The fortress war chamber receives Zerith beneath vaulted stone. Blue witchflames burn without smoke as his lieutenant, a dark dragon in human form, unrolls maps across the iron table.
the dragon lieutenant
The neighboring kingdom has begun to stir. Their border keeps signal one another from dusk until dawn.
Black markers crowd the parchment: marching armies, guarded supply roads, and a royal city circled three times in ink. Tiny obsidian pins mark hidden passes.
the dragon lieutenant
Their defenses mobilize faster than our first reports predicted. Scouts place fresh banners along the eastern road and warships upon the river.
The lieutenant sets one clawed hand beside the royal city, human fingers unable to conceal their unnatural length. His scaled shadow bends across the map.
the dragon lieutenant
We can strike the crown before the border hosts unite, or break their roads and let hunger accomplish what steel cannot.
the dragon lieutenant
Your judgment, master. Where shall the first darkness fall?
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the invasion's first move
✓ Quest Accepted
Conquer the neighboring kingdom
“Can the hidden passes bring our army near the royal city unseen?”
YES, AND MORE (Unlikely, rolled 7)
The lieutenant traces the obsidian pins with one claw. Beneath the mountains, concealed passes thread toward the royal city, masked by ancient wards and winter mist.
the dragon lieutenant
They can bring our army within a day's march without a single border bell sounding.
As his finger reaches the deepest pass, a pale sigil flares on the map. The route does not end at the city walls, but beneath an abandoned aqueduct.
the dragon lieutenant
More than concealment. This passage opens beneath the old aqueduct, directly beside the royal crypts.
The blue witchflames gutter toward the parchment. For the first time, the lieutenant's composure cracks into something close to pleased astonishment.
the dragon lieutenant
Their own dead wait beneath the throne. We may enter unseen, and find the city already guarding the weapon we need.
Beyond the fortress, distant horns answer one another across the night. The hidden passes remain open, their warding runes silent beneath the snow.
“Is the weapon beneath the royal crypts?”
NO, BUT (Likely, rolled 71)
The pale sigil collapses, and the hidden route shudders across the parchment. Its final mark turns from a crypt door toward a sealed chamber beneath the aqueduct.
the dragon lieutenant
Not the royal crypts. The weapon lies deeper, beyond them, behind a ward even their dead cannot cross.
Ash gathers where the sigil burned. Within it, a second symbol emerges: an ancient crown split by a vertical blade, pointing beneath the aqueduct's foundations.
the dragon lieutenant
The crypts are only the threshold. This mark names a forgotten reliquary, sealed from the throne and omitted from every map.
The lieutenant folds the map around the glowing sign, preserving its position. Outside, the distant horns fall silent beneath the weight of gathering snow.
the dragon lieutenant
We cannot claim the weapon through the royal dead. But we can reach the reliquary first, if we take the mountain pass before dawn.
“Is the reliquary weapon a source of necromantic power?”
YES, BUT (Likely, rolled 65)
The crown sigil opens like a wound in the parchment, revealing a buried reservoir of black radiance beneath the reliquary. Its pulse answers the fortress wards.
the dragon lieutenant
Yes. The weapon is a wellspring of necromantic power, old enough to have outlived the hands that forged it.
The revelation does not come freely. A sharp crack travels through the iron table, and one blue witchflame gutters out as the hidden ward notices the intrusion.
the dragon lieutenant
But the reliquary knows we have looked upon it. Its outer seal has awakened, and the passage will no longer remain silent.
Across the map, three obsidian pins fracture at once. Their broken shards turn toward the mountain pass, marking the route with a faint, accusing glow.
the dragon lieutenant
We have gained the truth and spent our concealment. Before dawn, the kingdom may know which road we mean to take.
Snow presses against the fortress shutters. Beneath the aqueduct, something ancient stirs around the reliquary, guarding its power with newly opened eyes.
“I order the first strike through the hidden pass”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Zerith
Order the first strike through the hidden pass.
Zerith’s command settles over the war chamber. The remaining witchflames bend toward the mountain route, and every obsidian marker flares with cold blue fire.
the dragon lieutenant
At once, master. The vanguard will move beneath the snow, before the kingdom can gather its banners.
The lieutenant presses a claw to the deepest pin. Far below, concealed runes awaken in sequence, opening the pass from the fortress foundations to the abandoned aqueduct.
the dragon lieutenant
The first strike has crossed the threshold. Our dead are already within the hidden road, and the living follow under their shadow.
Black-armored figures descend through a stone arch as snow pours into the darkness behind them. No border bell sounds. The pass carries them unseen toward the royal city.
the dragon lieutenant
The reliquary will hear us now, but it will hear us from beneath its own kingdom.
Quest Complete
Secure the invasion's first move