The dry stair rises into a riverward shed. Below, the living keeper remains with the opened alcove, while Rhon, Mattheas, and Hattori hold the sealed cellar behind Danial.
One shed door hangs open to the night. Wet footprints cross the warped boards between leaning ferry poles, and river mist curls through the gaps.
The bruised runner emerges from behind the stacked poles, pale beneath the lantern glow. His sleeve is torn, and he keeps glancing toward the open water.
the bruised runner
You came alone. Good. Rhon must not know I left. The clerk's people searched the Stool, and one of them followed the river stairs.
Beneath the split-oar mark, blood darkens the shed wall in hurried letters. The final line trails toward the floor, where another wet footprint overlaps it.
the bruised runner
It says the infiltrator is not carrying the missing key alone. There is another hand, hidden close, and the key may already be inside the sheds.
Beyond the doorway, a chain knocks softly against a mooring post. The brass-bound record rests in Danial's keeping, while the river conceals whoever made the fresh trail.
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect the bruised runner
✓ Quest Accepted
Expose the infiltrator's hidden accomplice
“I pull the runner behind the poles and search the open shed for the accomplice.”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled +0)
Danial pulls the bruised runner behind the stacked poles, lowering him into shadow. The runner clamps a hand over his own mouth as Danial slips toward the open shed.
He searches the warped boards, mooring ropes, and dark spaces beneath the ferry benches. Fresh wet prints end beside a hanging tarred net, though no one stands beyond it.
Danial Tienad
The footprints stop where the boards have been disturbed.
Danial lifts the net without a sound. Behind it, a narrow recess opens between the shed wall and a ferry crate. A concealed figure crouches there, clutching a short knife.
the hidden accomplice
Do not call out. I am not with the clerk.
The stranger lowers the knife but does not emerge. Saltwater drips from a dark cloak, and a brass key hangs at the figure’s belt beneath the folds.
the hidden accomplice
The key is here, as the runner said. I took it from the clerk before he reached the sheds, but his men are searching the riverbank.
Quest Complete
Expose the infiltrator's hidden accomplice
Quest Complete
Protect the bruised runner