Disappearance ♛♛♛♛ 3 attempts

The Riddle of the Blazon

Something — or someone — has vanished in Realm of the Crown, and no one can say when the thread was cut. Every passing hour erases another trace, and the traces were few to begin with. Before you, one by one, will stand Lady Ruxandra, Father Nicodim, Mihu the Archer, Teofil the Chronicler and Codrin the Huntsman. As for the impulse behind it, the court whispers of everything: greed, jealousy, blackmail, a debt of honour and the inheritance. Few files have tested so many investigators; untangle the threads, catch the lie, and pronounce your verdict.

From the Chancellery archive

A blazon does not vanish. It can be stolen, hidden, melted down — but it does not vanish, because every soul in the realm knows it. Which is why this dossier was, from its first page, an investigation about people rather than objects: who could possibly profit from a thing nobody can sell?

There are five possible answers. Lady Ruxandra. Father Nicodim. Mihu the Archer. Teofil the Chronicler. Codrin the Huntsman. And the proven motives — greed, jealousy, blackmail, a debt of honour and the inheritance — show that three of them have nothing to do with money. A blazon cannot be sold, but it can certainly be used to blackmail the man it belongs to.

The places run from the cathedral crypt to the old dungeon, which is to say through every cold room of the citadel.

Tier IV, with ordered hours. If you become stuck, the archivist's three clues are designed to open exactly this kind of deadlock — and paid from your stipend they cost nothing in score.

Suspects

Lady Ruxandra

The queen's shadow at every hour. She hears everything, sees everything, and embroiders all she learns into patterns known only to her.

1.65 m right-handed blue eyes blond hair

Father Nicodim

He hears the confessions of the whole court. Forgetting, he says, is a gift from the Lord - one he sells dearly.

1.72 m right-handed blue eyes greying hair

Mihu the Archer

He hits a coin tossed on the wind from a hundred paces. At questions, though, he always misses.

1.76 m left-handed brown eyes brown hair

Teofil the Chronicler

He writes the kingdom's history as he is ordered. The unwelcome drafts, however, he keeps every one.

1.69 m left-handed brown eyes greying hair

Codrin the Huntsman

He knows the royal forest better than the castle corridors. Tracks, he says, never lie - men do.

1.87 m right-handed green eyes black hair

Locations

the cathedral crypt

The old kings sleep beneath crested slabs. Now and then, someone disturbs their rest.

the north wall

The stretch of wall the patrol skirts when the wind blows. Everyone knows that.

the tourney field

Empty stands outside festival days. An excellent place for meetings that never happened.

the throne room

Gold, purple, and the most closely watched place in the kingdom. In theory.

the old dungeon

Cells abandoned since the new dungeon was built. "Abandoned" is one way of putting it.

Objects

the locked chest

Three padlocks, two rows of straps. Fresh scratches around the hinges, not the locks.

the ermine cloak

White fur with black tails - only the royal family may wear it. It has a tear at the hem.

the broken lantern

The glass cracked, the wick burned to the end. Someone needed a lot of light, fast.

the ciphered letter

Orderly rows of meaningless signs. The ink is costly, the paper costlier, the sender - unknown.

the herald's horn

It sounds the muster, the alarm, or the retreat. Whoever holds it can start a whole panic with a single breath.

Motives

greed

Dorința nesățioasă de avere, care nu se oprește la nimic.

jealousy

Otrava care mistuie pe cel ce râvnește ce nu-i al lui.

blackmail

Un secret ținut ca funia la gât, strâns exact cât trebuie.

a debt of honour

O făgăduială care cântărește mai greu decât viața.

the inheritance

O avere așteptată, pe care numai o moarte o desparte de mână.

Moments

at dawn

When the citadel is barely waking and the guards still doze.

after matins

The hour after the morning service, when the abbey empties.

at noon

Midday, with bustle in the markets and silence in the alcoves.

at dusk

When the shadows lengthen and the lanterns are not yet lit.

at vespers

At the evening service, when the bells drown out any footstep.

Open the Grid (below) to solve the case, with the testimonies at hand.

The deduction grid

Touch a cell: blank → ✗ (excluded) → ✓ (certain) → blank. Each pair of categories meets exactly once.

×
×	SUSPECTS	LOCATIONS	OBJECTS	MOTIVES
MOMENTS




MOTIVES




OBJECTS




LOCATIONS

Verdict

The culprit always lies; everyone else tells the truth.

Who is the culprit? Where? With what object? For what reason? When?

Clues & testimonies

The hounds caught no scent at all: the old dungeon and the locked chest do not go together.
The gate guard swears: Teofil the Chronicler was there after matins.
The night watch saw Lady Ruxandra first, and only then Father Nicodim.
The gate guard swears: the cathedral crypt and the herald's horn go together.
The tracks in the dust do not lie: the throne room and the ciphered letter go together.
At the Chancellery, Lady Ruxandra maintains: "I was in the place where the cells only seem abandoned".
A maid whispered it at confession: Codrin the Huntsman was driven by a debt of honour.
An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the cathedral crypt matches that hour: at noon.
The hounds caught no scent at all: the broken lantern and the inheritance do not go together.
The chronicler notes drily: the broken lantern matches that hour: at vespers, whatever the court may say.
The gate guard swears: the cathedral crypt and greed go together.
Whatever the market gossips: Father Nicodim was not driven by greed.
About the culprit, the Chancellery knows one thing for certain: the culprit was there at noon.
The chronicler notes drily: the ciphered letter and jealousy go together, whatever the court may say.
The chronicler notes drily: the north wall and a debt of honour go together, whatever the court may say.
An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: blackmail matches that hour: after matins.
In the gate ledger, the shortest suspect stands higher, the suspect with brown hair lower.