Kaelus leads Imogen into the chapel’s abandoned vestry, leaving Elias below with the glowing testimony. Elian’s shade follows as far as the chapel grounds, silent and watchful.
Dust lies thick over burial linens and unused candles. A cracked basin holds rainwater blackened by soot, while the chapel bell gives a faint, uneven tremor.
Kaelus
The child’s name was erased before anyone could witness it. We know what was offered, but not who they were.
Kaelus lifts a folded burial cloth from a shelf. Beneath it, candle stubs surround a shallow wooden box marked with the same crossed-out threshold.
Kaelus
Is exposing the truth enough? Or do the dead require one final human act of remembrance before this vow can truly end?
Beyond the vestry door, Elian’s blurred face remains turned toward them. He cannot cross the chapel boundary, but the air tightens as though he is listening.
Kaelus
If no name survives, perhaps remembrance must begin with admitting that someone was here.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish a shared remembrance for the sacrificed child
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn the sacrificed child’s name
“I examine the wooden box for traces of the child's name.”
SUCCESS (Great Investigation, rolled -2)
Imogen kneels beside the wooden box and turns it beneath the weak vestry light. Its grain bears old wax smears, root impressions, and a shallow line of letters scraped away.
Imogen
The erased name was carved after the box was made.
Her fingers find a recessed mark beneath the lid: three surviving letters, NAL, followed by the ghost of a fourth. Fine ash fills the cuts, preserving their shape.
A candle stub tips as Imogen shifts the cloth. It strikes the basin with a sharp clack, and black rainwater spills across the floorboards.
Kaelus
Someone tried to erase the name twice. First from the wood, then from memory.
Elian’s blurred face tightens beyond the door. The chapel air draws cold through the vestry, but the letters remain visible beneath the wet ash.
Kaelus
NAL... The register may have swallowed the rest, but this is proof the child had a name. We can carry that much back to the testimony.
“I invite Kaelus to remember the child with me”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +0)
Imogen
Remember the child with me. Not the bargain, not Veyrath. The child who was here.
Kaelus lowers himself beside the box. Together, they face the scraped letters while rainwater creeps between the floorboards and the chapel listens.
Kaelus
NAL. I will remember that much, and everything around it: the wax, the roots, the hands that carried them here.
Imogen and Kaelus speak the surviving letters together. The ash loosens from the carved groove, revealing a faint final curve beneath it.
Kaelus
Nalia. That is what remains. Nalia was here before the vow, before the grave, before anyone made her into an offering.
Beyond the door, Elian’s shade bows its blurred head. The wooden box warms beneath their hands, and the erased name briefly shines through the old wax.
Kaelus
Nalia, witnessed. You were a child, not a promise. We will carry your name back to the testimony.
Quest Complete
Learn the sacrificed child’s name
Skill Upgrade: Investigation Great→Superb
Quest Complete
Establish a shared remembrance for the sacrificed child
Skill Upgrade: Investigation Superb→Legendary