The void-sheen trail ends in a cramped market square, under warped awnings and leaning crates. Fresh frost beads the wood, and black feathers lie crushed beneath a stall beam.
Draelik lingers at the edge of the square, mirror mask turned toward the trail. He does not move, but his posture tightens as if he expects a trap.
A tall hooded figure steps from behind the crates, staff in hand. The crystal atop it shifts through pale colors like oil on water.
The Hooded Figure
Enough. The Archon has watched your sword since the pier, and I am sent to see why.
The stranger angles the staff toward Arion, ignoring Draelik completely. The prismatic crystal hums softly, and the frost on the cobbles spreads in a thin lace.
Draelik
Then speak plain, messenger. If you know what hunts this blade, I want the answer before it finds us all.
The hooded figure gives no sign of fear. In the square's thin silence, the market seems to hold its breath around them.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what the Archon's messenger knows about the rift-walker
“Well, what have I done to earn the honor of Archons attention.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +2)
Arion Touvengard
What have I done to earn the Archon's attention?
The Hooded Figure
You unmade a pier, exposed a claim mark, and touched a trail that should have stayed buried. The Archon values that kind of disturbance.
Draelik
And if that is not enough, say what the feathers mean. The hunt is pointing somewhere.
The Hooded Figure
It points to a courier of the rift-walker, not the walker itself. The bundle was left as proof that the trail was cut on purpose.
The Hooded Figure
The Archon wants the one who made that cut alive if possible, because they know where the rift-walker goes next.
The Hooded Figure
And before you decide to chase blindly, know this, the next step leads either into the city watch's net, or into the upper lanes beneath the Council halls.
The Hooded Figure
If you want the name that opened this trail, come with me now and keep your blade quiet.
Quest Complete
Learn what the Archon's messenger knows about the rift-walker
“I go with you and keep my blade quiet”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -3)
Arion lowers the sword a fraction and falls into step beside the hooded figure. Draelik watches from the square's edge, silent for once.
The messenger turns without haste, staff tapping once on frost-rimed cobbles. Market noise swallows the first few paces as they leave the feather-strewn stall behind.
The Hooded Figure
Good. Quiet keeps you alive longer than courage does.
Arion Touvengard
I go with you, and my blade stays quiet.
The hooded figure inclines their head and leads Arion into a narrow lane beneath sagging awnings. Frost crawls faster over the stones here, pale against the trampled mud.
Draelik
Then I am coming too. If this is a trap, I want to see the teeth.
The messenger does not look back. They only raise the crystal-tipped staff, and the path ahead opens toward the upper lanes beneath the Council halls.
✓ Quest Accepted
Confront the Archon's messenger about the rift-walker
“So, what does Archon know about the rift beasts?”
SUCCESS (Poor Reasoning, rolled +2)
Arion Touvengard
So, what does the Archon know about the rift beasts?
The Hooded Figure
Enough to name their spoor, and not enough to trust the thing that leaves it. The Archon knows the beasts come when a seam is cut, and when a sword is made to drink from that wound.
Draelik
That is a broad answer. I prefer the precise one. Which seam, which sword, which fool opened it?
The Hooded Figure
The one you are already following. The black feathers are not a warning, they are a direction. The rift-beast does not wander, it is being led.
The upper lane narrows between leaning stone fronts, and the frost on the cobbles thickens into a pale track. Ahead, the messenger’s staff tilts toward a side street that climbs toward the Council heights.
The Hooded Figure
If you want the next answer, come quietly. If you want the city to hear your name, ask Draelik to speak first.
Quest Complete
Confront the Archon's messenger about the rift-walker
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Poor→Mediocre