The revelers remain frozen around the moonstone floor, masks tilted toward the lingering ancestral chord. No companion joins Lyric and Angelass as a tall figure crosses the silent hall.
Serel Vey is a tall, androgynous adult elf with ash-pale skin and long black hair, dressed in layered charcoal robes. A narrow silver mask hides their eyes, while a sealed black songbook rests against one gloved hand.
Serel Vey
I am Serel Vey, keeper of your family’s forgotten musical oaths.
Serel stops a few paces away. The black book bears no clasp or lock, only a dull seal shaped like a branching star.
Angelass
Forgotten oaths do not cross a guarded threshold without a reason. State yours.
Serel opens the songbook. Beneath Lyric’s feet, the ancestral chord pulses once, and silver roots flare through the moonstone before sinking from sight.
Serel Vey
The oath has heard him again. Now it must decide whether he is its heir, its witness, or its undoing.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine whether the forgotten oaths bind Lyric
✓ Quest Accepted
Preserve Lyric’s freedom from the forgotten oaths
“I ask Serel to name the oath’s price before I answer.”
FAILURE (Fair Persuasion, rolled -4)
lyric
Name the oath’s price before I answer.
The words strike the moonstone like a plucked string. Instead of opening further, the black songbook snaps to a blank page, and the branching-star seal brightens.
Serel Vey
You have asked too late. The oath counts the question as your first answer.
A silver thread rises from beneath Lyric’s feet and catches at his throat without cutting. The ancestral chord loses its lowest note, as though the oath has taken it for keeping.
Serel Vey
Its price cannot be named beforehand. It is one song freely given, surrendered before its final note, and the oath now holds yours.
Angelass
Then it has taken enough. Lyric, do not give it another note until we know what it means to keep one.
The silver thread tightens whenever the ancestral harmony stirs. Serel’s sealed book remains open, but the blank page now bears a single line in Lyric’s vanished low note.
Quest Complete
Determine whether the forgotten oaths bind Lyric
Skill Upgrade: Persuasion Fair→Good
“Can Serel release the stolen note?”
YES (Likely, rolled 18)
Serel turns one gloved finger across the blank page. The silver thread at Lyric’s throat loosens, and the missing low note trembles within the sealed hall.
Serel Vey
Yes. I can release what the oath has taken. The note is held by my keeping, not beyond my reach.
The line written in Lyric’s vanished register darkens, then separates into fine silver marks. The ancestral harmony rises around him, waiting but no longer diminished.
Angelass
Then release it now, Serel. No oath has the right to make his voice a hidden thing.
Serel Vey
I can return the note, but release is not erasure. Once restored, it will remember being surrendered, and the oath will remember him.
Angelass
It offers him power with one hand and measures his freedom with the other.
Serel lifts the open book toward Lyric. The silver thread hangs slack against his throat, while the stolen note gathers above the page like a dark pearl beneath moonlight.
“what must i do to honor this oath, Serel?”
SUCCESS (Good Persuasion, rolled +1)
lyric
What must I do to honor this oath, Serel?
Serel lowers the songbook until the dark pearl hovers between them. The silver thread brushes Lyric’s throat, cold as winter starlight, while Angelass keeps hold of his hand.
Serel Vey
Give one song freely, as the oath requires. Let its final note carry a vow spoken before witnesses, then keep that vow when the song’s power calls you elsewhere.
The blank page fills with silver script, revealing the oath’s measure: the song must be offered without coercion, and the vow must defend those placed under his protection.
Serel Vey
You honor it by choosing the song yourself, naming whom you will shield, and surrendering the final note without demanding its return.
Angelass
Then choose with care, Lyric. I will stand beside you, but the vow must come from your voice alone.
Serel draws the dark pearl into the book. Its cold leaves Lyric’s throat raw, and the ancestral harmony surges back, complete but louder than before.
✓ Quest Accepted
Have Serel release the stolen note
“i will honor this oath, but i need no oath to protect the less fortunate and vanquish those who would do them harm, this i swear before all witness.s”
SUCCESS (Fair Willpower, rolled +3)
lyric
I will honor this oath, but I need no oath to protect the less fortunate and vanquish those who would harm them. This I swear before all witnesses.
His words ring across the moonstone hall. Every mask turns toward him, and the blue witchfire bends low as though the gathering itself has become a witness.
The ancestral harmony answers from beneath the floor. Silver roots rise around Lyric and Angelass without touching them, while the dark pearl in Serel’s book cracks into radiant notes.
Serel Vey
The oath accepts your vow. It names protection as your chosen charge, and opposition to those who prey upon the helpless as its living measure.
Angelass
Then let the moon remember those words, Lyric. I stand beside you, and every witness here has heard your voice.
The stolen note returns from the book and settles into Lyric’s throat. His voice is whole again, but the oath’s silver script now glows across his palm.
Serel Vey
Your first answer is complete. Now the oath will show you where its protection is already being tested.
Quest Complete
Have Serel release the stolen note
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Fair→Good