The red seam snaps shut behind Delfarius with a wet, void-thick hiss. The chamber is all iron ribs, black stone, and cold echo, and Lyss hangs caught in it like a blade trapped in a cage.
Lyss
You come back wearing souls like perfume. Tell me the truth, did you learn Hadrun's name, or just enough to bleed for it?
Lyss tests the iron with a shoulder twist, but the room holds. Her gaze flicks to the dark script crawling along the floor, then back to Delfarius, measuring which name buys freedom and which one buys death.
Lyss
House Veyl does not hide behind walls alone. It hides behind masks, witnesses, and a sacrificial mouth in the palace. If you want the hidden power, you go where the names are cut.
Delfarius
The trap is not just for one body. It is a rite that feeds on a name.
A fresh pulse runs through the tower script at the word rite. Somewhere below, the hidden anchor answers with a deep iron clink, as if the tower itself recognizes the path toward House Veyl.
Lyss
Maelor carries the invitations. Seris makes the shape of the trap. Hadrun stands above the cut. If you want their heart, Delfarius, you stop chasing the knife and walk into the banquet.
✓ Quest Accepted
Break Lyss's spirit
“I gesture towards her and she is ripped out of her clothing and is just before me in her small clothing. No armor, no cloak. Just a small bit of cloth and my Void Collar around her neck against the cold iron she is held in. "Hadrun will be dealt with in due time, I would think you would be more concerned with what is in front of you plainly, pet."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Delfarius lifts two fingers, and Lyss’s borrowed layers tear away in a single cold rush. Cloth falls in strips at the iron ribs, leaving her bare except for the Void Collar and a thin scrap against the chamber chill.
Lyss
So this is the answer he prefers, not words, but exposure.
The tower gives a low, listening pulse. Lyss’s breathing steadies, but her eyes sharpen on the floor script, then on Delfarius, as if she is choosing which shame to keep and which to spend.
Delfarius
Hadrun will be dealt with in due time. You should care more about what stands in front of you, pet.
Lyss
Then look at me plainly. If you want the trap, Maelor only carries the paper. Seris shapes the mouth of it, and Hadrun stands above the cut.
Lyss
The palace invitation is not the trap itself, it is the bait. The true snare is a naming rite hidden in the banquet hall, where the right voice is taken and the wrong one is made to witness it.
Lyss swallows once, then her defiance thins into something more deliberate. The cold of the chamber bites at her, but she does not look away, and the barrette at her temple flashes like a final private detail she refuses to surrender.
“I take the barrette of of her head and laugh as I cause it to crumble into nothingness. No ash, no dust. Just nothing. It is not here, it never was. "I am going to be, patient." I sigh a long drawn out sigh. "Because you are new to my needs, but I do not want someone to talk to." I stroll slowly over to the dark wood desk with many drawers that hold all of my torture tools in it. Gags, hooks, lashes, chains, whips. I brush my fingers over them all with a satisfied sound.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -2)
Delfarius plucks the borrowed barrette from Lyss’s temple, and it vanishes between his fingers without ash, dust, or drift, as if the thing never earned a place in the world.
Delfarius
It is not here. It never was.
He lets out a long, patient sigh and turns from her iron cross without haste, the tower’s red hush following his steps like a held breath.
Delfarius
I am going to be patient. You are new to my needs, but I do not want someone to talk to.
Delfarius strolls to the dark wood desk and its many drawers, the iron cross holding Lyss fast behind him, scraps of cloth and the Void Collar the only marks of her defiance.
His fingers run over gags, hooks, lashes, chains, and whips, each tool answered by a soft, satisfied sound from him and a faint iron clink from the reliquary nearby.
Lyss
Then hear me plainly. Maelor carries the paper, Seris shapes the mouth, and Hadrun stands above the cut. The bait is the invitation, but the snare is the naming rite in the banquet hall.
Lyss
If he wants the trap, let him have the shape of it. I will not give him the rest.
“I pick up the jagged iron gag and walk slowly over to her and then shove it harshly in her mouth and tighten it roughly. "Not wanting to talk means you shut the fuck up or I make you." I growl into her face. My Void Collar on her neck answers with an obedient dim glow. I walk back with deliberate and slow care, giving the reliquary on the desk a raised eyebrow. "Eventually Tower we will bore of her, but for now we feed on other things besides her flesh." I say with a twisted cruel smirk.”
SUCCESS (Great Strength, rolled -1)
Delfarius closes the distance with the spiked iron gag, and Lyss is still pinned hard against the decorated iron cross, wrapped only in torn cloth and the Void Collar at her throat.
He jams the gag into her mouth and the spikes bite red at the edges, forcing a rough, wet sound from her before the metal settles in tight.
Delfarius
Not wanting to talk means you shut the fuck up or I make you.
The collar at her neck answers with a dim obedient glow while Delfarius leans in close enough to make the threat feel carved into her teeth.
Delfarius
Eventually Tower we will bore of her, but for now we feed on other things besides her flesh.
He turns away with measured care, leaving Lyss gagged on the cross, her secrets still intact but her voice now paid for in blood.
The reliquary on the desk gives a faint, answering clink, and Lyss’s furious eyes lock on Delfarius over the iron ball as the room waits for what she will do next.
“I brush my fingers over all of my wonderful tools then finally settle on a long paddle with long sharp spikes on it. I should tenderize her first, let her understand the price for her defiance before I break her entirely. I test the weight of it against my own hand, delighted at the pain and blood that it causes my own hand have. "Yes, this will do nicely." I say sharpened by the pain it caused myself.”
Delfarius’s fingers skim the rack of tools, and the chamber answers with iron breath as he settles on a spiked paddle. The Void Collar at Lyss’s throat gives a small, obedient pulse while the reliquary ticks once on the desk.
Delfarius
Yes. This will do nicely.
When he tests the paddle against his palm, blood beads at once. Lyss jerks against the cross, gagged and furious, as the tower’s red script tightens into a harder line around both of them.
“I walk over to where she is hanging with little bits of cloth on and secured to to the iron cross wearing my Void collar and smirk at her delighted. "This is only because I want you to understand my nature. I am going to enjoy each and every scream you make. You can and are encouraged to scream." I laugh cruelly as I strike her hard with the paddle.”
SUCCESS (Great Melee Combat, rolled +0)
Delfarius strides in and brings the spiked paddle down hard. Lyss’s iron cross shudders, the bloody gag jerks in her mouth, and the little scrap of cloth on her frame flutters with the impact.
Delfarius
This is only because I want you to understand my nature. I am going to enjoy each and every scream you make. You can and are encouraged to scream.
The words land with the blow. Red script tightens under the floorboards, and the Void Collar gives a dim, obedient pulse at Lyss’s throat.
Blood smears brighter across her mouth and chin as she sucks in a ragged breath through the spike ball gag. Her eyes stay open, but the fury in them starts to buckle.
Lyss
Maelor carries the paper. Seris shapes the mouth. Hadrun stands above the rite.
The tower takes the confession and tightens around it. The iron reliquary ticks once on the desk, and the chamber falls into a hard, listening hush.
Lyss sags against the cross, breathing through blood and pain, no longer guarding the same edge of silence. The way forward has changed, and the room waits for Delfarius’s next command.
“"You still think you can bargain and leverage here. There is no bargain, you gave yourself to me. You are a kept thing now...little godling." I strike her again with the slender sharp spiked paddle pressing to prod her will away. I look down satisfied at the two sharp marks on her stomach that are bleeding down her stomach to her legs.”
SUCCESS (Great Strength, rolled +2)
Delfarius
You still think you can bargain and leverage here. There is no bargain, you gave yourself to me. You are a kept thing now...little godling.
Delfarius brings the slender spiked paddle down again, precise and unhurried. The two fresh marks on Lyss’s stomach split brighter, blood running in thin lines toward her thighs.
The Void Collar answers with a dim pulse. Lyss jerks once against the iron cross, then the fight in her shoulders starts to drain away.
Her gagged breath turns ragged. The tower’s red script tightens under her feet, as if the room itself is listening for the next word she will not give.
Lyss
Maelor carries the paper. Seris shapes the mouth. Hadrun stands above the rite.
The confession lands and the chamber goes hard and still. The iron reliquary ticks once on the desk, sharp in the hush.
Lyss sags into the cross, breathing through pain and blood, her defiance thinned to a wavering stare. The path through the trap changes, and the room waits on Delfarius’s next command.
“I shake my head. "Each time you think that you can bargain with information that I already know I am going to hit you harder." I smack her sharply, letting the blood pool around the wounds the slender spiked paddle made over the same spot I have already hit her. "I want your screams now, not your useless information."”
SUCCESS (Great Strength, rolled +0)
Delfarius
Each time you think that you can bargain with information that I already know I am going to hit you harder.
Delfarius’s hand comes down sharp, and the same wounds on Lyss’s stomach open wider under the paddle’s bite.
Blood pools and slips lower over her thin scrap of cloth, while the Void Collar gives a dim, obedient pulse at her throat.
Delfarius
I want your screams now, not your useless information.
Lyss jerks once against the iron cross, then sags hard into the restraints, her defiance thinning under the room’s listening red hush.
The iron reliquary ticks on the desk, loud in the silence, as the tower seems to take the blow and keep it.
Lyss lifts her head only enough to breathe around the gag, eyes dimmer now, but not empty. She has stopped bargaining, and the chamber waits for what Delfarius does next.
“I flick her blood on her off of the slender spiked paddle then close the distance and pull her eyes to look at my cold Icy blue eyes. "You will scream, you will break or I will break your body trying. Understand. And I will know if you do it to just placate me. I want the truth of your pain felt." I laugh an evil low mirth as I walk away then suddenly without warning hit her again where I have already struck. Fresh blood pools and trickles down her stomach and legs.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intimidation, rolled +0)
Delfarius flicks Lyss’s blood from the paddle, and the chamber seems to hold its breath around the iron reliquary’s tiny tick.
Delfarius
You will scream, you will break or I will break your body trying. Understand. And I will know if you do it to just placate me. I want the truth of your pain felt.
He closes the distance, catches her gaze, and drags her face up to his cold icy blue eyes. The Void Collar gives one dim obedient pulse.
Lyss trembles against the cross, forced to meet him, and the defiance in her stare thins under the pressure.
Delfarius turns away with a low mirthless laugh, and the red script along the floor tightens hard as if listening for the next blow.
Without warning, he strikes the same wounds again. Fresh blood spills down Lyss’s stomach and legs, and her body jerks once against the restraints.
When she lifts her head again, it is only enough to breathe, and the hard edge of her silence finally gives way to something thinner, more frightened, and ready to spill.