Amrako arrives on a narrow stone street beneath shuttered windows. A young adult woman stands within a ring of ash, her blue mage-robes belted tight, silver hair braided over one shoulder, and a violet sigil painted beneath one eye.
Guttering blue flames cling to the circle without consuming the ash. Around her, names of the dead are carved into the paving stones, some worn smooth by countless feet.
the young mage
Do not cross the circle.
The warning comes sharply, but her attention remains fixed on the spell. Pale motes spiral above her hands, gathering into a shape that refuses to become visible.
the young mage
The gate has heard me. Why is it answering now?
A crack races through the ash and splits three engraved names. The blue flames bow inward as a deep, unseen presence shifts beneath the street.
the young mage
You there. Stay where you are, and tell me whether you came alone.
✓ Quest Accepted
Stop the summoning beneath the street
Director's note
As to stop her
“Haveing no idea if she is evil, i throw my stick at her”
SUCCESS (Fair Agility, rolled +0)
Amrako hurls his stick across the ash ring. It strikes the young mage's raised forearm, knocking her hands apart and scattering the pale motes.
The circle answers with a sharp blue flare. Heat bites through Amrako's sleeve, leaving a small burn along his wrist as the stick clatters over the carved stones.
the young mage
Fool! You have broken the binding pattern.
The unseen presence beneath the street withdraws with a grinding murmur. The split ash settles, and the blue flames shrink to trembling tongues.
the young mage
You could have opened the gate fully. Are you hurt?
She lowers one hand but keeps the other between Amrako and the circle. Her violet-marked eye studies him with anger sharpened by wary calculation.
the young mage
Stay outside the ash. If you mean to stop me, at least learn what you are stopping.
“Are you trying to summon something beneath the street, and are you evil?”
YES (Unlikely, rolled 16)
The trembling flames suddenly stretch downward, pointing through the cracked stones. Beneath them, something vast drags itself against the underside of the street.
the young mage
Yes. I am calling it up. The gate is not a door to somewhere, but a seal around what waits below.
The pale motes gather again despite her scattered stance, threading between her fingers like cold sparks. The carved names begin to whisper in overlapping voices.
the young mage
And yes, if evil means choosing power over every life that stands in its way, then call me evil.
Her anger loses its uncertainty. She steps toward the broken pattern, placing herself between Amrako and the circle as the stones shudder beneath her boots.
the young mage
I will open it before dawn. The thing below will answer me, and this city will finally kneel.
A hairline fracture races from the circle toward Amrako's feet, stopping just short of his shadow. From below comes a slow, patient knock.
“Me at then trying to get my stick as to ones again stop the woman”
FAILURE (Fair Agility, rolled -2)
Amrako moves along the circle’s edge toward his stick. The ash flares beneath his reaching hand, and the carved stones tremble under his boots.
His fingers close around the stick, but the crack beneath it widens. The weapon slips from his grasp and drops into a narrow gap between the stones.
the young mage
Do not reach after it. The gate is taking anything that crosses its broken pattern.
The gap does not swallow the stick. Instead, blue light outlines a lower passage beneath the street, revealing old steps descending into darkness beside the circle.
the young mage
There. The binding chamber lies below. If you truly mean to stop me, that is where the pattern can be restored.
The stick remains wedged across the first hidden step, within reach only from the passage below. Above it, the mage turns back toward the shuddering seal.