In the austere council hall, the elders hunch over the ledger while Tenda Wildheart sets the ornate iron key beside it. For a breath, the room holds still.
Then the key lets out a thin, rising whine. Its dark metal seams glow faintly, pulsing like a heartbeat under moonlight.
The Elder With Lantern
That is not a tool. It is calling someone.
The Bare-Handed Elder
Move it away. Now.
Tenda snatches the key back, but the light flares brighter for a moment, as if it has already marked the room.
The Militia Sergeant
By the gate... no, by the ridge. We are being found.
Outside, a distant horn answers from the dark village road, and several heads turn toward the same unseen point beyond the walls.
The elders stare at the key with fresh dread. It was never meant to open the vault. It was meant to lead the Warlord straight to them.
✓ Quest Accepted
Destroy the tracking key
“I channel my ki into my fist! Its glows with energy and I punch the key to destroy it”
SUCCESS (Superb Strength, rolled +0)
Tenda drives ki into his fist, and the air around his knuckles tightens with a pale glow. He steps in and punches straight through the key’s pulse.
The ornate iron splits with a sharp crack. Fragments spit across the ledger and skitter under the table.
The Bare-Handed Elder
Yes. Break it. Break it all.
The whine cuts off at once. The glow dies, and the hall feels suddenly larger, as if a hooked line has just been severed.
The Militia Sergeant
Wait... listen.
From outside, the horn answers again, closer now, and bootsteps gather at the wall in a hard, uneven rush.
Mei
They found us anyway. We have to move now.
The elders grab for the ledger and the broken pieces together, while Rex plants himself by the doorway, staring into the dark lane.
Quest Complete
Destroy the tracking key