The freed woman leads Udt through thinning mist to a half-sunken stone shrine beside the crossroads. Behind them, the deserter soldier is dragged over the mud, barely conscious.
She pulls him beneath the shrine’s broken lintel, leaving his dented armor at the entrance. His breath rattles, and the dark veins have climbed toward his jaw.
the bound figure
Put him here, under the stones. The watchfires cannot see this hollow, and the rain may keep him breathing a little longer.
Inside, cracked carvings cover the altar: a crowned shape split down the middle, repeated beneath old prayers. The same split-crown mark darkens Udt’s iron signet.
the bound figure
That sign is older than the Crown. Look beneath the altar face. There should be an iron lock hidden in the carving.
A shallow seam appears beneath the split crown, framing a small iron lock. The brass key rests among Udt’s recovered valuables, while the deserter coughs weakly outside.
the bound figure
The key may open what lies below this shrine. But if there is medicine beneath it, we must find it before his poison wins.
Discover what the split-crown signet unlocks