The crossing settles, then the Guardian of the Grove steps forward again. Its shadow swallows the hollow, and the ground under Goat answers with a low, nervous hum.
Guardian of the Grove
The debt is yours, threshold-walker. Not for the blight, for the breach it left behind.
Guardian of the Grove
You have opened what was knotted shut. Now the living architecture asks for its keeper back.
The roots behind Goat tighten into that same knot from before, then loosen in a new pattern, as if remembering his breath. A thin seam of light runs through the wood, pulsing with his rhythm.
Elowen
It meant to lead him here from the start.
Hilda
So this is the bargain. He does not just pass through it, he mends it.
The Guardian lowers one immense hand toward the seam. Goat's breath stirs the root-pollen, and the hollow falls quiet, waiting for him to answer the living door.
✓ Quest Accepted
Harmonize with the living door
“*Takes a deeep breath, intending to attune to it*”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Goat draws in a deep breath. The pulse in the roots catches it, and his chest rises to the hollow’s hidden beat.
On the exhale, the seam steadies. Light runs through the knot behind him, no longer twitching, but answering.
Guardian of the Grove
Yes. There you are.
The Guardian’s lowered hand stills over the living wood. Around it, the root-pollen settles in a soft ring instead of scattering.
Elowen
He is matching it. By the breath, not by force.
Hilda
Then the door has stopped resisting him.
The mirror-pool beside them ripples once, then shows a clean line of moonlight where the seam opens true.
Quest Complete
Harmonize with the living door