Tancred returns to Trosylvia with Albrecht beside him and Captain Valerius following, pale and weakened. At the gatehouse, a survivor clears fallen stone and salvages iron, making the first refuge-work visible.
Beyond the chapel, the Smith waits beside a cold forge. The newly reforged ancestral blade hangs above it, suspended in silence, until Tancred crosses the threshold and the coals kindle.
The Smith
There is your weapon, my lord. Not Batory’s chain, not your ancestors’ sentence. What purpose will you give it?
Tancred reaches toward the blade. Its edge reflects no living face. Instead, pale figures pass within the steel, the chapel’s released dead moving in solemn procession beneath the glassy surface.
Captain Valerius
A lord’s weapon should defend more than a title. Let the record show what you choose, before the forge accepts your hand.
Ser Albrecht Vey
The village is already answering you. Give them walls, law, and a blade that cannot be turned into another leash.
The forge exhales a breath of winter. Amber letters appear along the blade’s fuller, forming an unfinished question, while the waiting weapon lowers itself toward Tancred’s open hand.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the first foundation of Trosylvia’s bastion
“I take the reforged blade and repeat the vow I made beneath the chapel on the bronze plate.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Tancred takes the reforged blade from its suspension. The steel settles into his grasp without resistance, and the pale figures within it turn toward him like silent witnesses.
Tancred du Forgietan
I reaffirm my pledge to protect the living of Trosylvia from all forms of harm, natural or supernatural.
Tancred du Forgietan
I swear to be the bastion that keeps safe the souls of the departed, and to shepherd them to their proper, eternal rest with the gods.
Tancred du Forgietan
None shall feel fear, hunger, or want, so long as I remain standing as Lord.
Amber letters ignite along the fuller. The unfinished question vanishes, replaced by the open-hand sigil, while the forge burns with a steady, solemn heat.
The Smith
It accepts the vow, my lord. Freely given, freely borne. No chain remains in that edge unless you place one there.
Captain Valerius
Then let the record stand. Trosylvia has its lord, and the dead have a guardian who answers to them, not above them.
+ New Item Acquired
reforged ancestral blade
“I ask the Smith to explain the tether’s remaining truths”
SUCCESS (Legendary Occult Lore, rolled +1)
Tancred du Forgietan
Smith, explain the tether’s remaining truths. What still binds me, and what danger remains within this blade?
The Smith lifts the reforged blade toward the forge light. No dark thread answers from the steel, but a faint blue mark remains across Tancred’s palm.
The Smith
The old tether is broken. Batory cannot command this edge, and the dead souls once trapped within it have passed beyond your bloodline’s reach.
The Smith
What remains is a scar and a witness. The mark remembers every oath that touched you, and it will darken when someone attempts to rebuild the chain.
Within the blade, the pale figures turn away from the forge and fade into the steel. A single reflection remains, showing the chapel’s open hand rather than the old thorns.
The Smith
The danger is not possession now, my lord. It is imitation. Those who profited from the binding may seek your seal, your records, or your kin to forge another tether.
The Smith
Keep the oath public, keep the dead named, and let no secret hand define your duty. Then the mark will warn you, not rule you.
✓ Quest Accepted
Prevent anyone from forging another tether
“Can the mark warn me before another tether is forged?”
YES, BUT (VeryLikely, rolled 70)
The blue mark on Tancred’s palm tightens beneath the forge light. A second line appears beside it, thin as a hair and pointing toward the village gate.
The Smith
Yes. Before a tether is forged, the mark will sting, darken, and show you the hand shaping it. But the warning spends its strength.
The mark flares once. A sharp pain crosses Tancred’s palm, and one of the forge’s amber coals collapses into grey ash with a brittle crack.
Captain Valerius
A warning paid in pain and noise. Anyone watching the forge will know something has answered you.
Ser Albrecht Vey
Then we should assume the imitators heard it. The mark gives warning, cousin, but it also announces that you are still their enemy.
The blue line fades, leaving only the old scar. Beyond the forge, a shutter closes in the village, though no wind reaches the hill.
The Smith
It will warn you before the next chain closes. It cannot tell you every hand involved, nor prevent the first cut. Keep your witnesses close.
“"We should begin securing our borders of our land then, Cousin. Let us see what must be prioritized."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Investigation, rolled +0)
Tancred du Forgietan
We should begin securing our borders of our land then, Cousin. Let us see what must be prioritized.
Ser Albrecht Vey
The northern road first. Its bridge controls grain, travelers, and warning. The eastern woods need watchposts, while the southern marsh requires marked paths and warded stakes.
Albrecht spreads a rough map across the forge-stone. Faded boundary marks surround Trosylvia, and three points darken beneath the light: the bridge, the woods, and the marsh.
Captain Valerius
Put people before walls. Establish a watch at the bridge, restore the gatehouse bell, and send riders between the farms before any permanent fortification.
The Smith
For the marsh, I can make iron boundary stakes. They will not command the dead, but they will reveal when something crosses where it should not.
Ser Albrecht Vey
The old accounts name abandoned guardhouses along the western ridge. Reopening them would secure the high paths and expose anyone approaching from the hills.
Together they mark the priorities: bridge watch and bell first, farm patrols second, then warded stakes and restored ridge posts. By dusk, Trosylvia has a practical border plan.
“"Captain, let us establish the necessities for the people first. Cousin Albrecht, let us see to these abandoned guardhouses and if need be, dispose of any corruption within."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled -3)
Tancred du Forgietan
Captain, let us establish the necessities for our people first. Cousin Albrecht, let us inspect the abandoned guardhouses and cleanse any corruption within.
Captain Valerius
Then grain, clean water, medicines, and the bell come before stone. I will assign patrols to the farms and record every household still lacking shelter.
Ser Albrecht Vey
I know the western ridge. The nearest guardhouse stands above the old quarry. We can reach it before nightfall and secure the high path.
The plan becomes work. Villagers receive grain from the manor stores, the gatehouse bell is repaired, and a guarded list of urgent needs passes from hand to hand.
Tancred and Albrecht climb toward the western ridge. The abandoned guardhouse emerges from thorn and fog, its door hanging open beneath a weathered du Morvannoux mark.
Ser Albrecht Vey
The corruption is here. Not living within the stones, but written into the old watch roster. These names were offered to something beneath the quarry.
They remove the rotted roster and burn it in the guardhouse hearth. The mark on Tancred’s palm stings sharply, and the fire consumes one of his remaining iron seal-rubbings, a concrete loss.
Quest Complete
Secure the first foundation of Trosylvia’s bastion
Skill Upgrade: Athletics Great→Superb