The Dolskarn Guildhouse has ceremonies for promotions, completed campaigns and important adventurers.

It has no ceremony for this.

Morning business continues around Taran Hrold’s desk. Clerks argue over seals. Near the bounty counter, something wrapped in canvas makes a noise and three people step away.

Your registration record remains open. Every required field has resolved except the appraisal.

The Guild’s enchanted ink gathers beneath SCORE, hesitates, and leaves the space blank.

Taran checks the seal and verification mark twice.

Lady Sivren Penvarr breaks the silence. “Well.”

Taran takes up his stamp.

“Unscored.”

The word lands across the record in black Guild ink. Nearby conversation thins.

Sivren’s reply is precise. “That is not a rank.”

“No.”

“It is not even the lowest rank.”

“Also correct.”

Mair Skorri leans nearer. “Either the appraisal failed, or whatever it found refused to fit in the box.”

“It means Unscored,” Taran says.

“That was not one of my possibilities.”

“It remains the answer.”

He closes the ledger and draws forward a second file.

Lady Sivren Penvarr — Broken Rank.

Mair Skorri — Blacklisted.

He enters your registration beneath them.

Unscored — Field Clerk and Contract Keeper.

Sivren reads the addition. “No.”

Taran continues writing.

“You will not attach my record to an adventurer without a score.”

“Both of your records are being attached to theirs.”

Mair considers that. “So the Unscored one gets the paperwork.”

“The clerk accepts your oaths, preserves evidence and submits completion claims.”

Mair turns toward you. “You’re going to write down what I do.”

“Accurately.”

“That seems hostile.”

Sivren speaks over her. “A clerk has no authority to direct me in the field.”

“Correct.”

“Then this arrangement is incoherent.”

“The clerk decides whether this party accepts a contract. You decide how difficult you make completing it.”

Taran stamps the file with the Broken-Rank Roll mark.

The three of you are now one Restricted party.

He crosses to the contract board, passes over bounties, surveys and escort work, and takes the smallest notice along the bottom. It is barely longer than a shopping list.

CLEARANCE OATH — OLD NORTH-ROAD TOLLHOUSE

A nest of giant cave beetles occupies the disused tollhouse beyond Dolskarn’s northern fields. They must be removed before tomorrow morning’s merchant convoy.

The terms are simple:

Clear the building. Preserve the structure. Permit inspection. Return with the completion seal.

The reward is small enough that no established party has taken it.

Sivren reads once. “You have paired an elite duelist with cellar vermin.”

“Cave beetles,” Taran says.

“That correction does not improve the assignment.”

“You are Restricted. The beetles are available.”

Sivren studies the notice like an opponent. “We conduct a disciplined sweep. Each chamber is cleared and marked before we advance. No wasted movement. No damage.”

Mair reads over the same terms. “Or I heat the western foundation, chill the eastern ditch and drive the nest into one containment trench.”

Taran points to a clause. “Preserve the structure.”

“I would preserve most of it.”

“All of it.”

“That depends on how strictly the tollkeeper defines ‘floor.’”

Taran looks at you. “This is why the Guild requires a clerk.”

He turns the empty acceptance line toward you.

“If you accept, the oath becomes the party’s responsibility. If you refuse, it returns to the board. You may question the terms, negotiate where the client allowed discretion or propose another approach.”

Sivren waits with rigid patience. Mair taps the structural-damage clause. Taran places the party seal beside the unsigned line.

The oath remains open.

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📜 OATHS COMPLETED 000
⚔️ PARTY STANDING RESTRICTED
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