Behind a shuttered spice stall, dust and cinnamon cling to the air. The slave princess tends nothing but her composure, while the beast watches the emptying market lanes with patient, yellow-eyed menace.
The surrendered guard crouches nearby, bruised beneath his dented helm, one hand gripping his shield as though its rim were a lifeline. He keeps glancing toward the beast.
The Slave Princess
The man who sits that hall's throne is only the painted face of its power. The true hand rarely appears beneath the sun.
Northern Hall Guard 1
You know nothing. The ruler hears every whisper in that hall, even from behind locked doors.
The slave princess studies the guard rather than correcting him. Beyond the shutters, distant sandals scuff away, and the beast turns his head toward a lane where no one dares emerge.
The Slave Princess
He has served long enough to know entrances, passages, and perhaps the names of those who command from below. What will you do with a living witness who knows too much?
Northern Hall Guard 1
I know where the inner stair begins. I know which doors are barred. But if I speak, the hall will kill me before you reach its ruler.
His voice cracks on the last word. The slave princess waits in silence, composed and watchful, leaving the decision in the narrow space between Ravellorn, the frightened guard, and the beast.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the guard's confession
“If you tell us what we need to know, there's a chance you walk out of here instead of ending up in the belly of that beast.”
SUCCESS (Good Intimidation, rolled -1)
Ravellorn
Tell us what we need to know, and you may walk out of here instead of ending up in that beast's belly.
Ravellorn's quiet threat leaves no room for bluster. The guard's gaze shifts from the scarred soldier to the beast's patient jaws, and his shield slips lower.
Northern Hall Guard 1
The inner stair begins behind the throne's red hanging. The first door below is false. Take the third, marked with a black hand.
He swallows and leans closer, speaking as though the shutters themselves might carry his words into the hall. Fear has bought the truth, but not his loyalty.
Northern Hall Guard 1
Below it waits a chamber without windows. The ruler goes there only after midnight, and another voice answers him from behind the wall.
The Slave Princess
You have won a passage into the hall, soldier, but you have spent whatever trust your mercy might have earned.
The guard rises slowly, still clutching his shield. He will lead no one and praise no one, but the hidden entrance and its black-marked door now belong to Ravellorn's knowledge.
Quest Complete
Secure the guard's confession