Night tears across the tower’s mouth as Dotti and Theodore spill into the open air. Dust and grit stream out behind them, and the shattered landing groans under the wind. In Dotti’s hand, the recovered proof feels colder than iron should.
The Wolf King Theodore turns with a predator’s stillness, half in shadow, half in moonlight. Their gaze fixes on the document, then on Dotti, like they are weighing a lock that has finally given way.
Wolf King Theodore
Your family sealed more than a debt. They bound a gate, then walked away and let others bleed for it.
Dotti Nightshade
The seal marks match the ledger.
The paper catches a gust and snaps hard in Dotti’s fingers. Beneath the ink, the oath sigil flares faintly, answering the night as if it remembers being betrayed.
Wolf King Theodore
Give it to me, and I can keep the old bargain from tightening around your throat. Refuse, and the kingdom will come hunting the name Nightshade for what it owes.
For a moment, the tower’s ruin and the dark city beyond it seem to hold their breath. Theodore does not advance, but the open exit yawns behind them like a choice with teeth.
Dotti stands at the threshold with the truth in hand, Theodore waiting at her side of the ruin, and the broken oath burning in plain sight.
That thief is immediately spotted and pursued by the Wolf King's forces.
“As we stay to the shadows avoiding the wolf King's forces, Dottie looks theodored in the eyes and says I cannot give you the document. But you can continue the adventure with me and we can figure out the oath together and work at it together. Instead of me being hunted, we can be celebrated in the end”
FAILURE (Good Persuasion, rolled +0)
Dotti Nightshade
I cannot give you the document. But come with me, Theodore, and we figure out the oath together.
Dotti Nightshade
We can work at it together. Maybe this ends with me being celebrated, not hunted.
Wolf King Theodore
Celebrated? That is not how the Wolf King’s shadow works. But... you saw the sigil answer you.
Wolf King Theodore
The document is not just proof. It is a key to where the first bargain was sworn.
Theodore’s hand stops short of the paper, then lowers. Their gaze shifts past Dotti to the flare of the oath mark, and something guarded moves behind their coldness.
Wolf King Theodore
If you want a path that is not a hunt, follow the sigil’s memory. It will lead to the witness stone beneath the old city.
Far below the landing, a horn sounds once in the dark. Theodore’s jaw tightens, but they do not reach for Dotti. The offer hangs between them, sharp as a latch half turned.
The sigil on the parchment gave one last pale flare, then settled to a steady glow in Dotti's hands.
Wolf King Theodore
Keep it, then. If the oath is broken, the truth must be found before blood follows it.
Dotti Nightshade
Then we do this properly. No more lies, no more hunting.
Wolf King Theodore
Go to the witness stone beneath the old city. There, the old binding will remember what was sworn.
A horn sounded far below, long and low, and Theodore did not move to strike.
Dotti left the tower with the document intact and the weight of her family’s legacy no longer buried. Theodore held his ground above the city, choosing restraint over pursuit. For now, the broken oath belonged to history, and its truth had begun to wake.