The harbor is unnaturally still. The shifting wooden boards of the pier are now a seamless, jagged expanse of bleached, calcified stone that hums with a faint, rhythmic vibration. White vapor rolls off the surface like dry ice, clinging to the boots of the City Guard Captain
as she advances.
ID
Speak, spirit. You tore the soul from our harbor and left this monument of cursed stone in its wake. Are you a savior of Mesthelia, or just another monster playing with the foundations of our world?
Arion Touvengard
The mortal fails to see the architecture of the cosmos. This stone is the only reason the harbor did not collapse into the abyss. She threatens me while standing on the very foundation of her own salvation.
Arion Touvengard
I am the hand that holds back the dark, Captain. Your harbor is stable only because I wove the void into something more permanent. Lower your steel, for your suspicion serves the enemy better than it serves this city.
“"I was of thise who stood watch aeons ago, gaurding against those who seek to turn all to naught. I suppose it would be fair to answer some questions before we continue on to the temple, well? What questions stir your soul?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
ID
You speak with the weight of ghosts, spirit. I know only that my city is bleeding, and you are the blade currently carving the wound.
ID
He sounds sincere, yet his movements are those of a marionette. I cannot trust the vessel, but perhaps I can navigate the contents.
ID
Fine. We have little time before the Council arrives to reclaim their territory. Tell me, if you truly served in the ages before the sky shattered, why return now to play the butcher in my port?
Arion Touvengard
The questioning begins. This woman has a steel spine, though she lacks the vision to see the rot beneath the stone. I must offer enough to keep her blade sheathed while I secure passage to the temple.
Arion Touvengard
I did not return by choice, Captain. I am a relic of a failed duty, bound to this flesh and seeking the only place left in Mesthelia that can cleanse the corruption I carry. My path to the temple is the only thing standing between your harbor and total erasure.
+ Scene Quest Added
De-escalate the Captain's suspicion and depart the pier
“"It is not so much that I have now returned, I never left, I simply spend centuries aslumber while I await a new worthy host willing to sacrifice themselves fkr the greater good." Arion says while keeping an eye out for any other interlopers. "Now shall we be off? The darkness and rot grows deeper and at this point it may be wise for all of us ti go under an act of purification."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -2)
Arion Touvengard
It is not so much that I have now returned. I never left. I simply spent centuries aslumber, awaiting a new host willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.
Arion Touvengard
She hesitates. Her grip on her blade tightens, but the aura of the void is growing too heavy for even her resolve. If she remains, she will be consumed alongside this stone.
Arion Touvengard
Now, shall we be off? The darkness and rot grow deeper with every breath, and at this point, it would be wise for all of us to seek an act of purification before the pier drags us both into the abyss.
ID
If you are lying, spirit, I will see you shattered into a thousand useless shards myself. But the air... it is turning, as you say.
ID
The city is lost if I stay to fight him, and the sky itself feels like it is sagging under this pressure. I must lead him to the temple, if only to keep him in my sights.
Quest Complete
De-escalate the Captain's suspicion and depart the pier
+ Story Quest Added
Reach the temple with the City Guard Captain