When the lead token touches the recess, the hollow behind the foundation answers with a deep wooden knock. Dust sifts down as a seam opens toward a buried passage.
Rhon the Rose
There is your ferrymen's door. Nobody rushes through it. The supplier may have left more than a greeting beneath my floor.
The black water recoils from the opening, drawing back around the satchel. Rhon keeps the casks braced while Mattheas watches the barred passage, sword ready but lowered.
Hattori Ishiwa
The token has not opened the repository. It has identified a passage of custody. Whatever lies beyond was meant to be approached by one bearer.
Mattheas ben-Igari
Then Danial goes first, if he goes. I remain here with Hattori and the records. No raider crosses this cellar unseen.
Beyond the seam waits a narrow descent smelling of salt, old timber, and extinguished lamp oil. Faint scratches mark the threshold, recent enough to interrupt the dust.
Rhon the Rose
Take the token, and take nothing else until you know who carved those scratches. We will hold this room, but the buried passage may not hold still.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the hidden passage as a defensible route
“I inspect the scratches and threshold before descending.”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled +0)
Danial kneels at the threshold without disturbing the dust. The scratches are deliberate: three short vertical cuts, a hooked line, and a smear of fresh wax along the inner jamb.
Danial Tienad
The scratches were made from inside, and the wax is newer than the dust.
He studies the seam, the timber braces, and the threshold stones. No trip cord or hidden blade waits beneath them, but a shallow groove guides spilled water toward a drain below.
The hooked mark repeats the token's tiny arch. Beneath it, faint pressure stains show that a narrow case was dragged down the passage recently, leaving no return trail.
Hattori Ishiwa
The marks are instructions, not a warning. Three cuts mean custody, the hook means descent, and the wax confirms the passage was sealed after use.
Rhon the Rose
Then you know what waits at the threshold, Danial. A route used recently, and by someone carrying a case narrow enough for a ledger or a blade.
Mattheas ben-Igari
Go carefully. We will hold the cellar behind you, and no one enters that passage until you return or call us forward.
“I ask Rhon to seal the cellar behind me”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +0)
Danial Tienad
Rhon, seal the cellar behind me. Keep the others here until I call.
Rhon studies Danial for one silent breath, then nods. He sends Mattheas to the inner brace and lifts the heavy bar from its wall hooks.
Rhon the Rose
Done. The cellar closes behind you, and no one follows without your word.
Mattheas draws the brace across the foundation door while Rhon presses fresh wax into the latch seam. The bar falls with a deep wooden crack that travels through the buried passage.
Mattheas ben-Igari
The seal holds. That crack was loud enough for anyone below to hear, but the door will not yield quietly.
Hattori Ishiwa
The records remain with us, Danial. If the passage bears another custody mark, you will find it alone.
Behind Danial, the cellar settles into guarded silence. The sealed door is secure, but the fresh wax and fallen bar announce that the passage has a living keeper now.
“Is the living keeper guarding the custody record?”
YES, BUT (Likely, rolled 56)
The passage descends beneath the sealed cellar, its timbers sweating salt. At the bottom, a hooded keeper stands before a low stone alcove, guarding a brass-bound custody record.
the living keeper
You bear the token, so the covenant recognizes you. But the record is not yours to read without payment.
The keeper lifts a shuttered lamp. Its sudden flare reveals a narrow iron case beside the alcove, and fresh wax bearing the same three knotted cords.
the living keeper
Your companions above have been heard. That bar and wax have spent the passage's silence. Whoever follows now will know exactly where to find us.
A concealed bell gives one muted chime behind the keeper, then falls quiet. The brass-bound record remains secured, but the keeper's gaze fixes on Danial's wrapped tome.
the living keeper
The supplier wants the custody names burned. The ferrymen want them preserved. I have guarded both the record and its secret, until tonight.
Beyond the keeper, the alcove's stone door stands open just wide enough to show shelves of sealed tablets. Salt dust drifts from above as the cellar's new seal settles.
✓ Quest Accepted
Gain access to the custody record
“Is the keeper secretly working for the supplier?”
NO (Even, rolled 77)
the living keeper
I do not serve the supplier. He came seeking the names, and I refused him. That refusal is why he sent raiders instead.
The keeper turns the lamp toward the iron case. Fresh wax seals its hinges, while older salt scars mark where another hand tried to break them.
the living keeper
I preserved the record because the ferrymen swore custody, not obedience. The supplier would burn every name that could expose his patron.
The concealed bell remains silent. From above comes only the muted strain of the barred cellar door, with no answering signal from the passage.
the living keeper
Your allies are not my enemies, unless they force this door. I will not betray them, and I will not surrender the record to fear.
The keeper steps aside from the alcove, leaving the brass-bound record untouched. The open stone door reveals shelves of sealed tablets, each marked for custody rather than sale.
the living keeper
The supplier has a clerk's authority and raider's reach, but not this covenant. If you seek the truth, ask what names he needs erased.
− Scene Quest Removed
Secure the hidden passage as a defensible route
“I offer the token and promise to protect the record from the supplier.”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +4)
Danial Tienad
I offer the token. I will protect this record from the supplier and keep its names from being burned.
Danial extends the salt-cold token across the narrow space. The keeper studies his scarred face, then accepts the token without breaking eye contact.
the living keeper
The covenant accepts your word. You will have the record, and I will name the hand behind the supplier before you leave.
The keeper breaks the older wax, lifts the brass-bound record from the alcove, and places it in Danial's keeping. Its clasp bears three names beneath the ferrymen's mark.
the living keeper
The supplier serves Prefect Salvek of the Baronial Registry. He ordered Odran Vey's surviving custody names erased, then hired raiders to make the erasure permanent.
A hidden panel opens behind the emptied alcove, revealing a dry stair that rises toward the old river sheds. The keeper points to its first landing.
the living keeper
That stair bypasses the streets and reaches the sheds unseen. Take the record there, and the ferrymen's last witness will answer you.
Quest Complete
Gain access to the custody record
+ New Item Acquired
Custody record