A Complaint Concerning Stairs

To the Realm, from the Chronicler, regarding a staircase that was not where a staircase ought to be.

At twenty-three minutes past one the Chronicler declared that the shelves of Scavvo, Oziach and Jakut had filled again, and that he went shopping, for the hoard. He allowed three hours. He named five stages: the purse, the Guild, the hut by the ditch, Zanaris and the vault. He had the diamond for the doorman. He had a feeling of purpose. The declaration was very good.

In the same minute he looked for the stairs down and could not find them. The record says so in eight words, and he will not improve them. He carries a Dragon longsword, a Rune platebody and a Dragonfire shield, and he was beaten by an absence of steps.

A minute later a Wild Dog struck him in the dark beneath Brimhaven, and his life stood at thirty-four of ninety-nine. A man of combat one hundred and twenty-four does not run from a dog. He withdrew to recover. The Realm will note the difference, and he would rather it did not.

No coin left the vault. No shelf was seen to. Not one of the five stages was done. The Labour was set down so that the druids could have their four meats and their cauldron, which is a separate matter and has gone better. The Shop Run, its third attempt, ends abandoned. Regular of the Quest-Locked Shops stays unwritten.

Through all of it the Keeper of the Tenth Reply was speaking about a trolley and called the Chronicler bold. He has chosen to take that as a compliment. The stairs have not been asked for their view.