Maelis's Research Notes and Forged Duskwatch Ledger

Maelis’s Research Notes and Forged Duskwatch Ledger are the document set lifted from Maelis Dirn’s research desk in The Warrens at the end of session 6 — her “final version” alchemical research notes plus a fabricated Duskwatch shipping ledger ostensibly proving her bio-gloom export operation through Duskwatch into Velkris ^[2], “these documents tell of her exporting biogloum toxin over through Duskwatch and into Vel’Kris”). The ledger is a forgery — convincing enough to pass to a non-expert, transparent to anyone who knows what they’re looking at — and per The Broker ^[3] is sellable in Velkris to Silent Intake, a counterfeiting organisation, near “the Talking Skulls” entrance for substantial reward and possibly a fixer-employment offer. It remains in Hugo’s pack, undelivered, through session 16 and is one of the campaign’s largest dormant plot levers.

Overview

The document set lifted from Maelis Dirn’s research desk at the end of s6 has two components:

1. Final-version research notes — Maelis’s alchemical work, the iteration she was actually using rather than the earlier drafts cluttering the room. The party did not surface specific contents in transcript beyond “research notes”; they are presumed to cover the bio-gloom toxin synthesis and her Titan-soul-binding experiments.
2. Forged Duskwatch shipping ledger — a fabricated record that, if read by a non-specialist, looks like proof Maelis was running bio-gloom toxin out of Umbrafall through Duskwatch and into Velkris.

The Broker examined the ledger in s7 and his readback is the most we have on its surface contents:

“These documents tell of her exporting biogloum toxin over through Duskwatch and into Vel’Kris. Of course, these are fakes, as anyone could see, but it could be enough to be, you know, persuasive to the right kind of person. And she has clearly been doing this for a while. These are relatively old.” — The Broker, ^[2]

Sale lead

In the same conversation the Broker named the buyer:

“If you were to hand this over to the organization that stands for counterfeit documents in Valkyries I’m sure they would want you as some sort of, you know, they would probably give you some sort of reward perhaps they’d even see some sort of value in you and hire as personal fixers.” — The Broker, ^[2] “The organization in Valkyries you’re looking for? Silent Intake. You’d find it near the entrance to Valkyries. Look for the Talking Skulls.” — The Broker, ^[3]

Silent Intake are the Velkris counterfeiting organisation; the Broker explicitly framed the ledger as a relationship-building gift, not just cash.

Status as of session 16

Carried by Hugo, undelivered. The party have not been to Velkris. With The Egg currently lost and the immediate quest objectives shifting toward Aurelia via Maestrand and the White Lantern Shrine, the ledger is a dormant high-value lever that the party know they can pull when they choose.

Open questions

• The contents of the actual research notes — Maelis’s bio-gloom synthesis, soul-binding work, anything related to the Mind-Control Bookshelf or the Hollow.
• Whether Silent Intake’s offer would still stand once the party arrive in Velkris (the Broker’s framing assumed a near-term delivery).
• Whether the Aurelian conspiracy would have any interest in seeing the ledger — for or against.

See also

• The Duskwatch Shipping Ledger — dedicated page on the forged ledger component of this document set
• Hugo
• Maelis Dirn
• The Broker
• Silent Intake
• Velkris
• Duskwatch

References

1. ^ Session 6 — Final version of Maelis's notes + forged Duskwatch ledger lifted from her desk.
2. ^ Session 7, line 736 — Broker's reading of the ledger ("exporting biogloum toxin through Duskwatch and into Vel'Kris").
3. ^ Session 7, line 745 — Broker names Silent Intake, near the Talking Skulls in Velkris, as the counterfeit org.