Thadeus and Elias continue down the marble hallway until towering iron double doors rise before them. Behind, shattered glass glitters across the red carpet beside the abandoned double axe.
They pause beneath the castle’s crimson moonlight. Thadeus keeps Peacebringer in chain-whip form, its blue glow steady, while his bruised shoulder remains stiff from the armor’s attack.
Elias
No movement. Let’s take a minute before we decide how those doors open.
Elias lowers himself against the wall and checks the axe without touching it. The hallway stays quiet, carrying only the distant creak of the castle settling.
Elias
That’s Marla.
His phone rings. Elias answers and switches to speaker, while Marla’s voice arrives through static and the faint electronic hum of her camera feed.
Marla Brewer
Those doors lead toward the lower interior, but be careful. The castle’s layout does not match its visible corridors. My feed shows spaces behind you that should not exist, and I’m still trying to map the contradictions.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish whether Marla’s guidance remains reliable
“Thadeus decides to try the doors. He pulls on both iron handles, and both doors begin to open out towards him. Thadeus steps back and his with an extraordinary sight. It's another hallway, but with two visible floors. Deep, polished mahogany or dark walnut pillars line the lower level, separating large, floor-to-ceiling recessed wall panels upholstered in a faded crimson damask fabric. The floor is covered in a plush, blood-red velvet carpet that absorbs most of the light. The balcony above is an ornate, carved wooden balustrade runs along the upper tier, supported by decorative pillars. Heavy architectural arches above the balcony open up into dark, vaulted ceilings or shadowed chambers.”
SUCCESS (Superb Strength, rolled +0)
Thadeus grips both iron handles and pulls. The massive doors swing outward toward him with a deep groan, their hinges yielding cleanly beneath his strength.
He steps back as the opening reveals another hallway, vast and formal, with two visible floors rising through the castle’s dark interior.
Deep mahogany or walnut pillars divide the lower level, framing tall recessed panels upholstered in faded crimson damask. A plush blood-red carpet swallows the weak light.
Above, an ornate carved balustrade runs along the balcony, supported by decorative pillars. Heavy arches open beyond it into vaulted darkness and shadowed chambers.
Elias
That is not on any map. The architecture behind us was already impossible, but this feels like an entire wing hidden inside the castle.
Marla Brewer
I can see the doorway on my feed, but the hallway beyond keeps changing depth. Don’t cross yet. I’m checking whether the upper balcony connects to anything.
Peacebringer’s blue glow reaches across the carpet and polished wood, revealing no immediate movement. The open doors stand behind Thadeus and Elias like a silent threshold.
“Thadeus hears voices in the distance. He turns to Elias, "That sounded Marcus. We need to hurry." Elias quickly tells Marla they've got to go and hangs up the phone. The two of them run down the new corridor, trying to follow the sound of the voices.”
SUCCESS (Superb Athletics, rolled +0)
Voices rise from somewhere below the hidden hall, muffled by wood and stone. One voice carries Marcus Thorne’s urgent cadence, but neither Thadeus nor Elias can see him.
Thadeus Jovanović
That sounded like Marcus. We need to hurry.
Elias
Marla, we’ve got to go.
Elias ends the call and pockets his phone. He and Thadeus run down the corridor, following the voices as they shift beneath the floor.
The passage opens into a small study crowded with tables, their surfaces buried beneath books and loose papers. Bookshelves climb twenty feet toward a shadowed ceiling.
The voices remain below them, clearer now through the room’s stonework. At the far end, an open doorway reveals a stairwell descending into the castle.
Elias
They’re underneath us. The stairs are this way.
“Thadeus and Elias work their way down the stairwell, to a sight of horror. They are in what can only be described as a massive torture room. Long dried blood stains the stone walls. Torture devices from the period of the Spanish Inquistion litter the room, some also with dried blood covering them. Several sets of shackles line another set of walls, some with skeletons hanging from them. In the distance, Thadeus can see a group of dark robed figures huddle around some sort of pedestal. Thadeus can hear Marcus more clearly, sounding dazed, but still cannot see him. Thadeus and Elias stop at the bottom of the stairs to quietly observe their surroundings”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled -3)
Thadeus and Elias descend the narrow stairwell, keeping their steps measured. The air grows colder, carrying old metal, damp stone, and a sour, lingering stench.
The stairs open into a vast torture chamber. Dried blood stains the walls and several iron devices, while shackles line one side, some still holding hanging skeletons.
Far across the chamber, dark-robed figures huddle around a stone pedestal. Their bodies block whatever rests upon it, their heads bent toward a low, indistinct activity.
Marcus Thorne
Please... I can’t... not again.
Marcus’s dazed voice carries from behind the pedestal, clearer now but still hidden from sight. The robed figures do not answer, remaining tightly gathered around him.
At the bottom step, Elias’s boot nudges loose grit across the stone. The small scrape echoes through the chamber, and one robed head turns toward the stairwell.
Elias
They know we’re here.
✓ Quest Accepted
Rescue Marcus Thorne
Quest Complete
Locate the castle dungeon
Skill Upgrade: Athletics Superb→Legendary
“The robed figure that notice Elias directs the rest to the intruders. Thadeus starts spinning Peacebringer, ready to strike. Elias takes out one of his bottles of holy water and tosses it into the air towards the group of figures. As it reaches its height, Thadeus swings Peacebringer at the bottle, causing it to shatter. The water instantly turns into blue fire that sprays over the group of robed figured, lighting them all ablaze. All but one of the drop. The robed figure removes his damaged robe, revealing him to be the Tall Figure from the events outside Thadeus's home.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -3)
the robed figure
Intruders. Take them.
The remaining robed figures surge toward the stairwell. Thadeus spins Peacebringer, its chain carving a bright blue circle, while Elias draws a holy-water bottle.
Elias
Now!
Elias tosses the bottle high. At its apex, Thadeus snaps Peacebringer through the glass. It bursts, and consecrated water becomes blue fire, spraying across the clustered figures.
Flames race over the robes. One by one, the figures collapse beside the pedestal, their burning garments filling the chamber with harsh light and choking smoke. The strike succeeds, but the chain’s recoil tears Thadeus’s bruised shoulder with fresh pain.
One figure remains standing. He tears away the damaged robe, revealing the tall, faceless presence that commanded the undead outside Thadeus’s home.
The Tall Figure
You keep following the doors that were never meant to open.
“The Tall Figure extends an arm, lightning beginning to form at his hand. Elias shouts, "Look out!", pulling Thadeus to the ground as a bolt of electricity flies the creature's hand and slams into a wall behind them. Thadeus gets back to his feet and swings Peacebringer towards the tall figure. The swing is true, but the weapon phases through the figure, just as it did before. The Tall figure holds up his other hand, which opens in an inhuman manner, revealing a metal circular opening. Out of the opening flies a small rocket, propelling towards Elias. Elias rolls out of the way of the projectile in time to see it slam into a shackled skeleton, which explodes in a shower of bones.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -2)
Elias
Look out!
The Tall Figure extends one arm, lightning twisting around its hand. Elias seizes Thadeus and drags him down as the bolt tears overhead, blasting the wall behind them into smoking stone.
Thadeus rises and swings Peacebringer in a hard blue arc. The chain passes cleanly through the Tall Figure’s body, but the effort wrenches his bruised shoulder and sends pain down his arm.
The Tall Figure raises its other hand. Its palm unfolds in an inhuman mechanism, revealing a circular metal opening aimed directly at Elias.
A small rocket launches with a sharp burst. Elias throws himself into a roll as the projectile streaks past and slams into a shackled skeleton.
The skeleton erupts into a shower of bones and iron fragments. Dust and smoke roll across the torture chamber, briefly obscuring the pedestal and the surviving figure.
The Tall Figure
You strike at shadows while the dead remember your name.
✓ Quest Accepted
Survive the Tall Figure’s threat
“Can Elias see how they can effectively strike the Tall Figure?”
NO (Likely, rolled 75)
Smoke rolls across the chamber, turning the Tall Figure into a shifting silhouette. Elias peers through the haze, searching for a solid target, but finds none.
Elias
I can’t see how to hurt it. There’s no body to hit, no exposed anchor, nothing.
The faceless presence remains upright beyond the drifting smoke. Peacebringer’s blue glow passes across its outline, revealing only distortion and the damaged wall behind it.
The Tall Figure
Your weapons belong to the world of flesh. I do not.
Elias raises the Holy Cross but does not throw it. The Tall Figure’s outline flickers between the pedestal and the far wall, offering no consistent point of impact.
Elias
Holy water burned the servants, but it did nothing to this thing. I have no effective strike.
Behind the figure, Marcus remains hidden near the pedestal. The smoke thins by degrees, leaving the chamber exposed again while the Tall Figure waits, untouched and impossible to read.
− Scene Quest Removed
Establish whether Marla’s guidance remains reliable
“Can Thadeus see a way to strike the Tall Figure?”
NO, AND WORSE (Unlikely, rolled 88)
Peacebringer’s glow sweeps across the Tall Figure again, but the distortion reveals no anchor, no vulnerable shape, and no path for a strike. Worse, the figure turns toward the pedestal.
The Tall Figure
You cannot reach me. But I can reach what you came to protect.
The smoke parts around Marcus. His wrists are bound to the stone pedestal with dark metal restraints, and a thin red line circles his throat beneath the collar.
Marcus Thorne
Thadeus! Don’t come closer. It wants me kept here.
A circular opening unfolds in the Tall Figure’s palm, not aimed at Thadeus or Elias, but at the ceiling above the chamber. A pulse of force strikes the stone, and cracks race upward.
Elias
It’s not trying to kill us. It’s opening a route toward the surface.
Dust pours from the widening fractures. Somewhere above, the woman’s voice calls Elizabeth’s name, and the Tall Figure remains between the group and Marcus, untouchable.
“Remembering what he found earlier, Thadeus puts the Ankh Ring on his index finger from his injured shoulder. He immediately feels a heat where the injury was, and feels the pain give away. He also notices the ruby on the Ring begin to glow with a bright red intensity. Peacebringer begins to glow with the same red color. This seems to catch the Tall Figure's attention, and he rushes towards Thadeus. He dodges out of the way, then tries swinging Peacebringer again at the figure. Incredibly, this swing connects into the figures back, sending him flying to the ground.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +0)
Thadeus slides the ankh ring onto his index finger with his uninjured hand. Heat floods his wounded shoulder, and the pain abruptly releases its grip.
The ruby ignites with brilliant red light. Peacebringer answers, its blue radiance turning crimson as the Tall Figure’s faceless head snaps toward Thadeus.
The Tall Figure
That mark does not belong to you.
The Tall Figure rushes across the chamber, distortion tearing through the smoke. Thadeus pivots aside, and the presence surges past where he stood.
Thadeus whips Peacebringer around in a sweeping red arc. The chain connects solidly with the figure’s back, striking with force that bends its silhouette.
The Tall Figure flies across the torture chamber and crashes onto the stone floor. Its impact scatters dust around the pedestal, while the red glow pulses through the darkness.
Marcus Thorne
What did you do? It can be hurt now!
Secure the incapacitated Tall Figure
Quest Complete
Survive the Tall Figure’s threat