The dry ditch delivers Frumius and the Slave Tutor to an abandoned granary beyond the farm fields. Dust hangs beneath its cracked roof, and the cypress trees hide the road behind them.
Gaius Neratius
Here, quickly. The sealed tablet has a second impression beneath its binding.
The Slave Tutor sets the tablet on a grain chest and carefully lifts the cord. Beneath the wax seal lies a faint signet pressed into the binding clay, a laurel branch crossed by a narrow staff.
Gaius Neratius
I have seen this mark on Varro's account ledgers. It belongs to the Roman patron who paid for the false figures.
A horn sounds beyond the fields, answered by another near the cypress. The pursuers have found the ditch.
Gaius Neratius
If they take this tablet, the patron's name remains buried. If we preserve the impression, we can place the truth before the Senate.
He draws a small clay tablet from inside his tunic and presses it against the hidden signet, making a copy. Footsteps scrape over stone outside the granary.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep the tablet's evidence from being seized
“I guard the granary entrance while the tutor finishes copying the signet.”
SUCCESS (Great Melee Combat, rolled +1)
The clay tablet bears the laurel and staff clearly now. The tutor lifts it from the binding and folds it into his tunic.
Gaius Neratius
The copy is safe. The mark is Varro's patron's sign, and the watcher outside is hunting this evidence for him.
Therefore, the sealed wax tablet remains on the grain chest, its hidden impression preserved while the original evidence stays in your reach.
A boot scrapes across the threshold. Dust spills from the lintel as a shadow crosses the entrance, then withdraws behind the broken wall.
Gaius Neratius
They have found us. I can read the account figures here, or carry both tablets through the rear breach.
Beyond the granary, a horn gives one sharp call. The answer comes from the cypress grove, sealing the road behind you.
Quest Complete
Identify who is tracking the tutor
Attribute Upgrade: Strength Superb→Legendary
Quest Complete
Keep the tablet's evidence from being seized