Blackened stone and broken pillars ring the old heart of the Vatican, half-buried in ash and thorn. The air shivers with unstable magic, making the ruined square feel one breath away from collapse. Alice Feilth stands at the edge of the epicenter, his white hair stirred by a sour wind.
In the center, a shackled figure kneels on cracked marble, head bowed beneath binding sigils. Above them stands a robed anomaly researcher, one hand lifted over a charged blade of rune-light.
The Researcher
You picked a foul moment to wander in. If you have any worth, prove it. Kill the oath-breaker before the warding tears us all apart.
The kneeling prisoner jerks against their chains, metal clinking hard in the silence. Somewhere under the rubble, the magic hum deepens, unstable and hungry.
The Prisoner
Do not listen to him. I broke no oath, only refused his demand.
The researcher turns fully toward Alice Feilth, eyes sharp with urgency and fear. The blade in his hand flickers as the air distorts around the shattered square.
The Researcher
Choose now. Help me end this, or stand aside and watch the ruins take us all.
✓ Quest Accepted
Save the accused from the researcher
“Can I shatter the binding sigils on the prisoner's chains?”
YES (Even, rolled 31)
Alice Feilth
The sigils are anchored to the ground, not the chains themselves. If I strike the marble beneath the prisoner, the circuit will break.
A hairline fracture in the stone pulses in rhythm with the prisoner's bindings, revealing a clear path to sever the magical connection.
“I strike the marble beneath the prisoner”
SUCCESS (Fair Strength, rolled -1)
Alice Feilth drives his strike into the marble. The fissure bursts white, and the chains jerk hard as their anchor loses its grip.
The glowing links snap free of the floor in a spray of dust, then clatter dead against the stones. The prisoner pitches forward, no longer pinned in place.
The Researcher
No, wait, that seal was holding the whole square together!
A sharp crack runs through the plaza, and a shard of marble flies back across Alice Feilth's knuckles. Blood beads at his hand.
The Prisoner
I'm free. I am free, right?
The haze swirls lower over the broken floor, and the researcher recoils from the broken circuit, suddenly forced to choose between the captive and the failing ruin.
Quest Complete
Save the accused from the researcher