At the wheel, Oju watches the damp smear spread across the projected map. Beneath Talla’s eye, Silas lowers himself from the rigging as the cutter’s lines creak toward departure.
Silas Quill
I boarded after I saw a survivor come out of the drowned coast. He carried part of a map, and he was trying to hide it before anyone on the quay noticed.
Talla catches Silas by the sleeve before he can return to the lines. The cutter noses toward open water, while the map’s wet mark creeps eastward across the black inlet.
Talla Rusk
You saw him leave the coast, then followed his trail here. Start with what he carried, and explain why that made this voyage worth hiding aboard.
Silas Quill
The fragment bore the same split crown as your box. Its mark showed a concealed landing beneath the eastern cliffs, but the approach runs close to water that tears ships apart.
The nervous harbour factor stiffens over the map, tracing the dangerous approach in the air without touching it. From the captain’s quarters, the one-eyed dock guard captain calls that the strongbox seal remains undisturbed.
Silas Quill
I hid aboard because the survivor vanished before I could question him. If his fragment reaches that landing first, Veyr may already know the way in.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the concealed landing
“"Ah well... Seems like smooth sailing so far... The sea's not rowdy."”
SUCCESS (Superb Perception, rolled +1)
Oju
Ah well... Seems like smooth sailing so far. The sea's not rowdy.
The cutter rides an even swell beneath a pale morning sky. Oju studies the deck, rigging, wheel, and faces instead of trusting the calm at a glance.
His long ears separate the honest creak of timber from a faint scrape beneath the stern bench, then catch a whisper near the captain’s quarters. His nose finds fresh lamp oil and wet rope where neither belongs.
Talla Rusk
The sea may be calm, but the deck is not. Silas, leave that line and show me what you noticed below.
Talla checks the stern recess and finds its false panel shifted again. Corren discovers damp prints leading from it toward the captain’s quarters, while the one-eyed dock guard captain confirms the sealed cargo remains untouched.
Silas Quill
I did not make those prints. Someone else knows this cutter, and they came aboard after I hid myself.
The inspection settles the question: the calm voyage is genuine, but the cutter carries a concealed intruder’s trail. Talla stations Corren at the quarters while the one-eyed dock guard captain keeps watch over the cargo.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify the intruder aboard the cutter
− Scene Quest Removed
Reach the concealed landing
“"Another one...? How many lubbers are hiding in here..." Oju sighs. "Talla, Corren... Ye know what to do."”
SUCCESS (Superb Perception, rolled +1)
Oju
Another one...? How many lubbers are hiding in here... Talla, Corren... Ye know what to do.
Oju searches from stern to bow while Talla and Corren spread through the cutter. His long ears catch a held breath beneath the captain’s quarters, and his keen nose isolates stale seawater beneath fresh lamp oil.
He follows the sound to a narrow storage locker behind the quarters. The latch is fastened from within, and damp footprints end directly before it.
Talla Rusk
Found him. Corren, cover the passage. Whoever is inside comes out slowly.
The locker opens onto a cramped recess containing an adult man, wearing a salt-stained cream shirt, brown trousers, and worn leather boots with weathered brown skin, a narrow build, and salt-stiff dark hair beneath a torn green hood. A pale scar cuts across his chin.
Arven Sile
Do not strike. I am Arven Sile, and I hid here after the quay watch began asking about my map fragment.
Corren Bale
Hands where we can see them, Arven. You will explain why your trail led straight to our cargo.
Quest Complete
Identify the intruder aboard the cutter