Thadeus sinks into the couch, breath leaving him in a long, uneven stream. The necklace still feels heavy at his throat, but the room is finally still.
Elias crouches by the broken table, gathering splintered wood and bent legs into a rough pile. His hands shake, but he keeps working.
Marla comes in close and presses an ice pack into Thadeus's palm. Her touch is careful, almost ceremonial, like she is making sure he knows he can stop fighting for one minute.
Marla
You took the worst of it back there. Hold still.
Thadeus Jovanović
The palm stings less with the cold on it.
Elias the Shopkeeper
I keep thinking that if I had looked closer sooner, none of this would have gone so far.
Marla glances over at him, then back to Thadeus, steady and tired. The blue glow from the necklace softens the dust in the air.
Marla
We made it out. For now, that counts.
Elias sets the last broken piece aside and straightens, looking toward Thadeus with an exhausted kind of hope. The room settles into a quiet pause, waiting for whoever speaks next.
“Thadeus looks at his friends, both looking relieved and afraid at the same time. He asks Marla, "Why the long faces?" A little surprised by the question, she responds "You were gone for a week. We thought the Revenant captured you, or worse." Thadeus sees her eyes start to well up with tears. Elias adds, "It's been a nightmare. The riots we saw in the city are nothing compared to what is happening now. It doesn't even seem real."”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled +1)
The blue light hangs between them as Thadeus looks from Marla to Elias, letting the silence invite honesty instead of panic.
Thadeus Jovanović
Why the long faces?
Marla
You were gone for a week. We thought the Revenant captured you, or worse.
Her eyes shine fast, and she turns her face aside before the tears can fall. The room feels smaller for it.
Elias the Shopkeeper
It has been a nightmare. The riots we saw in the city are nothing compared to this. It does not even seem real.
Thadeus stays steady through the confession, and the fear in the room loosens just enough to breathe. Marla reaches for his hand again, not to check the wound this time, but to stay connected.
Marla
If you are here, then we can still figure this out. Together.
“With Marla and Elias more relaxed, Thadeus recounts the details of his escape - falling into the sewer, the confrontation with the hulking figure, and the journey through the illusionary forest. Elias looks stunned. Marla continues to hold Thadeus's hand, comforting the two of them. Elias shares that while he was researching more into his brother Trevor's notes, he found a details about a place called the Eternal Corridor, where time itself moves in a chaotic fashion. Elias adds, "The Revenant had an artifact that allowed them to travel through this reality by grounding them in time. They simply called it the Talisman. It looks like that's you found in your escape from the sewers, Thadeus."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled -1)
Thadeus starts at the end of the sewer, the fall, the dark water, and the shape waiting in it that was too large to ignore.
He describes the forest after, the cold air, the repeating trees, and the split cedar with its white blaze.
Marla keeps hold of his hand through all of it, thumb resting steady over his knuckles, listening like every detail matters.
Elias the Shopkeeper
A week in that place... and he came back through a seam in the world.
Elias the Shopkeeper
I found something else in Trevor's notes. The Eternal Corridor, a place where time moves wrong.
Elias the Shopkeeper
The Revenant used an artifact to anchor themselves there. They called it the Talisman.
Elias the Shopkeeper
And from what I can tell, Thadeus, that is what you found coming out of the sewers.
“Elias asks Thadeus, "How did you know that necklace would let you jump through to us?" Thadeus chuckles, "Honestly, I had no idea, I just felt it react to my being close to the opening. If it didn't work, I would've likely been destroyed by the creatures on that side." Marla recoils when she hears Thadeus mention creatures. Marla says, "Wait until you see what's out here in our reality."”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled -1)
Thadeus Jovanović
Honestly, I did not know for sure. It reacted when I got close to the opening.
Thadeus Jovanović
If it failed, I would have been in bad shape on the other side.
The necklace gives a faint pulse in Thadeus's hand, then settles against the glow in the room. Elias lets out a slow breath, absorbing the answer.
Marla
Wait until you see what that looks like out here, in our reality.
Marla recoils a little after saying it, then catches herself and looks back at Thadeus with careful seriousness.
Elias the Shopkeeper
So it was not a map. It was a key, or a trigger.
Dust drifts between them in the softened blue light, and the shattered table stays piled in front of Elias like a quiet warning they have all already survived.
“Thadeus asks Marla about what they've seen. Marla recounts that as her and Elias escaped the stronghold and fled to their hideout, they ducked past several groups of Revenant soldiers and creatures of the night, what they could only describe as living corpses marching down the streets. The two of them managed to barricade themselves here in the hideout. Elias shared that in the week Thadeus was gone, there were news reports about a cult leader taking over the courthouse, claiming to be the judge for all of humanity. The cult leader was identified as Elizabeth Bathory. Horrified, Thadeus tries to process all of this information, and what to do next.”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +1)
Thadeus Jovanović
Tell me what you saw getting out.
Marla
We cut through streets full of Revenant. Not just people, either. They move like living corpses, in packs, marching like they already own the city.
Elias the Shopkeeper
We got here by luck and barricades. Once the doors were shut, I did not let myself look back.
Marla lowers the ice pack and stares past Thadeus, thinking hard, while the blue glow from the Peacebringer catches on the shattered table in front of Elias.
Marla
While you were gone, the news kept talking. A cult leader took over the courthouse. She says she is the judge for all of humanity.
Elias the Shopkeeper
They named her Elizabeth Bathory. On TV, in print, everywhere. Same face, same name.
Thadeus Jovanović
Elizabeth Bathory is not just in the halls and tunnels. She is on the news, in the city, in daylight.
Elias rests both hands on the broken table debris, and Marla watches Thadeus closely, waiting to see how this settles.
“Thadeus looks solemnly at Elias and speaks, "This is why those Revenant were so desperate to get this," he taps the leather of Peacebringer. "This weapon has so much power, it may be the only way to stop Elizabeth and their cult. Elias, did you find anything else Trevor shared about what Peacebringer can do?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +0)
Thadeus Jovanović
This is why those Revenant were so desperate to get this. He taps the Peacebringer leather. This weapon has so much power, it may be the only way to stop Elizabeth and their cult.
Thadeus Jovanović
Elias, did you find anything else Trevor shared about what the Peacebringer can do?
Elias the Shopkeeper
Yeah. Trevor left notes on it, not just rumors. He said it is less a weapon than a trigger, something that wakes up whatever it is pointed at.
Marla
That fits what we have seen. It does not just burn, it changes the room around it.
Elias the Shopkeeper
There was one line I kept rereading. If the case is opened, the chain starts pulling on itself. That is why everybody keeps chasing it.
Marla
So the weapon is not just dangerous, it is connected to the whole mess. That means we are not guessing anymore.
Elias squares the scraps of the shattered table with careful hands, like he is trying to put the night back in order. Marla’s shoulders loosen a fraction, and the blue glow from the Peacebringer steadies across all three of them.
“Thadeus stands up, ready to tell them they need to start planning their next move, when his legs give out on him and he falls back on the couch, thoroughly exhausted. Marla gives a soft smile, "Before we do anything else, you need to gather your strength back. I don't how you've stayed awake for a week." All three of them have a good laugh, breaking the tension. Marla helps Thadeus into bed, with Elias saying he'll get some rest soon, he needs to finish one last lead he's following regarding the Revenant.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Health, rolled +0)
Thadeus pushes up from the couch, but his knees wobble under him. He drops back hard onto the cushions, winded.
Marla
Take the rest. Seriously. You have been running on nothing for way too long.
Elias the Shopkeeper
He is right, Thadeus. I am starting to think sleep is the first sensible thing anyone has done tonight.
A tired laugh passes between them, low and surprised, loosening the room in one small wave.
Thadeus Jovanović
My body is done pretending.
Marla rises and helps Thadeus up with steady hands, guiding him toward the bed beyond the couch. The Peacebringer’s blue glow stays calm in the room, reflecting faintly off the stained glass and the neat pile of table wreckage.
Elias the Shopkeeper
I will rest soon. I just need to finish one last lead on the Revenant first.
Thadeus settles down, the room quiet around him. Marla stays close a moment longer, then eases back as Elias lingers by the broken table, thoughtful and still.