The festival hum fades to a low murmur as the Elder With Lantern approaches Tenda Wildheart again, grave-eyed and trembling. In his palm lies the broken wax seal pulled from the council steps, its scarlet crest cracked clean through.
The Elder With Lantern
I should have told you sooner. This seal is not just a soldier's mark. It opens what my family hid in the village archives.
He turns the shard over, revealing a sliver of folded vellum tucked inside the wax seam, thin as bark skin. The villagers drift farther back, sensing the weight of old shame.
The Elder With Lantern
I served his father once, and I watched the bargain rot the village from the inside. If I keep hiding now, I become that same man again.
The Elder With Lantern
My father and the Warlord's father used this code for supply routes and secret stores. The archives keep the missing fragment. It points to his primary base.
He bows his head, then looks up with sudden resolve, lantern light catching the wet shine in his eyes. Beside Tenda, Daisy straightens, Zero's hand drifts toward his blade, and Rex lowers his nose to the seal like a tracker catching a fresh scent.
The Elder With Lantern
Come with me now. If we read this together, we can find where he is truly hidden.
Read the hidden map fragment with the Elder With Lantern
Reach the Warlord's primary base