The Withheld Draught

The Draught Surfaced
Solved the case of The Withheld Draught.

Patron: Halvik Storn, in Dreskmark Market Square. The sheet asks for Culprit, Tell, Motive. Each answer must rest on a finding; a lead only points you onward.

Usually heard from Doran Venn (“Ask Doran what he will not close”), or Halvik Storn (one matter at a time, while no other case is open). You need not wait for it: a case enters your casebook as soon as you hold one of its facts.

Gather the proof

1. Take the Call Cord in Dreskmark Physic-Stall.
   Finding Physic Uncalled: “The night-cord hung unpulled and the watch-slate logged no summons — though Onric Dross laboured for breath past midnight, his standing word to call the physic went unheeded.”
2. Take the Will And Tally in Dreskmark Physic-Stall.
   Finding Heir Inherits And Owed: “Onric Dross's will leaves all to his niece Sefa Lant, who kept his house and his draught; folded with it, a debt-tally she could not have met in three years, called within the month.”
   Lead Death Called Natural: “The town has already buried Onric Dross under the word natural — an old man's failing heart, an expected end — but the coroner Doran Venn will not sign the room so.”
3. Take the Full Phial in Dreskmark Physic-Stall.
   Lead Phial Found Full: “The nightly heart-draught stood full and unpoured in its phial at the dead man's elbow — sound medicine, never given. Whether the want of it is what killed him, Doran Venn at the physic may say.”
4. Talk to Doran Venn in Dreskmark Physic-Stall and choose “Show Venn the full phial”.
   Finding Draught Untouched: “The night's heart-draught stood full and unpoured in its phial — the dose that would have carried Onric Dross to morning was never given.”

Keep the order: a topic only appears once you hold the lead or the item it needs.

The answer

Show the case sheet

Question	Answer	Proved by
Culprit	Sefa Lant	Draught Untouched; Physic Uncalled
Tell	Death Was Preventable	Draught Untouched
Motive	Inheritance And Debt	Heir Inherits And Owed

The trap

These are true findings that point at the wrong story. Presenting a sheet built on them costs a segment of the day and the clean pass.

• Wend Supplied The Draught makes a wrong sheet presentable (Culprit: Brisa Wend, Tell: Bad Medicine, Motive: Physic Error). “The apothecary Brisa Wend compounded Onric Dross's nightly heart-draught, and tongues are already saying her physic failed him — the easy thing to say of any apothecary when a patient dies.”

Close the case

Stand beside Halvik Storn and present. When the sheet holds, Halvik Storn offers courses; the case closes, and The Draught Surfaced unlocks, once you commit to one. Any course counts; they differ in the morale and marks shown beside each. This run chose Name The Omission, which also earns Death by Omission.