The Proprietor bursts from the Gatehouse Tavern, pale as chalk, parchment crumpled in his fist. He grabs Valornor’s sleeve and shoves the scrap close, shaking so hard the page rattles.
The Proprietor
The sign, it was never a lock. It feeds him. It carries the void straight into the Lord Commander.
Inside the tavern, the violet seam flares. Harlen stands over the boards, one hand raised in the same sealing shape Valornor helped trace, and the light climbs his arm like living fire.
Harlen
At last. The conduit is open.
The floorboards groan. A hard violet pulse answers from beneath them, then thuds once, deep in Harlen’s chest, as if something has taken a breath through him.
Valornor Gladewarder
The sealing sign was a drain, not a ward.
The Proprietor stares at Harlen in horror, then at Valornor, as the tavern’s cold light swells around the commander and the truth finally snaps into place.
✓ Quest Accepted
Expose Harlen’s true purpose to the Keep
“Sprint toward the tavern exit to carry this proof to the Keep.”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled -1)
Valornor breaks into a sprint and clears the doorway, the parchment clutched tight as he slips free of the tavern’s reach. Behind him, the violet seam kicks once under the boards, and a sharp crack answers from Harlen’s side of the room.
Harlen
Run, then. The Keep will still hear what stands behind you.
The taunt lands with the scrape of shifting timber. One loose board spits up a sliver of violet light, and Valornor’s heel skids on the threshold, costing him a step but not the escape.
Valornor Gladewarder
The proof is in hand. The tavern is behind him.
The Proprietor
Take it to the Keep, now. Before he turns the whole place into a mouth.
Valornor is outside the office and beyond Harlen’s immediate grasp, but the lane outside is not empty. Two figures in Keep colors turn their heads at the clatter, and one starts toward the door.
Quest Complete
Escape Harlen’s tethering assignment
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Great→Superb
“I show the proof to the Keep colors”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +0)
Valornor thrusts the parchment toward the nearest pair in Keep colors, keeping his other hand clear and his body angled away from the tavern door.
The nearer guard stops short and takes the page. His eyes move once over the markings, then back to the doorway, where violet light still stains the floorboards.
The Proprietor
That is what he made. That is the seal that feeds it.
The Proprietor
Look at the floor, look at the way it answers him. He is not breaking the anchor, he is using it.
Harlen
Careful. A frightened man sees conspiracies everywhere.
The guard with the parchment stiffens, and the second one starts for the door instead of the street, hand going to his weapon.
Behind them, the tavern boards give a low crack as the violet seam flares once more, waiting for someone to choose who to believe.
Quest Complete
Expose Harlen’s true purpose to the Keep
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Good→Great
