Jorren’s chest-mark flares again, jagged and white, and the summit answers with a deep shudder. The mountain is not waking to Isaru’s storm now. It is waking to a voice it has been waiting for.
Jorren
Talimaryl, I have watched you longer than you think. Not for obedience. For shape.
Jorren
You measure knowledge like a hoard. You weigh danger before you touch it. You may lead if the mountain demands a hand other than Isaru’s.
Talimaryl goes still, gold-edged scales catching the flare. The rune-line beneath the stone forks, then draws tight toward the cavern mouth, as if an old sleeper beneath the peaks has rolled in its sleep and heard its name.
Talimaryl
So this is what he was doing in silence.
Jorren braces against the binding, but his gaze never leaves Talimaryl. The judgment in it is not accusation. It is selection, cold and deliberate.
Below them, the mountain’s ancient hush cracks open into a low, waiting pulse, like something vast beneath the peaks has turned one eye toward the light.
✓ Quest Accepted
Prevent Talimaryl from seizing the mountain’s secret
“Isaru shakes his head. "Do not be led astray by one lacking knowledge, and remember our laws Talimaryl. I have long held dominion over the pillar, from before you even hatched."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -2)
Isaru gives one slow shake of his head. The summit quiets under the words, and the forking rune-line steadies as if listening.
Isaru
Do not be led astray by one lacking knowledge, and remember our laws, Talimaryl.
Isaru
I have long held dominion over this pillar, from before you even hatched.
The claim lands cleanly. Talimaryl’s wings tighten, and Jorren’s mark gutters once, as if the mountain tastes the challenge.
Talimaryl
Then you speak as keeper, not conqueror. I hear the difference.
Jorren
A hard claim to make under a listening stone. But it answers you.
The cost arrives in the breath after: Isaru’s chest aches with the strain of forcing the authority through the old ward, and a thin crack of white light runs along one claw before fading.
Below them, the mountain’s pulse through the rune-line beats once, slow and deep, waiting to see who accepts the sentence.
The dragon must immediately cease its interference and return to its own counsel.
“"You have been bound my the mountain Jorren, by your own actions. That it has not claimed you yet should be taken as a small blessing after disrupting the lines of power of the world." "I watch the world from this tower, while guarding a power not my own."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
The summit settles into a hard, listening quiet. The mountain’s pulse through the rune-line passes under Isaru like a deep drumbeat, and Jorren holds still beneath it.
Isaru
You are bound by the mountain, Jorren, by your own actions. Its mercy is not nothing, after disturbing the lines that hold this world together.
Jorren lowers his chin, taking the rebuke without retreating. The glow at his chest steadies, as if the mark has recognized the shape of the warning.
Jorren
Then I stand where I must. I watch the world from this tower, while guarding a power not my own.
Talimaryl’s wings ease a fraction, his gaze moving from Jorren to the stone and back again. The tension does not vanish, but it finds a place to sit.
Talimaryl
That is a poorer crown than conquest, and a truer one.
Isaru
The claim is plain enough now.
Jorren breathes out once, slow and careful, as if the mountain itself has accepted the sentence. Above them, the rune-line keeps its measured glow, waiting.
Quest Complete
Prevent Talimaryl from seizing the mountain’s secret
New Gift: Talimaryl's Gale Insight
The dragon must immediately cease its interference and return to its own counsel.