Kaelith
Arlyias, the seal, now! If it wakes fully, we die with it!
Kaelith lunges for the glowing crack, one hand outstretched through the red haze.
The seal blows apart in violet smoke. A towering shadow of obsidian shards rises where the floor should be, faceless and hungry for the stone itself.
The Sorcerer
No, no, no!
The Sorcerer stumbles back as the construct whips across the chamber wall, carving splinters of stone and dust from the tower.
Kaelith is hurled sideways by the shockwave, slamming hard near Arlyias as the thing turns its empty head toward the chamber, not the people in it.
Arlyias
It is attacking the tower, not either of us.
The barrier shivers around Arlyias, sparks trailing from his boots as the violet giant keeps tearing at the walls.
✓ Quest Accepted
Survive the shadow construct's attack
“I turn the construct toward the tower wall”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Arlyias plants both feet and drives his will into the writhing thing. The construct jerks, loses its hunt for flesh, and twists toward the nearest wall instead.
Obsidian shards slam into the tower stone. The impact cracks a broad seam through the wall, and dust bursts out in a choking sheet.
The Sorcerer
No, wait, not that side!
Kaelith scrambles backward through the grit, staring at the redirected monster as the chamber shudders around him.
Arlyias
It takes the wall instead of us.
The construct keeps ramming stone, each blow loosening more mortar and widening the fracture. Violet smoke pours through the new break like breath from a wound.
The Sorcerer
Arlyias, if that wall goes, the tower follows!
For a heartbeat, Arlyias and the Sorcerer are both staring at the same threat, forced into the same ugly fight for survival.
“I call a truce with the sorcerer”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Arlyias lowers his hand from the force of will, not in surrender, but in warning. The construct keeps battering stone somewhere above them, and the chamber answers with a long, nervous groan.
Arlyias
Stop fighting me. We help each other hold the tower up.
The Sorcerer stares at him through dust and violet smoke, then drags a sharp breath and nods once. Fear still tightens their face, but the reckless edge is gone.
The Sorcerer
Fine. I do not want to die under this ceiling. Keep it off the supports, and I will keep the ward lines from giving way.
Kaelith
Then tell me what to move, because I am not staying under that crack.
Kaelith scrambles in closer, coughing, one hand braced against the shattered seal. The three of them are suddenly bound by the same ugly truth, the monster does not care who survives, only what falls.
The Sorcerer
Arlyias, if you can push it toward the outer wall again, do it. I will take the pressure off the stair.
For a brief heartbeat, the chamber holds. Dust rains down in a trembling veil, the construct hammers on, and the truce settles between them like a blade laid flat on a table.