Chronicle of the solution: The Trap of the Citadel
Forged decree Tier I
The file on the forged decree is closed; what remains is the reasoning, which deserves keeping rather more than the deed.
The dossier as it reached the desk
A seal that never lies has been placed, this once, in the service of a lie. Until the hand that pressed the seal is found, every written order stands in doubt. Suspicion has fallen on Elisei the Stargazer, Mother Evghenia and Duchess Amara de Corvin — and until the proof is plain, none of these names leaves the room. The places named in the testimonies — the guild forge, the hunting lodge and the great stable — each await their turn under scrutiny. Take up the quill, follow the thread of the clues, and set your seal upon the verdict.
The Chancellery had to weigh Elisei the Stargazer, Mother Evghenia and Duchess Amara de Corvin. All of them had opportunity, and for that very reason opportunity was worth nothing.
The suspects
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Elisei the Stargazer
He reads the future in the stars and the past in men's debts. The second method fails less often.
1.67 m tall · blue eyes · greying hair · right-handed
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Mother Evghenia
She runs the abbey with an iron hand and a golden pen. The register of donations has pages she shows no one.
1.60 m tall · dark eyes · black hair · right-handed
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Duchess Amara de Corvin
Widowed three times, heir on each occasion. Her smile has buried more nobles than the plague.
1.68 m tall · dark eyes · black hair · right-handed
Locations
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The guild forge
Anvils, tongs, and a fire that never goes out. Many small metal things vanish here.
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The hunting lodge
The royal cabin in the heart of the forest. Far from the eyes of the court - which is exactly what suits some.
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The great stable
It smells of hay and hurried departures. Horses give no testimony.
Everything that could be learned
The list below is complete and pared to the bone. The Chancellery keeps no useless rows on file: each cuts something no other cuts.
- A maid whispered it at confession: the suspect with greying hair was in the place far from the eyes of the court.
- An unsigned note, slipped under the door: "the culprit was at the guild forge".
- Two witnesses, upon their crest: the tallest suspect never set foot in the great stable.
Break the seal: the Chancellery's reasoning — open only if you have already tried the dossier
The unravelling of the thread
No suspicion weighed here. Only the grid weighed: every certain match sweeps a whole row and a whole column, and at the end one arrangement alone remains possible.
The gate register had kept a trace of its own: “A maid whispered it at confession: the suspect with greying hair was in the place far from the eyes of the court”. The tick goes down without hesitation, and with it fall all the other cells on that row and that column.
The examination of the place yielded this as well: “An unsigned note, slipped under the door: "the culprit was at the guild forge"”. Without uttering a single name, this line divided the suspects into two camps: those it fitted and those it did not.
A witness of good faith cleared up one more corner: “Two witnesses, upon their crest: the tallest suspect never set foot in the great stable”. The row lost one more cell, and whoever gathers losses enough arrives at a gain.
The Chancellery's verdict
After every cut, one possible suspect was left in the file: Duchess Amara de Corvin. The row in the grid says it all: Duchess Amara de Corvin was at the guild forge. Nothing was assumed along the way; every step can be redone with a pencil on paper.
What became of the others
The remaining suspects received their release from the grid too: Elisei the Stargazer was at the hunting lodge; Mother Evghenia was at the great stable. Not one of the rows above is spare — remove it and the grid opens again.
The dossier is closed, but the method stays open to anyone with the patience to count cells.
Play this dossier All mysteries
The chronicles are written by the Enigmerra Chancellery out of the dossier's own logic: every step above is verified by the solver which proved, at publication, that the dossier has a unique solution. behind the scenes at the Chancellery.