The relic grows warm in Effruin’s clenched hand. Beneath its blackened bronze casing, a narrow golden pupil opens, casting a thin line of light across the rain-dark stones.
Grahamin’s surviving soldiers
What is that? Put it down!
The soldiers recoil as one, blades wavering. From the relic comes a voice with no breath behind it, neither Grahamin’s nor any living person’s.
The Voice in the Relic
The hand that carries me inherits the door, the debt, and the cost.
The Veiled Courier
That was never merely Grahamin’s token of authority. It is a key, or a prison pretending to be one.
The golden pupil narrows toward Effruin’s face. The relic does not pull his arm or command his will, yet every witness understands that possession may demand more than obedience.
Grahamin’s surviving soldiers
Do not touch him. Do not touch the relic. Gods preserve us, whatever wakes inside it may still be listening.
✓ Quest Accepted
Leave the relic to someone else
✓ Quest Accepted
Abandon the relic
“I place the relic on the rain-dark stones and walk away. I want nothing to do with this.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Effruin opens his hand and sets the blackened bronze relic on the rain-dark stones. Its golden pupil closes, and the cold pulse dies beneath the falling rain.
The soldiers hold their ring but do not advance. Their blades remain lowered as Effruin turns his back on the relic and begins walking across the soaked yard.
Rain runs from his face and torn clothing. Each step carries him farther from the bronze, the dead captain, and the place where Grahamin vanished.
Grahamin’s surviving soldiers
He is leaving it. Let him go. Do not touch the key.
No hand reaches for the relic. The soldiers part uneasily, allowing Effruin to pass beyond their weapons and into the gray curtain of rain.
Behind him, the bronze pupil opens once more without a sound. Its thin golden light rests on the empty stones, while Effruin walks on and does not look back.
The mill yard swallows his footsteps. The relic remains abandoned in the rain, and the soldiers keep their distance from it.
Quest Complete
Abandon the relic
− Scene Quest Removed
Leave the relic to someone else