The guards drag the last body clear, and the square exhales into a shaken hush. Blood still gleams at the fountain’s edge, bright against the stone.
From the crowd, an elderly hooded figure pushes forward, ignoring the leveled spears. He moves with careful certainty, as if he knows the way through fear.
The Hooded Figure
Do not let the blood fool you. This is no mere execution. You have stirred what the old pact was sworn to keep sleeping.
Murmurs ripple outward. Faces blanch. Several townsfolk turn toward the fountain as though expecting the stones to answer.
The Hooded Figure
I know the signs. I have seen the wards weaken before. If the throne would keep the city, it must hear me now.
The figure stops at the fountain, hood falling back just enough to show an old, weathered face and eyes sharp with warning. The square’s fear shifts, but not yet against Eden, it waits on her reply.
✓ Quest Accepted
Command the crowd through the omen
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what the old pact was meant to keep sleeping
“Eden faces the old man, standing strong to shiw she is in control of this situation as she commands him to speak what must be spoken and do it quickly as to not waste time.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Princess Eden Siranteos holds the square with a single hard look, and the hooded man feels it. His warning dies in his throat as every kneeling guard and staring citizen turns toward her.
Princess Eden Siranteos
Speak plainly. Now. Say what you mean, and do not waste my time.
The Hooded Figure
As you command, Your Highness. The old pact was not made to seal away a treasure. It was made to keep something beneath the city from waking.
A shiver passes through the crowd. Even the fountain seems colder, its blood-dark water stilled by the hush.
The Hooded Figure
The wards are failing. If they break fully, the sleeping thing will rise, and every lie built above it will crack with it.
Queen Araneidan
Then speak the name of it, old man. If you come before my daughter with doom, you owe her truth, not fear.
The Hooded Figure
I will give you the first truth you need. The throne has been guarding the wrong secret.
“Eden grabs the old man by his shirt collar and lifts him off the ground with one hand, demanding he tell her what is sleeping and where it lays so she may go and kill it for good.”
SUCCESS (Superb Strength, rolled +3)
Princess Eden moves first. One iron hand catches the hood at the throat, and the old man comes cleanly off the stones, boots kicking above the fountain’s black water.
Princess Eden Siranteos
Name it. Where does it sleep?
The Hooded Figure
Beneath the oldest foundation of the city, under the first shrine. The thing is called the Wyrm Below, and the pact was made to keep its chain unbroken.
His words strike the square harder than steel. Several guards lift their heads, and the crowd draws back as one, the silence turning sharp with fear.
The Hooded Figure
The wards are not merely failing. They have been cut, from inside the palace seals.
He turns his chin toward the ruined fountain basin, and a ring of pale runes glimmers once in the dark water, as if answering his warning.
Queen Araneidan’s gaze hardens. King Nazareth’s hand goes to the hilt at his side. Around them, the kneeling crowd waits, caught between terror and Eden’s next command.
Quest Complete
Learn what the old pact was meant to keep sleeping
New Gift: Ancient Pact Lore
“She drops the old man to the ground and deckares that she will descend below and slay the beast.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Eden lets the old man drop. He hits the stones hard, gasping, while the fountain’s black water stays still behind him.
Princess Eden Siranteos
I go below. I kill the beast in the deep.
Her words land in the square like a decree. The crowd flinches, then falls even quieter, watching her as if the omen has given her a new shape.
The Hooded Figure
Then listen well, Your Highness. The first shrine lies under the oldest paving. The wards open to one of royal blood.
Queen Araneidan
So be it. If the thing wakes, I would rather it wake to you than to frightened fools.
King Nazareth
Take your guards. Seal the square behind you. No one moves until the palace is satisfied.
A murmur passes through the kneeling crowd, but it does not swell. Fear keeps it pressed down, and the people look from Eden to the fountain, waiting for her to become the threat or the shield.
Quest Complete
Command the crowd through the omen
New Gift: Omen Reader