The old mage gestures toward the glowing arch. The gathered students and masters remain behind in the enrollment hall as he leads Saryk through a narrow bronze door.
The door seals with a muted clang. Beyond it, an archive chamber descends beneath Manyras, lined with spell ledgers and dust-covered globes that turn slowly in their niches.
the old mage
This chamber is older than the present faculty. Its ledgers record every enrollment response preserved by the academy.
The old mage raises his staff, and pale symbols awaken along the shelves. Dust lifts from cracked spines, revealing dates, names, and careful accounts of magical aptitude.
the old mage
No candidate has ever made an enrollment record answer with power so unrestricted. Not in my lifetime, nor in any account these shelves preserve.
the old mage
The circle did not merely measure you, Saryk. It recognized something beyond the limits its makers intended.
At the chamber's center, a sealed ledger rises from its stand without a hand touching it. Its bronze clasp bears a symbol absent from every other book.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what the sealed ledger reveals about Saryk
“I ask the old mage how to open the ledger safely.”
SUCCESS (Fair Diplomacy, rolled -1)
Saryk
How do I open the ledger safely?
the old mage
Place your hand above the clasp, not upon it. Let the ledger feel your magic, then give it only a thread.
The old mage traces a ward around the stand. Saryk follows the instruction, and a narrow strand of power answers the bronze symbol without touching the book.
the old mage
Now speak no command. Allow the seal to decide whether your restraint is genuine.
The clasp unfolds with a soft metallic sigh. Pale script rises from the first page, filling the chamber with the scent of rain on ancient stone. The ledger lies open.
A sharp sting crosses Saryk's palm as the ward withdraws, leaving a thin red line and a brief numbness in his fingers. The cost is small, but deliberate.
the old mage
It accepted you, but not freely. The seal has taken a measure of your strength as its opening price. Read carefully, Saryk. This record was waiting for you.
“I read the ledger's pale script carefully”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled -3)
Saryk studies the pale script line by line, following its shifting columns as they settle into the common tongue. The ledger records a soul arriving from a world where magic is severely constrained.
The next passage names the mistake plainly: divine powers redirected Saryk's reincarnation beyond its intended boundary, placing him in a realm unable to contain his potential.
the old mage
It knows your origin. More than that, it recognizes the breadth of what followed you here.
As Saryk reaches the final lines, the pale letters sharpen. They state that his strength will answer thought and will, while the gods retain no simple means to reclaim what they misplaced.
The cost arrives quietly. The thin cut across Saryk's palm opens again, and warmth drains from his fingers as the ledger draws a second measure of power through the ward.
Saryk
The ledger records the mistake, the source of my power, and the gods' failure to reclaim it.
the old mage
You have read it all. Now you understand why this academy's wards answered you, and why wiser powers may soon take notice.
Stabilize the outer ward
Quest Complete
Learn what the sealed ledger reveals about Saryk
Skill Upgrade: Diplomacy Fair→Good