The palace guards drive the surrendered mercenaries from the chamber, gathering their weapons beyond the doors. Two guards remain outside while the heavy doors are barred.
the palace guard lieutenant
You have a brief interval, Davenport. Question her while I secure the chamber and keep the court from interfering.
The palace guard lieutenant stays beside the sealed doors, one hand raised for silence. Within the chamber, only Nathaniel and the mercenary captain remain near the throne.
the mercenary captain
The king looked past me when he gasped. His eyes fixed on something no one else could see, something standing beneath the throne.
the mercenary captain
He whispered, ‘The crown has opened,’ then the light left him. Afterward, I heard breathing below the circle. Slow, patient breathing.
The black-silver seal remains fixed beneath the throne’s claw, its inward-facing command dim but steady. A faint vibration answers from below the marble.
the mercenary captain
It did not sound summoned by me. Someone in the court opened the way, but whatever answered was already waiting.
✓ Quest Accepted
Corroborate the captain’s account of the throne’s awakening
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify the court agent who opened the way
“I offer the captain protection for the truth”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Nathaniel Davenport
Tell me who opened the way and what you know of the presence below. Speak the truth, and I will protect you from the court's judgment.
The mercenary captain studies Nathaniel in the violet half-light. Her restrained hands relax slightly, while the barred doors and silent throne press their warning into the chamber.
the mercenary captain
Then hear it plainly. The royal chancellor brought me here, but the summons bore the king's seal. He ordered my company to guard the ritual, not prevent it.
the mercenary captain
The chancellor told the king this was an ancestral coronation rite. He lied. The circle was meant to drain the king and wake the thing beneath the castle.
A deeper breath rolls beneath the marble, slow enough to feel deliberate. Dust slips from the throne's base, though the black-silver seal remains fixed in its socket.
the mercenary captain
I learned the truth when the rite began and tried to break the circle. That is why my sword was drawn. The chancellor's agents stopped me.
the mercenary captain
Protect me from the court, and I will lead you to the chancellor's hidden passage. It lies beneath the old chapel, behind the saint's empty tomb.
“I examine the seal for corroborating evidence”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +0)
Nathaniel bends over the black-silver seal without disturbing it. Violet light reveals fine tool marks around its rim, and a smear of dark wax caught beneath the socket.
Nathaniel Davenport
The tool marks were made before the seal was set. The wax carries the chancellor's reversed signet.
He angles the disk toward the throne's cold radiance. A second inscription appears beneath the command, shallow but unmistakable: blood of the crown, passage for the buried sovereign.
the mercenary captain
That was not part of any coronation rite. The chancellor showed the king only the outer inscription.
At the seal's edge, Nathaniel finds a thread of crimson fiber pressed into old wax, matching the chancellor's ceremonial robe rather than the captain's leather or the king's crimson cloth.
the mercenary captain
The wax proves access. The hidden passage proves intent. Together, they place the chancellor at the heart of this.
The seal remains firmly seated, its inward command holding the breach shut. Beneath the marble, the patient breathing continues, but the evidence now points clearly toward the old chapel.
Quest Complete
Corroborate the captain’s account of the throne’s awakening
Skill Upgrade: Melee Combat Good→Great
Quest Complete
Identify the court agent who opened the way
New Gift: Reads Court Intrigue