Tavian leans against Artania for support as hurried footsteps echo through the ravine behind them. Dust continues falling from the broken arch, veiling the tunnel in pale grit.
Near the courier’s former bindings, a faint blue royal seal glints beneath the rubble. Ahead, the passage slopes toward a narrow exit where cold daylight barely reaches.
Tavian Rusk
That seal bears the dispatch office’s mark. If they find it, they will know I escaped and search every road from the pass.
Behind them, the approaching footsteps multiply, boots striking stone with hurried purpose. The tunnel walls tremble as another shower of dust spills from the damaged arch.
Tavian Rusk
Callan and Seren stayed above with the gifts, and Al guards them. We cannot wait for help from the shelf.
Tavian Rusk
If the pursuers reach the bindings first, they may learn more than my name.
The narrow exit offers one uncertain path forward, while the broken arch and the royal seal remain behind. The footsteps draw nearer, leaving Artania the next choice.
✓ Quest Accepted
Bring Tavian to safety
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the royal dispatch seal
“I hurriedly ask Taven if he is able to climb out on his own. Thinking quickly trying to come up with a plan to grab the seal.”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled -1)
Artania Nero Thornson
Tavian, can you climb out on your own?
Tavian tests his legs beneath him, one hand gripping the tunnel wall. His knees tremble, but he straightens enough to face the sloping passage.
Tavian Rusk
I can climb, if I lean on the stones and take it slowly. I will not make it quickly, but I can reach the shelf.
Artania Nero Thornson
The seal lies within reach, and the pursuers are still behind us.
Artania shifts Tavian toward the exit, then crouches by the broken bindings. He reaches beneath the rubble and closes his fingers around the faint blue royal seal.
The seal comes free, but loose stone collapses with a sharp crack. Dust bursts through the passage, and pain lances across Artania’s already strained shoulder.
Tavian Rusk
You have it. Keep moving, traveler. The seal proves my dispatch office connection, but those footsteps will soon reach this chamber.
Quest Complete
Secure the royal dispatch seal
+ New Item Acquired
Royal Dispatch Seal
“I yell at Taven to climb out first tucking my sword into his belt. I turn around and gather my magic. This is going to hurt my already strained body. Focusing intensely, I call upon the earth around the tunnel and begin shifting it towards a section in the direction of the footsteps. The plan is to collapse the tunnel and run.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Magic, rolled +0)
Artania Nero Thornson
Tavian, climb out first! Move!
Artania tucks his sword into Tavian’s belt and turns him toward the narrow exit. Tavian Rusk grips the wall, forcing his shaking legs up the slope.
Tavian Rusk
I’m climbing. Keep the seal safe, and follow before the tunnel gives way.
Tavian reaches the cold daylight as Artania turns back. He plants his feet, gathers blue-white magic, and calls the surrounding earth into motion.
Stone grinds beneath the tunnel. Pain tears through Artania’s strained shoulders as rubble surges toward the approaching footsteps, folding the passage inward.
the pursuers
What was that? Hold the passage! Find the courier!
The arch collapses between Artania and the pursuers, sealing the route beneath a heavy roar. Dust floods the tunnel as he runs uphill toward Tavian and the open shelf.
+ New Item Acquired
Tavian's Sword
“Is Callan part of the conspiracy? Holding my hand out for my sword.”
YES (Even, rolled 17)
Artania reaches toward the sword at Tavian’s belt as they emerge onto the cold shelf. Behind them, the collapsed tunnel groans, trapping the pursuers below.
Tavian Rusk
Your sword. Yes, take it. We need every advantage before Callan sees us return.
Tavian draws the blade and places its hilt into Artania’s waiting hand. Below, dust pours from the sealed passage, while Al’s distant growl rolls across the shelf.
Tavian Rusk
Callan knew where I was taken. He knew the gifts would pass this road. He is part of the design.
The royal seal in Artania’s grasp bears a faint second impression beneath its crest, a matching mark pressed into the dispatch Callan carried.
Tavian Rusk
That hidden mark belongs to the conspirators. Callan did not merely conceal the mission. He helped redirect it toward the ambush.
Above the shelf, Callan’s voice carries through the smoke, calling for Tavian. Seren answers nothing, and Al’s growl deepens between them and the sealed gifts.
“I circle around and shield Tavian from Callan. I fix Callan with my coldest expression, asking him what he knows of the hidden mark of the conspiritors.”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled -1)
Artania circles Tavian, placing himself between the exhausted courier and Callan’s approaching voice. Blue-white magic gathers along his forearm, while Al’s growl deepens beside the sealed gifts.
Artania Nero Thornson
Callan, what do you know of the hidden mark of the conspirators?
Callan emerges through the smoke, his face tightening as Artania’s cold stare fixes him in place. Seren remains silent, watching the envoy’s hands.
Callan Vey
I know it was placed by a royal signet before the dispatch left Arch. I was ordered to recognize the mark, not reveal it.
Tavian Rusk
That is a lie of omission. The mark identifies the office that redirected my route and sold the ambush’s location.
Callan Vey
The office is the Crown’s Quiet Ledger, a clandestine bureau within the dispatch ministry. I carried its instructions because refusal would have doomed my family.
The admission costs Callan his concealment. Al bares his teeth, and Callan raises both hands as Artania’s magic burns steadily between him and Tavian.
Quest Complete
Determine whether the merchant is part of a conspiracy
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Great→Superb
Quest Complete
Bring Tavian to safety
Skill Upgrade: Healing Great→Superb