The sorcerer gathers the last black stitch in the floor into their palms, and the ward at the stairwell mouth brightens like wet glass.
Arlyias drives forward, forcing the ward to buckle. Stone flakes from the arch as the pressure cracks the spell's edge.
The Sorcerer
Enough. One more breath and I tear the circle loose.
The bounty hunter strains against the ritual bonds, static biting the air around him. He keeps his eyes on Arlyias, waiting for the opening.
Kaelith
Break that ward, Arlyias. I can hold the circle if you do.
The black stitch in the floor thins to near nothing under Arlyias's pressure. The sorcerer's pattern falters, and the chamber answers with a low, hungry groan.
✓ Quest Accepted
Shatter the sorcerer's ward
“I channel my remaining strength into a final strike causing his wand to explode from the inside outward”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Arlyias draws on the last of his strength and hammers it into the sorcerer's ward. The spell buckles inward, then bursts from within, scattering black shards across the stairwell mouth.
The sorcerer's wand cracks in their hand and pops like dry bone, smoke and splinters bursting over the landing. Their ward dies with a sharp hiss, and the tower's red glow spills unopposed into the stairs.
The Sorcerer
No... my focus.
The bounty hunter exhales through clenched teeth, still locked to the circle, but the pressure around him eases at last. He stays planted at the sigil, blood slick on the stone, refusing to give the ritual an inch.
Kaelith
You broke it. Keep him down.
A sting of backlash lances through Arlyias's arm, and stone dust showers from the broken arch above. The chamber falls into a tense, ragged silence, with only the ritual's pulse and the sorcerer's ruined wand left to prove the fight is not over.
Quest Complete
Shatter the sorcerer's ward