Valkonias’s crushing breath lessens without vanishing. Lucidus can breathe again, though the pressure keeps them on one knee beside the fallen hooked blade, while golden light fills the threshold.
Caelan
Lucidus, I am here. I will not touch you unless you ask, but you are not facing this alone.
Caelan reaches the heir and stops just beyond arm’s length, shield lowered but ready. Behind him, the frost-stiffened woman stands beneath the arches with the black vellum open.
Maereth
The Court kneels, yet the vellum still burns. Valkonias is judging every claim made within this threshold.
The masked Court fighters remain forced against the frost-slick stone, weapons scattered or lowered. None dares rise beneath the ancient dragon’s attention.
Maereth
Do not move, any of you. The dragon’s breath has eased, but its judgment has not.
Beyond the golden arches, Valkonias remains unseen except for its enormous eye, fixed upon Lucidus, Caelan, the kneeling Court, and the open vellum. The next choice belongs to the heir.
✓ Quest Accepted
Discover what the frost-stiffened woman has withheld about Valkonias or the severed claim
“Approach Valkonias keeping my head lowered slightly as I enter its chamber.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Strength, rolled -2)
Lucidus lowers their head slightly and advances beneath the golden arches, keeping their gaze beneath Valkonias’s enormous eye as they enter the inner chamber.
The dragon’s pressure bears down with every step. Lucidus reaches the chamber floor, but the effort drains their breath and leaves their marked palm numb.
Caelan
Steady. You are inside, Lucidus. I am still with you.
The chamber opens around them, vast and warm, its walls carved with sleeping dragons. Behind Lucidus, the golden threshold remains sealed against the kneeling Court.
Maereth
The Court cannot follow. Their claim is severed, and Valkonias has allowed the heir across its threshold.
Valkonias’s eye lowers until its golden reflection fills the stone before Lucidus. A deep note rolls through the chamber, weighing their lowered posture without forcing them to bow.
Valkonias
Heir of blood and burden, you stand within my refuge. Speak only what you freely choose.
“"Valkonias I am Lucidus the child of Mithria and your great grandkid," I speak while not meeting the golden eye.”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Lucidus
Valkonias, I am Lucidus, the child of Mithria and your great-grandchild.
Lucidus keeps their gaze lowered beneath the golden eye, speaking into the warm chamber without offering the dragon the submission of direct eye contact.
Valkonias
Mithria’s child. My great-grandchild. You carry her blood beneath the scars of those who pursued you.
The immense eye remains lowered before Lucidus, but its pressure changes. The chamber’s carved dragons kindle with subdued gold, and the sealed threshold behind them grows still.
Valkonias
You have named yourself freely, without the Court’s summons speaking through you. That truth is recognized within my refuge.
Caelan
It heard you, Lucidus. The Court’s claim is not part of your name here.
The golden reflection withdraws slightly, leaving Lucidus room to breathe while Valkonias’s ancient presence settles around the chamber like a ward.
“"I have an issue the Veiled Court is after your bloodline, including me. I am unlike you or my mother I can not change my form I am stuck like this. For this I have been hunted since I was stolen from my mother as a child," I explain in a somber tone. "I beg of you ancient one I need your assistance for I can not defeat this threat alone." I will fully bow resting my forehead on the floor as I speak.”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled +3)
Lucidus
The Veiled Court hunts your bloodline, including me. Unlike you or my mother, I cannot change my form. I have been hunted since they stole me from her as a child. I beg your assistance, ancient one. I cannot defeat this threat alone.
Lucidus bows fully, resting their forehead against the warm stone. Their horns frame the lowered head as the chamber falls silent around the plea.
Valkonias
Rise, Lucidus, child of Mithria. You ask not for dominion, but for refuge and aid against those who would claim you.
The chamber answers before Lucidus can move. Gold fire spreads through the carved dragons, and a ring of ancient light forms around them, excluding every trace of the Court’s severed claim.
Valkonias
You are not required to change what you are. In my refuge, your form is no chain, and no hand of the Veiled Court may take you from it.
Valkonias
My sanctuary is yours. I will lend you warding, knowledge of their pursuit, and the strength of my sleeping host until this threat is broken.
Caelan
You have refuge now, Lucidus. The Court cannot cross this threshold, and Valkonias has placed its protection behind your freedom.
“I will sit up and look at Valkonias with a tired expression taking in its full form within it's chamber.”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled +1)
Lucidus sits up slowly, lifting their head from the warm stone. Their tired expression remains wary as they raise their gaze and take in Valkonias’s full form.
The ancient dragon fills the inner chamber, vast coils of dark gold and black scale resting around a natural stone dais. Crownlike horns sweep back from a long, solemn head, while folded wings arch against the carved walls.
Pale fire glows between Valkonias’s scales, illuminating old scars across its immense chest and the powerful limbs braced beneath it. Its tail disappears among the sleeping dragon reliefs.
Valkonias
You look upon me without chains, Lucidus. Let your weariness speak plainly, if it must.
The dragon lowers its head, bringing one enormous golden eye level with Lucidus. Its presence remains immense, but the surrounding warmth settles into a steady shelter.
Caelan
The chamber is large enough to hold the whole of it. Valkonias has shown you the refuge you asked for.
Valkonias
See me fully, heir of Mithria. Nothing in this sanctuary is hidden from you, and no claimant of the Court will cross its ward.
“I get up and approach Valkonias holding out a hand to touch it's scaled head. I say as I reach out "I may be safe but our family is not. My mother, your granddaughter, is still out there. I did not ask for your help for me alone. I know an anciet dragon like you most likely have a few branching lines in the lineage they too are in danger of the court."”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled -2)
Lucidus rises from the warm stone and approaches Valkonias across the dais, extending one hand toward the ancient dragon’s scaled head.
Lucidus
I may be safe, but our family is not. My mother, your granddaughter, is still out there. I did not ask for your help for me alone. Other branches of your bloodline are in danger too.
Lucidus’s hand rests against Valkonias’s dark gold scales. Ancient warmth answers the touch, carrying the plea through the dragon’s bloodline rather than through the severed Court claim.
Valkonias
Then my refuge shall not end at these walls. Mithria and every descendant still hunted beneath my blood will receive warning, concealment, and a path toward sanctuary.
Gold fire races through the carved dragons and outward beyond the chamber. Far-off bloodlines kindle in the ward, each marked by a shield of pale flame.
Valkonias
The cost is mine to bear. I spend the strength of my sleeping host, and the Court will feel that ancient power awaken.
The chamber’s fire dims around Valkonias’s immense coils, but the protective radiance settles firmly over Lucidus’s scattered kin. Their family is warned and sheltered, though the sanctuary now burns brighter to distant hunters.
✓ Quest Accepted
Stop the Veiled Court
“"If I may request could I see what you look like in a humanoid form? It must be uncomfortable to be in a massive body yet a smaller room." I request keeping eye contact with it.”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled +3)
Lucidus
If I may request, could I see what you look like in a humanoid form? It must be uncomfortable to inhabit such a massive body in this chamber.
Lucidus keeps their eyes fixed on Valkonias’s golden gaze, hand still resting against the ancient dragon’s scales. They neither bow nor retreat from the request.
Valkonias
You may. Few have asked to see me without demanding what my smaller shape could do for them.
Valkonias’s immense form gathers inward without pain or spectacle. Dark gold scales fold into a tall, broad-shouldered elder with black-gold hair, swept-back horns, and luminous eyes.
Valkonias
This shape remembers Mithria’s line. It is no disguise, only a body better suited to speaking beside you than over you.
The chamber seems to widen as Valkonias stands humanoid before Lucidus, still crowned by ancient presence. The carved dragons reveal a hidden arch behind the dais, marked for kin alone.
Valkonias
That arch leads to the sanctuary’s family hall. Through it, I can receive your mother and the others when my warning reaches them.
“I look towards the arch as I ask "How soon do you think they'll be here?"”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Lucidus
How soon do you think they’ll be here?
Lucidus turns toward the hidden arch, keeping one hand against Valkonias’s scaled arm. Gold fire gathers along the family mark, illuminating the passage beyond.
Valkonias
Your mother will receive the warning before the next turning of the moon. If she follows its light, she can reach this sanctuary within seven days.
The arch opens fully, revealing a descending hall lined with pale gold flame. Each flame bears a different blood-sign, and several already burn with renewed strength.
Valkonias
The others will follow more slowly. Some are hidden, some watched, and some no longer know which roads remain safe. My ward will guide them without exposing their names.
Caelan
Then the sanctuary has given them a road, not merely a promise. We can help prepare the family hall before the first arrival.
Valkonias
They will come, Lucidus. Until then, this arch is open to you, and no claim of the Veiled Court will close it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Prepare the family hall for the hunted bloodline
“I will let go of Valkonias and turn to Caelan realizing the woman had seemingly vanished or gone somewhere else "Then we should get ready. We have only hours until they arrive."”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Lucidus releases Valkonias’s scaled arm and turns toward Caelan. The hidden arch still burns with pale gold fire, but the frost-stiffened woman is no longer beneath the chamber’s carved arches.
Lucidus
Then we should get ready. We have only hours until they arrive.
Caelan glances toward the empty place where the woman stood, then checks the descending family hall beyond the arch. No footstep or disturbance marks her departure.
Caelan
She has gone ahead, I think. Perhaps to inspect the family hall, or to make certain the approach remains concealed.
Valkonias
She entered the hall while you spoke with me. The sanctuary permitted her passage, though she carried knowledge she has not yet offered.
Gold flames brighten along the descending hall, revealing alcoves, resting chambers, and broad shelves cut into the living stone. The sanctuary begins arranging itself for arrivals.
Caelan
Then we should prepare shelter, food, and a guarded route from the arch. I will search the hall, and we can find her as we work.
“I see out of the corner of my eye Valkonias shifting back as I attempt to help Caelan track down things to eat. Valkonias is most likely going to be guarding the route.”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled +1)
Lucidus catches Valkonias shifting at the edge of their vision, dark gold scales gathering inward as the ancient dragon returns to its humanoid form. They turn toward Caelan and begin searching the family hall for food.
Valkonias
I will guard the arch and the route beyond it. Nothing will cross into this hall unseen.
Valkonias takes position beside the hidden arch, broad shoulders filling the passage without blocking it. Pale flames bend toward the dragon as the sanctuary recognizes its watch.
Caelan
The shelves may hold preserved stores. I will check the lower alcoves while you search the nearer chambers.
Together, Lucidus and Caelan find sealed stone jars in a broad alcove: dried fruit, grain cakes, salted roots, and clear water gathered from a silver-veined spring.
Caelan
Enough for our first meal, and enough to set aside for the woman when she returns. The sanctuary has provided for us.
Caelan carries the jars toward a low resting chamber while Lucidus gathers the remaining food. Behind them, Valkonias holds the route, and the family hall settles into guarded quiet.
+ New Item Acquired
Food Stores
“I pause and ask "Did you ever catch her name, Caelan?"”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled -1)
Lucidus
Did you ever catch her name, Caelan?
Caelan pauses beside the resting chamber, one hand still braced beneath a sealed jar. He glances toward the guarded arch, where Valkonias watches the hall in silence.
Caelan
Once, before the sanctuary separated us. She called herself Maereth. I did not know whether it was her true name.
The name settles among the gold-lit shelves. Beyond the arch, pale flames bend toward the descending hall, and distant footsteps answer from below.
Maereth
It is true enough. Maereth is the name I kept when the Court took everything else.
Maereth steps into the family hall carrying folded blankets and a black-veined stone bowl. Valkonias remains at the arch, allowing her passage without question.
Maereth
You may use it, Lucidus. I have no reason to hide that much from the heir of Valkonias.
“I will attempt to cook something with the food, with survival, that we had gathered. I mutter under my breath "Hopefully I remeber how to do this right."”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Survival, rolled +1)
Lucidus
Hopefully I remember how to do this right.
Lucidus arranges salted roots, grain cakes, dried fruit, and spring water in the black-veined bowl, then sets it over a small warded flame. Their claws work carefully through the unfamiliar proportions.
The mixture thickens into a hearty root stew. Its first sharp steam stings Lucidus’s fingers when the bowl shifts, and a little water spills across the stone.
Maereth
That is edible, at least. The roots survived your judgment, though the bowl nearly did not.
Lucidus steadies the bowl and adds the dried fruit sparingly. The sweetness softens the salt, while the grain cakes break apart and give the stew enough substance for several portions.
Caelan
A successful meal, and one prepared before the first arrivals. I will fetch cups and carry it to the resting chamber.
The cooking consumes one sealed water flask and leaves a reddened patch across Lucidus’s fingers, but the warm stew is ready. Its scent spreads through the family hall beneath Valkonias’s watch.
Quest Complete
Prepare the family hall for the hunted bloodline
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Great→Superb