Odran studies the succession roll beneath the rain-dim windows. His finger rests beside Seralyne’s name, where a second ink-shadow curls through the parchment’s margins.
Odran Pell
Seralyne returned carrying another will within her shadow. The crown rolls say it was bound to the eastern road, and it spoke through her altered voice.
The archivist turns the parchment. A marginal drawing shows a crown enclosing a dark figure, its lower edge marked like a locked gate rather than a royal circlet.
Odran Pell
The surviving crown is both seal and prison. Remove it from the court, and the thing inhabiting her legacy may be released from whatever holds it there.
A final marginal instruction emerges beneath the faded ink: approach Veyr by the ash road at moonrise, carrying no open flame and stepping only where the old court’s stones bear broken crowns.
Odran Pell
That is the path past the dormant wards. They listen for torchlight and whole crowns, but broken signs pass beneath their notice. I have never dared test it.
Odran leaves the roll open beside the black ledger, its instruction pointing east toward Veyr. Mara and the sanctuary remain far behind; only the archivist stands here to offer counsel, awaiting Eidenhoek’s response.
✓ Quest Accepted
Discover what Seralyne became
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach Veyr
“Recall the ash road”
SUCCESS (Superb Lore, rolled -1)
Eidenhoek closes their eyes and recalls the ash road: its pale track eastward, its soot-stained milestones, and the moonrise instruction hidden among the court records.
Eidenhoek
No open flame. Follow the stones bearing broken crowns.
The memory settles into a complete route. From Ashenford, the road runs east through blackened fields, crosses a dry riverbed, and reaches Veyr beneath the rising moon.
Odran Pell
You have it, then. The ash road begins beyond the abandoned milestones and keeps to the old royal boundary.
Eidenhoek remembers each safeguard clearly: extinguish every flame before the court comes into sight, and step only where broken crowns mark the stones.
Odran Pell
At moonrise, Veyr’s dormant wards will mistake you for another forgotten pilgrim. Carry the book closed, and do not mend any crown-sign you find.
Beyond the rain-streaked windows, the eastern horizon darkens toward evening. The route to Veyr is no longer a warning in ink, but a journey Eidenhoek can follow.
“Follow the route to Veyr”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +0)