The red-veined stair opens behind the bone-pit, and Nebula Startouched steps through its crimson glow. Her star-bright eyes fix on the gold-eyed man stalking the wary crimson dragon.
Nebula Startouched
Steve, I need your aid. The hunter's pursuit is being bent by the buried power, and every step he takes feeds its design.
She raises one hand toward the fractured pit, but does not cast. Behind her, the red-veined passage contracts into darkness, leaving the stone threshold open at her back.
The Gold-Eyed Man
You found another door, astral child. Did the grave send you back to defend the beast, or to deliver the armored witness to me?
The gold-eyed man turns from the dragon toward the newly opened route. Purple fire gathers faintly along his weapon as the bones shift beneath the crimson dragon's claws.
The Crimson Dragon
The buried power has learned his anger and wears it like a bridle. If he reaches the chamber, hunter and grave may become one danger.
Nebula Startouched
Steve, stand with us. Do not let him cross the bones until we break the buried power's hold.
✓ Quest Accepted
Prevent the hunter from reaching the buried chamber
✓ Quest Accepted
Break the buried power's hold over the gold-eyed hunter
“I plant myself between the hunter and the dragon, sword raised.”
SUCCESS (Fair Brawl, rolled +0)
You plant your armored body between the gold-eyed man and the crimson dragon, raising the sword of sharpness across his path. The bones grind beneath your boots as you seize the ground.
The gold-eyed man’s purple fire snaps along his weapon and strikes your raised blade. The impact jars your shoulder hard, scraping armor at the collar, but your stance holds and the dragon remains behind you.
The Gold-Eyed Man
You choose the beast’s side, armored witness. Then I will make your steel answer for its shelter.
Nebula Startouched
Good. Hold him there, Steve. I can bind the buried current while his path is denied.
The Crimson Dragon
The hunter’s anger gathers in the bones. Let him strike, but do not yield the center.
Behind you, the crimson dragon lowers his horned head, protected by your intercepting stance. Across the fractured bones, the gold-eyed man stops short, his weapon blazing while Nebula’s gathered starlight begins to coil around the pit.
Quest Complete
Prevent the hunter from reaching the buried chamber