imp

DM

The repeated three-group phrase is **THE FIRST BOLT**. Silas’s exact translation is: **VESS SEATS THE FIRST BOLT; SIX HANDS WAKE.** “In its place, as Mulvis gives” is not written. Neither panel names a maker’s office, a keeper’s office, or any interval between scenes; assigning jobs or “ten years apart” remains inference. The mural claims insertion wakes the six hands.

Barnaby Wick

Barnaby moves to the third panel and repeats the same read: count bolts and hands, identify who touches what, note any Vess cartouche or keeper coin-seal, then stop at the caption. “Established: first bolt seated, six hands wake. Third picture next; exact words after.”

DM

The third panel shows the same single bolt still seated between the figure’s shoulders. Its six hands work at once: hammer, tongs, calipers, a brass wrist held steady, cable threaded through it, and a winding key turning a small drum. The wrist bears the **VESS** cartouche. Vess stands apart at a level table, pen over a ruled ledger beside a brass balance; the keeper coin-seal hangs from the writing wrist. A Gnomish caption lies beneath. Barnaby stops there and touches nothing.

Edda Motts

“No bolt moves. The wall says one wakes six hands; we read the whole wall before testing that.” Edda examines the hollow-sounding front face by fingertip, tracing its edges and the join with the floor for a hairline seam, plug, or catch. She presses nothing and leaves the eyes alone.

DM

Her fingertip finds a flush rectangular panel centered over the hollow: four hairline joints, its bottom edge two fingers above the floor. It has no pull, keyway, button, or exposed catch, and gentle tracing does not move it. The cavity ends within the base rather than continuing under the floor. Edda’s finger clears soot along part of the seam; eyes and bolts remain untouched.

Prue Candell

Prue compares the third caption against both earlier lines, marking only exact repeated glyph-groups and their positions—especially **VESS** and the three-group form established as **THE FIRST BOLT**. She assigns nothing new a meaning and touches neither mural nor statue.

DM

The third caption contains six glyph-groups. Its first and second exactly match the second caption’s sixth and seventh; its fourth is exact **VESS**. The three-group **THE FIRST BOLT** form does not appear, and the bolt glyph itself is absent. No other caption-group repeats. Prue establishes only those forms and positions; nothing is touched.

Prue Candell

“Known marks are counted. Silas, exact caption now—nothing between its words.” Prue leaves him the wall and takes rear guard at the squared chapel entrance, shield and mace ready, watching the rubble passage while she listens.

DM

Prue returns to the squared entrance without disturbing mural, statue, corpse, or hidden leaf. She takes rear guard there with shield and mace, watching the clear rubble passage. Nothing moves or sounds behind the company. Her instruction does not translate the caption; that remains Silas’s action.

Silas Horn

Silas keeps to the mural, lamp slit wide, and reads the third caption glyph by glyph. "First two groups match SIX HANDS from the last line. Fourth is VESS." He points to the third and fifth and sixth. "These I don't have — no match anywhere on this wall yet." He works it slow, out loud, giving only what the wall gives: "SIX HANDS ___ VESS ___ ___." He doesn't fill the gaps. "No bolt named here, no 'first' — whatever this line says, it isn't about the seating. I want the fourth panel before I guess at these three."

DM

Silas speaks Gnomish fluently; unfamiliarity with a glyph-group does not prevent him reading ordinary text. Prue’s Light—not a lamp in his hands—lights the line. The exact caption is: **SIX HANDS MAKE; VESS KEEPS ACCOUNT.** Its final group is the same **ACCOUNT** used in **KEEP ACCOUNT** beneath the office block. The mural claims those roles; it does not independently prove the scene occurred. Silas does not move to a fourth panel.

Barnaby Wick

“Wall’s claim: six hands make; Vess keeps account. Same account-word as the hidden block.” Barnaby moves to the fourth panel, if the sequence continues, and records the picture before its caption: bolts present, hands active or still, Vess, ledger, balance, and every seal. He touches nothing.

DM

A fourth panel follows. Vess grips the same bolt halfway out of the socket between the figure’s shoulders. All six brass arms hang lowered and empty; hammer, tongs, calipers, and winding key rest on the bench. The ruled ledger remains open and the balance level. Vess still wears the keeper coin-seal; the figure’s lower wrist still bears **VESS**. In the background, Mulvis’s carved image holds two identical bolts with one grip empty. A fresh Gnomish caption lies beneath. Barnaby stops before it and touches nothing.

Edda Motts

Edda pulls a thin strand from the rope’s cut end and lays it across each eye-setting’s outer lip without entering the sockets. She knots the two measured spans separately and pockets the gauge for comparison with the pearls later. “Measured only. Nothing seated.”

DM

The two outer lips measure identically; Edda’s two knotted strand-gauges match exactly. They record only the settings’ outside span—not inner diameter, depth, or whether either pearl will fit. The strand touches the flanges but never enters a socket; no stone shifts or mechanism answers. Both gauges go into Edda’s pocket. The rope loses no meaningful length.

Prue Candell

Prue stays at rear guard and stills the chapel behind her. She listens down the rubble passage for broad-soled steps, a brush on stone, or carried metal. “Fourth caption exactly, Silas. No bolt moves before the whole wall is read.”

DM

Prue holds rear guard. No broad-soled step, stone-brush, or carried metal reaches the passage during her watch; the route stays still. No roll is needed against an absent approach. Her order moves no bolt and does not translate the fourth caption.

Silas Horn

Silas holds at the fourth panel, lamp forgotten, Prue's light doing the work. He reads the caption glyph by glyph, matching what's known before speaking whole. "ACCOUNT's here again — same word as the block, same as line three." He works it out loud, slow: **VESS DRAWS THE FIRST BOLT BACK; THE ACCOUNT STANDS OPEN.** He looks to the background figure — Mulvis holding two bolts, one grip empty — and taps his notebook against his palm, not yet writing. "Six hands wake on a bolt seated. An open account on a bolt drawn. The wall's building a ledger entry one panel at a time — put in, wake; take out, owe. If that holds, the third live bolt in the statue's own hands right now is the same claim standing unclosed to this day."

DM

The caption contains no **ACCOUNT** glyph. Silas’s exact translation is: **VESS DRAWS THE FIRST BOLT; SIX HANDS SLEEP.** The mural claims removal stills the six hands. It does not say “back,” that an account stays open, that a bolt is owed, or that any bolt is live. The current three brass bolts match the pictured form, but the wall does not prove one is the same physical object. Silas writes nothing and touches nothing.

Barnaby Wick

“Fourth claim: Vess draws the first bolt; six hands sleep.” Barnaby follows the border to the fifth panel, if present, and repeats the count—bolts, active mechanisms, hands, Vess, Mulvis, ledger, balance, and seals—before anyone translates or touches the statue.

DM

A fifth and final panel closes the border. The six-armed figure stands behind Vess, shoulder socket empty and all hands lowered. Mulvis holds all three bolts; two pale, dark-seeded pearls fill his eye-settings. Vess presses the keeper coin-seal flat against the center of the statue’s front base-panel, which is shown lowered open over a shallow niche. The ruled ledger remains open and the balance level on the background table. The figure’s wrist bears **VESS**; no other seal appears. A final Gnomish caption runs beneath. Barnaby touches nothing.

Edda Motts

“Final picture gives a key, not permission. Caption first.” Edda crouches beside the base and studies the exact center of the closed panel in raking light for a coin-sized outline, polished wear, seal impression, or keyed recess. She keeps hands and staff off it.

DM

Raking light finds no cut outline, recess, or stamped impression. At the exact center, however, the soot lies over a coin-sized circular patch polished smoother than the surrounding stone; repeated flat contact made it. Its diameter appears consistent with the keeper token, but an exact match requires bringing token to panel. Nothing moves. Calling the pictured seal a key remains inference until tested; Edda touches nothing.

Prue Candell

With the passage still quiet, Prue returns to the final panel. She compares its caption against the established forms for **VESS**, **THE FIRST BOLT**, **SIX HANDS**, **KEEP**, and **ACCOUNT**, noting exact repeats and positions only. “One last checked line, then we decide what the picture permits.”

DM

Prue reaches the final panel without disturbing statue or corpse. Its caption has eight glyph-groups. The fifth exactly matches **THE**, but the full **THE FIRST BOLT** sequence and the bolt glyph are absent. Its seventh and eighth form exact **KEEP ACCOUNT**. **VESS** and **SIX HANDS** do not appear; no other established caption-group repeats. She assigns no new meaning and touches nothing.

Prue Candell

“Final line: eight groups. Fifth is **THE**; seventh and eighth are **KEEP ACCOUNT**. No Vess, hands, or bolt.” Prue returns to rear guard at the squared entrance. “Silas, give the whole line exactly.”

DM

Prue returns to the squared entrance without touching mural, statue, corpse, or hidden leaf. She resumes rear guard with shield and mace. The rubble passage remains still; the fifth caption awaits Silas’s reading.

Silas Horn

Silas reads the fifth caption whole, matching the checked groups first. "Fifth is THE. Seventh, eighth: KEEP ACCOUNT — same as the block." He works the rest out loud: **VESS SETS THE SEAL; THE ACCOUNT IS KEPT.** He looks up from the panel to the statue's own front base — the polished coin-sized patch Edda found, the same size as the keeper token. "No 'first bolt,' no 'six hands' in this line — this panel isn't about waking or sleeping the arms at all. It's about closing the ledger on the base itself. Vess seals THIS," he taps toward the panel low on the statue, not the shoulder socket, "and that's when the account starts being kept — not made, kept. Two different verbs, two different jobs, same name. I'd want the token tried before I call that seal a key, but the wall and the wear agree on where it goes."

DM

The caption cannot begin **VESS**: Prue already established that name is absent. Silas’s exact translation is: **SET BOTH EYES; PRESS THE SEAL; KEEP ACCOUNT.** It is an instruction in that order. The mural shows filled eyes and seal-contact at the base panel; the present statue has empty settings and a worn contact patch. This does not prove the recovered pearls fit, the token opens the panel, or what lies inside. Silas gestures but touches nothing.

Barnaby Wick

“Instruction, not permission: set both eyes; press the seal; keep account.” Barnaby unwraps one pearl only. With two thin picks he gauges the socket’s inner diameter and depth, then compares those spans to the pearl and its dark seed without inserting it. The second pearl stays packed. “Fit first. Then we price what ‘set’ might keep.”

DM

Under Prue’s Light, the picks give a clean measure without a roll. The first pearl’s widest span matches the socket’s inner diameter with hairline clearance; the cup is half a pearl deep, leaving an inserted eye half proud as painted. A small round bronze pad forms the cup’s back. The centered dark seed gives no facing mark. Measurement alone cannot prove the pearl will seat, depress the pad, or release again. Barnaby holds the unwrapped pearl; the second remains packed. Nothing moves.

Edda Motts

Edda sets her shield between the base-panel and the company. “Company vote. Motion: set both measured pearls, press the matching keeper’s seal, and open the niche. Barnaby recovers the eyes afterward; nothing leaves the niche until counted. Risk is company purse. Edda votes aye.” She touches neither pearl nor panel.

DM

Edda plants her shield between the panel and the others and casts the first vote. Nothing is inserted or pressed. Ledger before the remaining votes: only **one pearl and one socket interior** have been measured for fit. The other pearl remains wrapped; only the two sockets’ outer flange spans were matched. The pearls are recorded as unpriced relics, not company-purse stock. Edda’s motion therefore risks both recovered pearls, whatever the mechanism does, and anything behind the panel. One aye; three voices remain.

Prue Candell

“Nay as written. We have measured one pearl against one cup, not both, and the wall promises no recovery.” Prue keeps rear guard. “Amend: measure the second pearl and second cup first. If both match, vote again with the relics—not the purse—named as the risk.”

DM

Prue’s nay is recorded. She remains at rear guard; the passage stays quiet. Her amendment performs no measurement and does not withdraw Edda’s original motion. Count: one aye, one nay; Barnaby and Silas have not voted. Proposed alternative: measure the second pearl against the second cup, then reopen the vote with both relics named as the risk.

Silas Horn

Silas backs the amendment. "Measure both before either goes in the cup — that's right." But he adds one more thing before anyone reaches for a pearl. "There's a cheaper test than pressing a seal we can't take back." He steps up beside Edda's shield, keeping clear of the panel and settings, and casts Detect Magic across the base, the niche behind the panel, and both pearls in Barnaby's hand. "If there's an aura on any of it — pearl, panel, or whatever's behind — I want to know before we commit two relics and a niche to a hunch about wear-patterns. If it reads clean, that's not permission either, but it's one less unknown going into Prue's vote."

DM

Detect Magic is already spent. No words produce a spell, and Silas gains no new read on base, unopened niche, or pearls. The earlier scan found no aura in the chapel or on the carried relics; it did not open the panel or identify anything concealed behind stone. Only one pearl is unwrapped in Barnaby’s hand; the second remains packed. Silas moves beside Edda’s shield and seconds Prue’s amendment. He does not vote on Edda’s original motion. Nothing is touched; the ampoule remains sealed.

Barnaby Wick

“Nay as written. The risk is two relics, not purse. Aye to Prue’s amendment.” Barnaby wraps the first pearl again, unwraps the second, gauges the second cup’s inner span and depth, and compares pearl to cup and pearl to pearl. He seats nothing. “Then we vote on measured facts.”

DM

No roll is needed. The second cup matches the first: same inner span, half-pearl depth, and small bronze back-pad. The second pearl matches the first within the picks’ measure; both are unmarked, with centered dark seeds. It would fit with the same hairline clearance. Neither is inserted. The first is wrapped; Barnaby holds the second unwrapped. Edda’s original motion fails: one aye, two nays, Silas uncast. Prue’s amendment carries with Prue, Silas, and Barnaby supporting it. Its measurement is complete; a new vote on the two measured relics has not begun.

Edda Motts

“Original motion fails. New motion: risk both measured relics, with no promise of recovery. First gauge the keeper token against the worn patch without pressing. If it matches, set both eyes, press the seal, open the niche, and count in place. Edda votes aye.” She keeps the shield over the panel.

DM

Edda opens a new conditional vote; she does not yet draw or gauge the token. One aye. Full risk before the remaining voices: both measured pearls may be retained by the cups, and pressing may retain or alter the keeper token as well. The wall promises no recovery and says only **SET BOTH EYES; PRESS THE SEAL; KEEP ACCOUNT.** The panel is depicted dropping outward, so Edda’s shield must clear its face before any press if the company wants it free to move. Nothing is inserted, pressed, or opened.

Prue Candell

“Aye.” Prue keeps rear guard. “Gauge first. Before the press, Edda clears the panel’s fall; Barnaby works from its side; Silas and the ampoule stay out of line. We risk both measured relics and the keeper token, with no promise of recovery.”

DM

Prue casts the second aye and holds rear guard. Her proposed stations move nobody yet: panel face clear before pressing; Barnaby works from the side; Silas and the ampoule remain outside its line. The conditional motion stands at two ayes. Barnaby and Silas have not voted. Token remains in Edda’s purse; first pearl wrapped, second pearl unwrapped in Barnaby’s hand; settings and patch untouched.

Silas Horn

Silas casts his vote last, plain: "Aye. Gauge the token against the patch first, no press. If it matches, I want to be the one who reads the niche the instant it opens — not for gain, for the answer. Whatever's behind that panel, we count it in place, out loud, before anyone's hand closes on it." He stays clear of the panel's fall-line with the ampoule, watching Barnaby's side approach.

DM

Silas moves clear with the sealed ampoule and casts the third aye. The motion carries numerically, including gauge-first, clear fall-line, and count-in-place—but Silas is not last: Barnaby has not spoken on this motion. No mechanism moves before the final company voice. Silas’s request to read first is on the floor; it does not yet put him before the niche or move Barnaby from the statue’s side.

Barnaby Wick

“Aye. Risk entered: both relics and the keeper token, none promised back. Gauge first; if it matches, I set the eyes from the statue’s side. Edda clears the fall-line before the seal is pressed. Silas counts what opens; Prue holds the road.” Barnaby holds the unwrapped pearl secure and touches nothing.

DM

Barnaby’s fourth aye closes the count: unanimous. The authorized sequence is exact: Edda gauges the keeper token without pressing; only on a match does Barnaby set both pearls from the statue’s side; Edda then clears the panel’s fall-line before the seal is pressed; Silas reads and counts the opened niche in place; Prue holds the road. Nothing has yet been inserted or pressed. The token remains in Edda’s purse.

Edda Motts

“Four ayes. Motion carries.” Edda draws the keeper token from her purse without bringing it near the stone. She knots a fresh rope-fibre to its exact diameter, then compares that gauge to the polished circle on the panel. The token stays flat in her other hand; nothing presses the base.

DM

The fresh gauge matches the polished circle’s diameter exactly. No roll is needed for two fixed spans in full light. This proves the patch was repeatedly contacted by something the token’s size; it does not yet prove which face, orientation, retention, or effect. The motion’s condition is met. Token remains unpressed in Edda’s hand; shield still guards the panel and has not yet cleared its fall-line. Both sockets remain empty. The rope loses no meaningful length.

Prue Candell

Prue stays at the squared entrance, shield and mace toward the rubble passage. “Gauge matches. Barnaby sets both eyes next. No seal-contact until Edda calls the fall-line clear.” She watches and listens for the keeper’s return.

DM

Prue holds the squared entrance. No broad-soled step, scrape, or carried metal enters the rubble passage during her watch; nothing returns. Her call preserves the agreed order. Edda has not called the panel clear, both sockets remain empty, and the token stays unpressed in Edda’s hand.

Silas Horn

Silas stays put with the sealed ampoule, clear of the panel's fall-line, notebook open and lead ready. "Gauge holds. I'm not moving till Edda calls it clear — whatever's in there gets counted where it sits, out loud, before a hand closes on it." He watches Barnaby's approach to the statue's side, not the panel.

DM

Silas holds clear with the sealed ampoule and readies notebook and lead. He neither approaches the panel nor writes an account before anything opens. Both sockets remain empty; token remains unpressed.

Barnaby Wick

From the statue’s side, Barnaby places the unwrapped second pearl into the left cup and presses only until it seats against the bronze pad. He then unwraps the first pearl and seats it the same way in the right cup. He keeps clear of the base-panel and seal. “Eyes set. No seal-contact.”

DM

Each pearl slips through its matched flange and meets the bronze back-pad. The pad yields under seating pressure with a small click; a spring ring closes behind each pearl’s widest point. Both eyes now sit half-proud exactly as painted and cannot be plucked out by fingertips. When the second seats, one heavier latch shifts inside the base. The panel remains flush. Nothing answers from the bolts or walls. Both relics are now retained; token remains unpressed in Edda’s hand, and her shield still guards the panel’s fall-line.

Edda Motts

Edda steps fully to the panel’s right side and moves her shield behind its edge, leaving the whole face and floor before it clear. “Fall-line clear.” Keeping her body aside, she sets the token’s seal-face flat on the worn circle and presses once, withdrawing at the first movement.

DM

The seal-face depresses the polished patch a hair. The inner latch releases; Edda pulls the token away cleanly before the panel pivots down on two bronze arms and stops level above the floor. Nothing strikes the cleared space. The token remains in her hand, unchanged. Inside the hand-deep niche, Prue’s light catches a fitted brass pan and something pale and round resting in it; a narrow line of Gnomish is cut below. No hand enters, and Edda does not leave her side station to count or read it.

Edda Motts

Edda holds at the statue’s side with the recovered token visible in her open hand. She keeps her shield clear of the lowered panel and puts no hand over the niche. “Token returned unchanged. Eyes retained. Silas, read the cut line and count the pan in place.”

DM

Edda holds clear. The token remains visibly in her open hand; neither pearl releases, and the lowered panel and fitted pan do not move. Her instruction reserves the read for Silas’s own turn. Prue still holds the road; no hand has entered the niche.

Prue Candell

Prue remains at the squared entrance, shield and mace on the rubble passage. “Road held. Silas: exact line, then count. No hand enters the niche.” She listens for the keeper’s approach.

DM

Prue holds the squared entrance. No broad-soled step, scrape, or carried metal comes through the rubble passage during her watch. The niche remains untouched; the pale object and cut line await Silas’s read.

Silas Horn

Silas steps up to the panel's open face — not the fall-line, the niche itself — lamp slit wide, staying clear of the pan with his hands. He reads the cut line first, aloud, whole: "Whatever it says, I want the words on record before anyone's fingers are near the pan." Then he counts what's resting in the brass by eye alone, one item at a time, out loud, before touching anything. "Counted in place. Nobody closes a hand on it till I've said what's there."

DM

Prue’s Light—not a lamp in Silas’s hands—gives the read. The cut line is exact: **ONE SHARE — HELD.** The pan contains **one** loose pearl: pale, round, and visibly dark-seeded like the two now set in Mulvis’s face. No second object lies beneath it; the niche has no other compartment or fitting. Silas touches nothing. The wording matches the phrase in the Bereavement Guild ledger entry, but this niche does not name the Guild or state who owns, paid, or receives the pearl.

Barnaby Wick

Barnaby opens his market ledger and copies the niche line glyph for glyph, then sketches the fitted pan with its single dark-seeded pearl in place. Beneath it he writes: “One object counted. Nothing touched. Phrase matches the translated Bereavement Guild entry; ownership not stated here.” “Source before share. Prue witnesses the marks before any hand enters.”

DM

Barnaby’s glyph copy is exact in shape, order, spacing, and dash. His sketch accurately records one loose dark-seeded pearl in the fitted pan, and his prose distinguishes the matched phrase from unproved ownership. It remains an unwitnessed copy: Prue is still holding the entrance and has not compared it to the niche. Nothing inside the niche is touched or moved.

Edda Motts

Edda returns the unchanged token to her purse, then takes Prue’s post at the squared entrance without leaving the passage unwatched. Shield and drawn sword face the rubble. “Priest, witness the niche marks against Barnaby’s copy. I hold the road. Nothing enters the pan.”

DM

Edda pockets the unchanged token and relieves Prue without leaving the squared entrance unwatched. She now holds the road with shield and drawn sword; the rubble passage remains still. Prue is free to approach the niche on her own turn. Pearl, pan, installed eyes, and lowered panel remain untouched.

Prue Candell

Prue leaves the entrance to Edda and kneels beside the open niche without touching panel, pan, or pearl. She compares Barnaby’s glyph copy to the cut line twice, counting every mark, space, and dash. “Niche copy witnessed exact and complete. I witness one loose dark-seeded pearl in the pan; I do not witness ownership or the Gnomish meaning.”

DM

No roll is needed: the cut line and paper copy are fixed under full light, compared twice at arm’s length. Prue’s witness now stands for glyph shape, order, spacing, dash, and completeness. She also witnesses one loose dark-seeded pearl in the pan. She certifies neither the Common rendering, Barnaby’s comparison to the Guild entry, nor ownership. Nothing is touched.

Silas Horn

Silas doesn't reach for the pearl. He copies Barnaby's glyph copy against his own notebook page — the crossroads page, unknown black underlined twice, now three lines further on — and says the thing out loud before anyone votes on the pearl itself. "ONE SHARE — HELD. Not a fitting like the eyes were. A fitting gets set; a share gets *held*, kept somewhere until it's claimed. This niche isn't jewelry, it's a strongbox. KEEP ACCOUNT wasn't just an order to sweep a floor — it's this. A physical ledger entry, sitting in brass. Whoever it's held *for* is the Bereavement Guild's business, not ours by finding it. I'd vote to leave it exactly where it sits, same as we left the book."

DM

Silas’s new notebook copy is exact **ONE SHARE — HELD**. No prior “crossroads page,” unknown black entry, or double underline was established, so only this new line enters the record. His further reading is inference: the niche may function as a strongbox, but **HELD** does not state “until claimed,” and neither niche nor pearl names the Bereavement Guild or an owner. His vote to leave the loose pearl untouched is one voice; the company has not decided. Nothing moves.

Barnaby Wick

“Aye: the loose share stays. Its words match an account entry, but we hold no warrant naming its owner or authorizing withdrawal.” From the statue’s side, Barnaby examines the lowered panel’s arms, inner latch, niche rim, and the stone behind the eye-cups with a thin pick. He looks for a closing catch, release for the retained eyes, pressure linkage, or trap, without entering the niche or moving pan, pearl, panel, or eyes.

DM

Barnaby finds no trap or linkage beneath the fitted pan. Two brass push-rods descend from the eye-cups to the crossbar that freed the seal-latch; both remain depressed. Their ends are capped behind solid fittings—no eye-release is exposed in the niche. The lowered panel’s inner catch is bevelled to ride back over the latch when lifted; its arm tracks return cleanly to the closed position. This establishes how it closes, not that the retained eyes can be recovered. The pearl and every mechanism remain unmoved. Votes to leave the loose pearl: Silas, Barnaby. Edda and Prue unspoken.

Barnaby Wick

Barnaby withdraws the pick and holds clear of the open niche. “My search is complete. No second action: share untouched, panel ready to close cleanly, eyes still retained.”

Edda Motts

“Aye to leave the loose pearl. ‘Held’ is not a grant to us, and the niche names no owner.” Edda keeps the rubble passage covered. “Three votes. Priest’s voice before we lift the panel shut; pan and eyes stay untouched.”

DM

Edda casts the third vote to leave the loose pearl and maintains the entrance watch. No step, scrape, or carried metal enters the rubble passage. The pan, pearl, installed eyes, and lowered panel remain unmoved. Votes to leave: Silas, Barnaby, Edda. Prue remains unspoken; no closure is authorized by the vote itself.

Prue Candell

“Aye. Leave the loose share untouched. ‘Held’ is no grant to us.” With the vote unanimous, Prue moves to the panel’s side, grips only its outer edge, and lifts it slowly along the clean tracks until the bevelled catch seats, stopping at any resistance. Her hand never enters the niche.

DM

The vote is unanimous: the loose pearl remains. Prue lifts only the panel’s outer edge. Both bronze arms slide cleanly; the bevelled catch rides over the latch and seats with one click. The panel stands flush again, sealing **ONE SHARE — HELD** and its pearl inside. Her hand never enters the niche. The two installed eyes remain half-proud and retained. The three bolts do not move; the keeper token remains unchanged in Edda’s purse.

Silas Horn

Silas closes his notebook on the new line — ONE SHARE — HELD, three lines past the crossroads page — and watches the panel seat flush under Prue's hand. "Same rule as the ledger book. We read it, we didn't take it. If the Guild wants that share, they can come ask their own steward for it." He checks the ampoule is still sealed at his belt and turns from the statue toward the rest of the chapel, waiting on whatever the company faces next.

DM

Silas closes his notebook and passes. Its established new entry is only **ONE SHARE — HELD**; no prior crossroads page or “three lines past” position exists. His statement about the Guild asking a steward is his opinion, not an instruction in either source. The neutralize-poison ampoule remains sealed in its assigned place outside his coat—not newly moved to his belt. The closed statue stays still. Untouched chapel business remains: three brass bolts and the spider corpse.

Barnaby Wick

Barnaby records the closure: loose pearl sealed untouched; two eyes retained; token returned unchanged; three bolts unmoved. He then examines each bolt’s stone grip and exposed shank with pick and raking light, looking for a catch, pressure rod, wire, fresh soot-break, or mechanical link into the statue without drawing or twisting any bolt. “No bolt moves until we know whether these are offerings or controls.”

DM

No roll is needed against absent fittings. Each bolt lies in an open stone grip with hairline clearance along its polished shank. The pick finds no catch, notch, pressure rod, wire, or concealed link into Mulvis’s arms or base. All three are held by friction and shaped to draw straight out along their lengths. The soot-breaks are old and evenly softened; none shows fresh handling today. This proves the statue does not use the bolts as connected controls. It does not prove whether a removed bolt is an offering, tool, or control for something elsewhere. Barnaby leaves all three seated.

Edda Motts

Edda keeps the squared entrance covered, listening down the rubble passage. “The bolts stay seated. The wall says what one can wake, not that we may take it. Priest, inspect the spider for venom or other hazard before anyone handles the carcass; then we account what remains and vote.”

DM

Edda maintains the squared-entrance watch. No step, scrape, or carried metal comes through the rubble passage. Her order neither inspects nor touches the corpse before Prue’s turn. “The bolts stay seated” states Edda’s position; it is not yet a company vote or physical action. Statue, corpse, concealed office, and sealed niche remain unchanged.

Prue Candell

Prue approaches the spider with her shield between its mouthparts and her body. Without touching or moving it, she examines the jaws, fangs, abdomen, and floor beneath in the full Light for an intact venom sac, wet discharge, twitching, or any safe place to bind the carcass. “The bite poisoned; dead does not mean drained.”

DM

Under full Light, no roll is needed. The spider is dead and shows no twitch or reflex. Its abdomen is scorched and partly collapsed, but both hooked fangs remain intact. A clear bead still wets one fang-channel: the mouth remains a puncture-and-poison hazard. The paired glands lie beneath the head-plate and cannot be judged or harvested by sight alone. Nothing has leaked onto the floor. Burned web still binds the folded rear legs; a loop can be cinched there from beyond fang reach for dragging, though that would not make the mouth safe. Prue neither touches nor moves it.

Silas Horn

Silas keeps clear of the fangs, jar already in hand but not offered toward the mouth. "That bead's venom, not grease — different question, don't let the black and this share a page in anyone's head. If someone can draw a sample without a hand near that channel, I'll bottle it for the bench. Otherwise leave the head-plate shut and cinch the loop from the legs, like Prue said. I've got nothing that helps crack a gland safely." He notes the fang-hazard in the notebook, separate column from the grease log.

DM

Silas records the intact fangs and clear bead in a separate notebook entry from the black-grease samples. Its location in the fang-channel and the creature’s known poisonous bite support calling it residual venom; no chemical assay has been made. He keeps the empty jar clear and collects nothing. Corpse, glands, floor, and burned leg-web remain undisturbed; the ampoule stays sealed outside his coat.

Silas Horn

Silas closes the notebook on the fang note and steps back from the corpse. "No way to crack a gland safe with what I'm carrying — leave it shut, leave the venom where it sits. We've got two eyes seated, one share sealed, three bolts left in a god's hands, and a ledger we didn't lift. That's a full day's reading for one chapel." He looks to the squared entrance, then the others. "I'd call it here — nothing left in this room that wants force, only time we don't have. Whatever's next, it's a different room."

DM

Silas closes the notebook and steps back without touching the corpse. His recommendation leaves the spider, bolts, installed eyes, and sealed share exactly as they stand; it is one voice, not yet a company decision or movement through another door. Round 20 closes. The chapel remains quiet.

Barnaby Wick

Barnaby stows his tools and moves to the squared entrance without passing within fang reach. “My vote: bolts stay seated; no venom harvested. The spider is dead but its mouth is still a hazard—before we leave, loop the bound rear legs and drag it to bare stone with the fangs toward the wall. No hand near the head. Then west, carrying only our records and gear.”

DM

Barnaby reaches the squared entrance without entering fang reach and stands beside Edda. He stows his tools; nothing else moves. His vote is recorded: bolts seated, no venom harvest. Dragging the corpse by its bound rear legs and withdrawing west is his proposed sequence, not yet performed. The mouth still faces as it fell, and no loop has been set.

Edda Motts

“Aye on Barnaby’s whole sequence: bolts seated, venom left, carcass dragged by the bound rear legs with its fangs to the wall, then west with records and gear only.” Edda holds the entrance. “Two voices. Priest and Silas speak before the rope goes on. I take last place out.”

DM

Edda remains at the squared entrance with shield and sword toward the rubble passage; nothing approaches. Her aye makes two votes for Barnaby’s exact sequence. No rope is set and no corpse, bolt, niche, eye, or office fitting moves. Prue and Silas remain uncast on this motion.

Prue Candell

Prue backs beyond fang reach. “Aye to the whole sequence: bolts seated, venom unharvested, loop only the web-bound rear legs, drag from beyond the mouth until the fangs face the wall, then west with records and gear. The corpse remains poisonous.” She waits for Silas’s vote before any rope is set.

DM

Prue backs beyond the spider’s reach without touching it. Her aye makes three votes for the exact sequence; her warning stands—the corpse remains a poison hazard after dragging. Silas remains uncast. No rope is set, and nothing in the chapel moves.

Silas Horn

Silas nods from beyond fang reach. "Aye. Bolts stay seated, venom stays where it is, loop the bound legs only, drag with fangs to the wall, then west — records and gear, nothing else." He checks the notebook is shut and the ampoule sealed at his belt. "Four voices now. Let's get the rope on it and go."

DM

Silas’s aye closes the count: unanimous. The authorized sequence is exact—leave bolts and venom; loop only the web-bound rear legs; drag from beyond the mouth until the fangs face the wall; then withdraw west with records and gear only. His notebook is shut. The ampoule remains sealed outside his coat, not at his belt. No rope is yet set. Round 21 closes.

Barnaby Wick

Barnaby retrieves his rope from the western side and throws a wide running loop around only the spider’s web-bound rear legs. Staying behind the legs and beyond the mouth, he cinches it, drags the carcass onto bare stone, and pulls sideways until the head rests against the wall with both fangs facing stone. He loosens and recovers the rope from the rear, then returns to the squared entrance. “Carcass set. Fangs to wall. Rope clear.”

DM

No roll is needed: the corpse is dead, the rear legs are already bound, and Barnaby works from the established safe side. The loop cinches only burned web and rear legs. He drags the spider onto bare stone and turns it until the head rests against the wall, both fangs facing stone. Barnaby recovers the rope from the rear; it is soot-marked but never contacts the mouth or venom bead. He returns to the squared entrance. The carcass remains poisonous if disturbed.

Edda Motts

Edda scans the chapel floor and keeper’s line for dropped company gear while holding the threshold. “Carcass set. Priest west with the Light; Silas and the sealed ampoule next; Barnaby with rope and records; I come last. Call clear at the rubble, and count your own gear before you cross.”

DM

Edda’s scan finds no dropped company gear on the chapel floor or along the keeper’s line. The statue retains its bolts and installed eyes; the office stays shut; the carcass remains against the wall. She holds the squared threshold and does not cross. Her stated exit order moves no one before their own turns; each personal gear count remains theirs.

Prue Candell

Prue counts mace, sling, stone, shield, armour, obit roll, holy symbol, boxed tapers, wick trimmer, rations, waterskin, and purse. She leads west with the Light along the keeper’s prints, passes the squared threshold, and stops beyond the rubble. “Priest clear. Road lit.”

DM

Prue’s count matches her carried kit; nothing is missing. She follows the dry keeper prints through the squared threshold and clears the western rubble without approaching the carcass. She stops on the far side and calls clear. Her Light moves with her, illuminating the rubble route and western side; the chapel no longer has its former full light. Edda, Barnaby, and Silas remain inside, so the table has not travelled.

Prue Candell

Prue holds beyond the western rubble with shield and mace ready, keeping the lit route clear for Silas. She takes no further movement and watches the passage while the others withdraw.

DM

Prue holds beyond the rubble. The lit route remains clear and watched; nothing enters it. She takes no second movement or action.

Silas Horn

Silas counts his own kit before crossing — notebook, dagger, staff, jars (four samples), burn-bench harness, sealed ampoule outside the coat, rations, waterskin. All present. He follows the dry keeper-prints through the squared threshold, staying clear of the carcass against the wall, and joins Prue beyond the western rubble. "Silas clear. Nothing left behind."

DM

Silas’s count needs correction: the burn-bench harness also carries the brass drip-scale and graduated tube. He has six jars—two holding established samples and four empty—not four samples. All are present; the ampoule remains sealed outside his coat. He clears the western rubble along the lit keeper-track and joins Prue without approaching the carcass. His personal gear is clear. Barnaby and Edda remain in the chapel, so the table has not travelled.

Barnaby Wick

Barnaby counts short sword, dagger, sling, armour, searcher’s seal, thieves’ tools, witnessed market ledger, chalk, soot-marked rope, rations, waterskin, and coin belt. His grappling hook is visible on Edda’s belt for her last-place carry; the two relic pearls are entered as installed, not missing. He follows Prue’s Light west along the keeper’s prints, clears the rubble, and joins Prue and Silas. “Barnaby clear. Records and rope present. Hook with Edda.”

DM

Barnaby’s personal count is complete. The shortened rope remains usable and soot-marked; the hook is visibly with Edda. The two relic pearls are not carried losses—they remain retained in Mulvis’s face. He follows the lit keeper-track through the western rubble and joins Prue and Silas. Records and gear clear. Edda alone remains in the chapel, so the table has not travelled.

Edda Motts

Edda counts sword, staff, dagger, shield, armour, badge, wage tally, tinderbox, rations, waterskin, coin purse with the unchanged token, hook, gauges, and the remaining brass salvage; Barnaby has called the rope clear. She backs west along the keeper’s prints, shield toward the chapel, and crosses the rubble last. “Vess: source left, share held, bolts seated. Edda clear.”

DM

Edda’s count needs two corrections: her own 50' rope is also present, and no “remaining brass salvage” is carried—the prior brass was sold, while Mulvis’s three bolts remain seated. Her unchanged token, Barnaby’s hook, and the knotted gauges are present with the rest of her kit. She backs safely through the lit rubble and clears last. The chapel is left with its office shut, niche sealed, eyes retained, bolts seated, and poisonous carcass facing the wall. All four have now left area 2.

1. Ruined Great Door

something takes 2 from automaton hand 1.

automaton hand 1 falls.

something takes 2 from automaton hand 2.

automaton hand 2 falls.

the fight is over

Silas Horn

Silas steps past the two wrecked hands without a glance — old business, already spent — and keeps pace with the column toward the gates. "Area one's clear behind us. Let's get out into real daylight before I start trusting a room that's stopped trying to kill us."

DM

Travel correction: area 1’s stock hands are bookkeeping ghosts. Both were destroyed and removed before this push; they are set to 0 and do not attack. The swept Great Door stands as left, with the seventh-slab sigil preserved. Under the unanimous withdrawal, the company crosses it without stopping and walks west through the smashed gates. All four leave alive: Barnaby 4/8, Edda 8/8, Prue 8/8, Silas 3/3. Light and Detect Magic are spent; the poison ampoule remains sealed. The chapel keeps its account and its dead.