The records chamber settles into guarded silence. Hessa remains at the eastern pasture with the flock and enchanted hawk, while Al stays beside Artania, watchful beneath the guild’s curtained lamps.
Maelin Voss
Before we copy anything, we need to know whether the volumes are merely records or whether opening them has marked this room.
Maelin lifts a silvered quill and holds it above the table. Its tip trembles toward the copper-bound books, then points sharply at the shuttered window.
Brunna Coppervein
Those officials outside asked about eastern traffic, not farm contracts. They may already suspect someone carried proof back through the gate.
Al
The road beyond the walls is crowded with listening intentions. None has crossed the threshold, but one presence waits near the western alley.
Healer Odelia Marr
Artania, your hand is bleeding again. Let me bind it before you handle another page. Evidence is of little use if its keeper collapses.
A muted knock sounds from the records chamber’s outer door, followed by three measured taps. Brunna’s hand closes around her hammer, while Maelin covers the nearest volume.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine whether the records chamber has been marked
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep the copper-bound evidence out of hostile hands
“I quickly gather my magic and silently project my thoughts to all my allies in the room. Just in case we can be heard. “How long will it take you to copy everything we have here and get it authenticated”?”
SUCCESS (Legendary Magic, rolled -1)
Artania Nero Thornson
How long will it take you to copy everything here and get it authenticated?
Artania gathers his magic without speaking. The question travels quietly through the room’s shared bridge, reaching Maelin, Brunna, Odelia, and Al while the outer knock fades.
Maelin Voss
For these two volumes and the supporting records, perhaps three hours if we work together. Authentication will take another hour, provided the seals cooperate.
Brunna Coppervein
I can verify the guild marks while Maelin copies. Four hours is a fair estimate, lad, and we can finish before midnight.
Healer Odelia Marr
I will bind your hand first, then help compare every copy against the originals. No page leaves this room until it is accurate.
Al
The answer is clear, small one. They can preserve the truth tonight, but the presence near the western alley still waits.
Maelin’s silvered quill steadies above the table, though its tip remains angled toward the shuttered window. Brunna keeps her hammer ready as the measured tapping comes again.
“Still speaking through my silent thought magic. I tell my allies to get started. Odelia, please be as quick as you can with my hand. I take my uninjured hand and form another magical messenger hawk. I tell them to speak the message to the hawk and it will transport it to me. Tell me when everything is done. Maelin, do you have a spare guild mark I can borrow since mine is part of the evidence?”
SUCCESS (Legendary Magic, rolled -1)
Artania’s silent intent moves through the shared bridge: begin copying and authentication, bind his hand swiftly, send messages by hawk, and ask Maelin for a spare guild mark. The work starts at once.
Healer Odelia Marr
Hold still, Artania. I will be quick, but the binding must be firm enough to keep that wound closed.
Odelia cleans and wraps his injured palm while Maelin lays out fresh parchment and Brunna begins comparing guild seals. The measured knock sounds again beyond the barred door.
With his uninjured hand, Artania shapes blue-white magic into another small hawk. It forms cleanly, though the spell drains warmth from his fingers and leaves his wrist trembling.
Maelin Voss
I have a spare bronze guild mark, unused and properly recorded. Take it, and I will note its temporary loan in the register.
Maelin places the bronze mark beside the hawk. Its magic recognizes the guild’s authority, while the construct turns toward every ally in the chamber, ready to carry their spoken messages.
Brunna Coppervein
The copying has begun, lad. When we finish, the hawk will bring you our report, and the authenticated copies will remain under guild seal.
Quest Complete
Keep the copper-bound evidence out of hostile hands
Skill Upgrade: Survival Superb→Legendary
“Thank you all. I bow swiftly, then shake out my numb fingers on my unhurt hand. Come on Al, I tell them to close and bar the door quickly behind me once I leave. Then I go to answer the insistent knocks. As I move I gather my magic again to sweep the room. Looking for if it has been marked for observance. If it is I need to destroy any and all traces so no others can follow the evidence to its current location.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Magic, rolled +1)
Artania Nero Thornson
Thank you all. Come on, Al. Close and bar the door quickly behind me once I leave.
Artania bows swiftly, then shakes numbness from his unhurt hand. Al moves with him as the bronze hawk settles near the copying table, alert and ready.
Drawing on the Magic Pouch and his gathered will, Artania sweeps blue-white perception across the chamber. Fine threads reveal a listening trace woven through the shutter latch and doorframe.
His magic strips the trace from the wood, parchment, hinges, and air alike, dispersing every residue into harmless sparks. The evidence leaves no detectable trail from the room.
Brunna Coppervein
The room is clean, lad. Go on. I will bar it the instant you clear the threshold.
Brunna draws the door inward behind him. Artania reaches the outer passage as the insistent knocking sounds again, three measured taps against the guild’s guarded entrance.
He answers the knock from the corridor, while Al remains close at his side and the records chamber seals safely behind them.
Quest Complete
Determine whether the records chamber has been marked
Skill Upgrade: Lore Mediocre