“I accompany Harlen upwards through the corridors of the Monastery to make our escape to the surface.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +1)
The stone floor beneath Timothy gives way into a churning abyss of black water and sludge. Harlen pulls him upward, his grip iron-tight as the monastery bowels groan under the shifting weight of the ceiling.
Timothy
The water hungers for me, yet I am pulled toward the light above. Is this mercy, or am I merely being saved for a harsher reckoning?
Harlen
Keep your feet moving, boy. If we stop, the muck will claim us both before we reach the stairwell.
Timothy navigates the crumbling corridor with supernatural grace, dancing over jagged slate and slick, rotting timber. He vaults over a collapsing section of the floor, his movements liquid and precise even as dust blinds them. Behind them, the Lower Damp Chamber collapses into a heap of ruin, the roar of the flood muffled by the heavy oak door slamming shut just as they reach the relative safety of the upper passage.
Harlen
He moves like a specter despite the chains. I should have expected as much from one so favored by the Abbot.
+ Scene Quest Added
Deflect Harlen's suspicions and exit the Upper Passage
“I find a safe corner of the upper passage, and pause with Harlen to use my theology, oratory and diplomacy to explain to him that I have been chosen by the God Mithras to endure suffering on Earth, and that all of my talents and abilities have been granted to me fulfil that purpose. I reassure Harlen that I am required to act in his interests, including prioritising his safety over mine, and that everything is ordained by the God Mithras.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Oratory, rolled -1)
Timothy
Harlen, you must understand. The scars I carry are not merely from the lash. They are the liturgy of Mithras etched into my skin. Every blow I have endured, and every grace I now manifest, serves a singular, ordained purpose. I am his vessel of suffering, crafted to ensure your survival through this ruin. Your path is the path he has set for me.
Harlen
He speaks with the certainty of a saint, yet he is just a boy who has seen too much blood. Still, his words... they calm the shaking in my own hands. Perhaps he truly is touched by the divine.
Harlen
Enough of your riddles, lad. If your God wills us out, then move. But stay close. I will not have my guide vanishing into the shadows before we reach the outer wall.
Harlen exhales, his iron grip on Timothy’s arm loosening into a protective escort. The cavernous ceiling continues to groan, shedding grit and dust, but the guard’s eyes no longer flicker toward the exits. He looks to Timothy as if expecting a miracle to part the stone.
Quest Complete
Deflect Harlen's suspicions and exit the Upper Passage
+ Scene Quest Added
Reach the outer wall with Harlen