Rain turns Lovers Chapel’s lanterns into wavering halos. Rosmira and Jews follow the marked route beneath dripping branches, while the shrine’s empty path feels quietly watchful.
Jews
There. Beneath the old tree.
A young adult woman steps from the shadows, a soaked white-and-red shrine maiden’s outfit clinging beneath her transparent rain cape. Dark hair frames her pale, anxious face, and one hand grips a ring of wooden prayer tablets.
the shrine maiden
Brittany sent you. I am her informant. Keep your voices low, please.
Jews
We need the records desk, then a discreet route toward the civic gates. Can you guide us?
the shrine maiden
Yes. Follow the lanterns along the eastern veranda, but do not enter the sanctuary. The attendants have already noticed unfamiliar scents.
Her fearful glance settles on the dark sanctuary doors. Somewhere inside, a bell gives a single muted chime, and the shrine maiden lowers her voice further.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine whether Cerebos controls Lovers Chapel
“Ros cant feel the marks eros and Invi left on her since walking into the shrine. Ros ask the madien what is this place?”
SUCCESS (Legendary Perception, rolled -2)
Rosmira
The marks Eros and Invi left on me are gone. Only the skin beneath my collarbone remains warm.
Rosmira
What is this place?
The shrine maiden’s eyes flick to Rosmira’s collarbone, catching the brief warmth before it fades. Her prayer tablets knock softly together, loud enough to draw a glance from the sanctuary doors.
the shrine maiden
This is Lovers Chapel, a tourist shrine devoted openly to love and quietly to Cerebos, the wolf deity.
She lowers the tablets against her chest and steps beneath the veranda’s shelter. Rainwater drips from her cape, while the lanterns reveal wolf crests carved into the beams.
the shrine maiden
Fenrir’s people use it as a public shrine and a listening post. The attendants record visitors, offerings, and anyone asking about the civic district.
the shrine maiden
Your question is answered, but that noise raised suspicion. We must reach the records desk now, before someone comes to investigate.
Quest Complete
Determine whether Cerebos controls Lovers Chapel
✓ Quest Accepted
Discover how Cerebos blocked your divine markings
“Walk us to the secret path and tell me who Cerebos is i feel i seen it somewhere before?”
SUCCESS (Legendary Conversation, rolled +0)
Rosmira
Walk us to the secret path, and tell me who Cerebos is. I feel like I have seen that name somewhere before.
the shrine maiden
Keep close, then. The records desk is beyond this veranda, behind the cedar screen.
The shrine maiden leads them beneath the eastern veranda, past rain-darkened charms and carved wolf crests. She slides aside a narrow cedar panel, revealing a lantern-lit passage descending behind the sanctuary.
the shrine maiden
Cerebos is the wolf deity. Unlike Voloria or Eros, Cerebos has no single domain. He is a vessel of instinct, loyalty, hunger, and the wild bonds that bind a pack.
Jews
You have heard the name before, Ros. Cerebos was tied to Nayla’s crown, and to Fanrir’s authority over the wolves.
the shrine maiden
The shrine teaches that he protects chosen bonds, but the attendants argue over what choice means. Some serve the deity. Others serve whoever controls the records.
At the bottom of the hidden stair, the passage opens beside a small records room lined with bound ledgers. A brass plaque bears Cerebos’s wolf crest, and the door stands unlocked.
“so were is another gods territory again. look can i can one day with out a deity messing with my day?! come on Jews lets see whats through the door.”
Rosmira
So this is another god’s territory? Can I have one day without a deity meddling with my life? Come on, Jews. Let’s see what’s through the door.
Jews
Apparently not, Ros. But at least this one comes with ledgers instead of a divine game. Let’s look.
The shrine maiden bows apologetically and steps aside. Rosmira and Jews cross into the unlocked records room, where cedar shelves hold ledgers, visitor slips, and neatly bundled prayer tablets.
the shrine maiden
Cerebos’s influence reaches far, but this room belongs to the chapel’s record keepers. No deity appears here unless someone invites him.
A brass lamp warms the cramped room with amber light. The nearest ledger lies open on a broad desk, its pages filled with names, offerings, patrol notes, and civic access stamps.
Jews
There are entries for Nayla, Fanrir, and the district gates. If Leon came through here, this is where someone would have written it down.
The shrine maiden moves to the desk and carefully turns the ledger toward them. Beneath the newest entries, a fresh notation links Nayla’s name to a restricted civic passage.
“I copy the page with a snap of my fingers. At the same time the feeling of being watched hasnt stopped even though there is no one around.”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled +2)
Rosmira snaps her fingers. The ledger page duplicates in a clean flash, and the copied sheet settles beside the original with every name, stamp, and notation intact.
Jews
That was efficient. The restricted passage is ours now, at least on paper.
The brass lamp flickers despite the sealed room. No silhouette appears between the cedar shelves, yet the sensation of observation presses steadily against the air.
the shrine maiden
I feel it too. The chapel has no visitor listed beyond us, and no attendant should be watching from this room.
Jews
Someone is listening without breathing, moving, or leaving a trace. That is not ordinary surveillance.
A fresh line of ink slowly darkens beneath Nayla’s entry on the original ledger, forming a wolf crest that was not there before. The copied page remains unchanged.
the shrine maiden
Do not touch the new mark. If Cerebos is being invoked, the records room may no longer belong only to its keepers.
+ New Item Acquired
Copied ledger page
“look were done here for now. I think you should leave and head to brittany. Jews and i are going to head to the civic district. this place is to dangerous to stay in now.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Conversation, rolled -3)
Rosmira
We are done here for now. Leave this room and return to Brittany. Jews and I are heading to the civic district.
Rosmira folds the copied ledger beneath her coat and turns from the marked original. The brass lamp flares once, leaving a faint scorch along the paper’s lower edge.
the shrine maiden
Yes. I will return to Stars Restaurant and warn Brittany that the chapel is listening more closely than it should.
Jews
Then we move before that mark gathers an audience. The civic district is watched, but at least its doors have names and schedules.
The shrine maiden slips the cedar panel shut behind them and hurries up the hidden stair toward the rainlit veranda. Her prayer tablets tremble against her chest.
Rosmira and Jews exit through a side passage into the wet street, following the copied route toward the civic district. Behind them, the chapel bell sounds twice.
Jews
Someone knows we took the route now. Brittany will have to move carefully, and so will we.