The river foams beside a waist-high stone ward, its cracked boundary glowing whenever the three silver coins ring. Behind Felix and Mara, the pines darken with the unseen pursuer's steady approach.
Mara Vey
There is the river. But the ward is older than the path, and it is still holding.
Mara reaches toward the nearest coin, then stops short. Ancient markings emerge through the moss: a crowned figure, an open gate, and a small hand pressed against a jagged rune.
Mara Vey
The summons is the key. The writing says the passage opens only for a living offering carrying magic in the blood.
The coins ring together. Across the river, the southern trail briefly shines beneath the water, while the darkness between the trees gathers closer without revealing a shape.
Mara Vey
It cannot cross the water, but it will reach us soon. The ward wants a living magical offering, Felix. I do not know whether it means blood, power, or life.
A final line of the inscription flares beneath the coins: GIVE, AND PASS. The cracked boundary leaves no gap, and the forest behind them exhales again.
✓ Quest Accepted
Escape the hollow
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what the ward demands
“"Well I don't want to offer my life first for anything so I will try this one first" Then Felix taps the ward with his and offers it a large amount of his magic that doesn't really effect him”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled -2)
Felix Kov
I will not offer my life first. I will try the magic instead.
Felix taps the glowing ward with his staff. Lightning inherited through his draconic blood coils down the wood, while his innate earth magic steadies the cracked stones against the river’s force.
His staff channels the spell with careful precision, pouring a vast reserve of blue magic into the rune without tearing at his strength. The ward drinks it eagerly, and the coins flare white.
Mara Vey
It accepts the offering. Felix, keep feeding it only until the gate opens.
The jagged rune splits with a sound like breaking ice. A stone arch rises from the river, revealing the southern trail beyond, while the ward’s magic burns a cold blue line across Felix’s staff.
The cost arrives as the ward claims a thread of his lightning gift, sealing it into the stones. Felix remains steady, but that stolen spark will not answer his summoning again.
Mara Vey
The passage is open. Move now, before the thing behind us finds another way across.
Quest Complete
Learn what the ward demands
“Has the ward permanently weakened my lightning gift?”
NO (Likely, rolled 80)
The cold blue line across Felix’s staff dims as the stone arch settles. Beneath it, the stolen spark loosens from the ward and curls back toward his hand, faint but unmistakably alive.
Mara Vey
It did not take the gift, Felix. It only bound the lightning long enough to judge the offering and open the passage.
A thread of blue light sinks into Felix’s palm without pain. The weakness remains in the ward’s mark, not in his blood, and the staff answers with a quiet answering spark.
Mara Vey
Once we cross, the seal should release what it borrowed. Your lightning will return to its full strength, though I would not spend it carelessly tonight.
Behind them, the pines bend inward beneath an unseen pressure. The coins shudder on the stones, and the darkness reaches the riverbank without showing the pursuer’s shape.
Mara Vey
That is all the answer we get for free. Cross now, Felix. The ward has not weakened you, but it will not hold that thing forever.
The southern trail gleams beyond the arch, wet stones shining beneath the river’s surface. The blue line on Felix’s staff fades another shade as the passage waits open.
“Felix grabs Mara's hand and quickly runs right through the passage not wanting to get into a fight with whatever was following them”
SUCCESS (Fair Agility, rolled +0)