi
A possession curse is leading immoral people from Mongolia to act together. Their foul will must be purged correctly, before it spreads.
The accusation enters the quiet record room with the weight of a verdict. His aunt studies him, then the ledger's blackened warning mark, refusing to let certainty outrun evidence.
Lo pi's aunt
The ledger establishes the northern caves, their inhabited depths, and a curse released when bodies fail. It does not name every living person there.
Lo pi's aunt
The silk establishes that Hoanto Fung Mulla suffered an assault. It does not establish that all Mongolian travelers share the guilt, nor that possession guides them.
Lo pi
Then the curse's leadership remains uncertain, but the danger is joined to those caves. I will investigate and purge only what the evidence identifies.
The aunt's expression tightens at the word purge, yet her hand turns the blank token toward the inkstone. The cousins watch without blocking the stair.
Lo pi's aunt
That is a lawful account. I authorize your descent to the northern caves for inquiry and protection of Hoanto Fung Mulla. The token bears those limits.
“I confess that i am clear of concious and fit to engage”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +0)
Lo pi
I am clear of consciousness and fit to engage. I can undertake the inquiry within the limits you inscribed.
Lo pi stands beneath the lanternlight with the rolled cave map secured and the folded silk at hand. His posture is steady, and his attention does not waver.
Lo pi's aunt
Your clarity is noted, nephew. You speak as one prepared to observe before acting, which is the condition this inquiry requires.
She dips her brush into the inkstone and completes the descent token, marking the northern caves, protection of Hoanto Fung Mulla, and the prohibition against unsupported accusations.
Lo pi's aunt
Carry the token openly. You may engage threats that the evidence identifies, but do not turn uncertainty into guilt. The authority is yours within those bounds.
The aunt presses the drying token into Lo pi's hand. The cousins step fully aside from the stairway, leaving the descent unobstructed as lanternlight follows him to the first step.
Lo pi's aunt
Go to the northern caves, nephew. Return with names, signs, and survivors if they can be protected. Let the evidence speak before your blade does.
Quest Complete
Receive the inscribed descent token
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Good→Great
+ New Item Acquired
Inscribed descent token