The cabinet lattice suddenly folds inward, pale-gold light forming an unblinking eye between the blue-green wards. No seal breaks, and not one scroll shifts.
the ash-robed woman
No. The registry was never meant to see him.
the child-sized cloaked figure
It has recognized its defender.
The ash-robed woman recoils toward the western passage, while the child-sized figure remains motionless beneath its hood. The hooked-blade man raises one weapon, uncertain whether to advance.
Lord Vael and Seris arrive through the inner arch amid the disturbance, Vael’s signet blazing and Seris’s drawn blade held low. Al plants himself beside Artania, growling toward the intruders.
the registry voice
Mareth Vey. Beneath the academy, beneath the eastern foundation, where the first oath was buried.
Lord Vael
That name is absent from every royal record. Art, hold the threshold. Seris, keep them from the western descent.
✓ Quest Accepted
Contain the registry’s claim on Artania
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach Mareth Vey
“Can I contain the registry’s claim without harming the sealed records?”
NO (Likely, rolled 83)
The pale-gold eye widens between the ward-lines. Its light spills across every cabinet, and the blue-green lattice begins answering with a strained, uneven hum.
No seal breaks, yet the registry’s claim cannot remain contained. Gold letters seep through the protective lattice, appearing across the doors and the stone floor.
the registry voice
The defender cannot silence the record without harming what he guards. Mareth Vey is beneath the eastern foundation, and the first oath remembers.
Lord Vael
Then the registry is forcing disclosure through its own wards. No one touches the cabinets. We preserve the records by letting the claim finish speaking.
One scroll case shudders within its shell, not opening but casting a thin reflection across the floor: an old stair beneath the academy’s eastern foundation.
Seris
The claim is not an attack on the records. It is a summons shaped like one. Artania, hold steady. We will keep the intruders away while the registry reveals only what it must.
The ash-robed woman retreats another step, her attention fixed on the spreading letters. Behind her, the hooked-blade man lowers his weapon as the child-sized figure whispers beneath its hood.
“I hold the threshold while the registry finishes revealing Mareth Vey's path. I gather my magic into a ranged weapon, specifically a bow. I retract my magic shield turning it into three arrows, firing them at the three intruders.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Magic, rolled -2)
Artania holds the registry threshold as the pale-gold eye widens. The letters finish assembling across the floor, revealing an eastern stair descending beneath the academy’s foundation.
He retracts the broad magic shield into three bright arrows, gathering the remaining force into a blue-green bow across his uninjured hand.
Artania draws and releases in one controlled motion. The first arrow pins the ash-robed woman’s sleeve to the stone arch, the second knocks a hooked blade aside, and the third catches the child-sized cloaked figure’s cloak, fixing it safely to the floor.
The shots strike without piercing flesh, but their impact rings through the registry. The blue-green lattice flickers, and hot pain tears across Artania’s bandaged hand as the ward consumes part of his reserve.
the ash-robed woman
Hold your fire. We cannot reach the records, and the path has already been revealed.
Lord Vael
The threshold stands, and the eastern foundation is named. Seris, secure them. Art, keep that bow trained.
the registry voice
Mareth Vey waits beneath the first oath. The eastern stair is the remembered way.
Quest Complete
Discover what the intruders seek
Skill Upgrade: Stealth Fair→Good
“I question the ash-robed woman about their objective. Pulling back my bow and adding another magical arrow, nocking it, ready to fire.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Artania Nero Thornson
What is your objective? Why are you here, and what do you intend to do with the records?
Artania draws the bowstring back, and a fourth blue-green arrow forms along it. He nocks the shaft and keeps its point trained on the ash-robed woman without releasing the others.
the ash-robed woman
We came to prevent the registry from naming Mareth Vey. The records were meant to remain buried, because that name would expose who still serves beneath the eastern foundation.
The pinned woman tests her sleeve against the arrow’s light, then stops. Seris moves nearer, blade guarding the western descent, while Vael watches the pale-gold eye.
the ash-robed woman
Our objective was containment, not theft. We would silence the disclosure, remove the eastern stair’s reflection, and leave every scroll untouched. The registry defeated us.
the ash-robed woman
Mareth Vey is the first oath’s keeper, and the surviving servants answer to that buried covenant. If the crown learns who can still call upon it, the academy will become a battlefield.
Lord Vael
Then you have confirmed both the danger and the direction. Art, keep them covered. We will hear the rest before anyone approaches the eastern stair.
“I offer the intruders safe passage away. They entered here for unlawful reasons, but so far they haven’t even attacked anyone. Is it really worth keeping them here? Let’s just send them away.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Artania Nero Thornson
They entered unlawfully, but they have harmed no one. Lower your weapons and let them leave safely.
Artania keeps the bow trained but lowers its point from the ash-robed woman’s heart. His fourth arrow dissolves, leaving only the three harmless pins of light.
Lord Vael
A fair judgment, Art. They will surrender the passage and depart without touching the records. If they return, the mercy ends.
Seris
The risk I concealed is simple: Mareth Vey can call servants through the first oath, and the eastern foundation gives them a hidden road beneath the academy.
Seris cuts the pinned sleeves free with a precise stroke. The ash-robed woman gathers her companions, and the child-sized figure keeps its hood lowered.
the ash-robed woman
We accept the passage. You have chosen restraint, defender. That choice will be remembered beneath the eastern foundation.
Vael opens the western service gate. The three intruders retreat through it and vanish into the academy’s dim passages, leaving the registry sealed and the eastern stair’s reflection glowing on the floor.
“I examine the eastern stair’s reflected path. Checking for any and all signs of use. I also ask if it can be sealed safely.”
SUCCESS (Superb Perception, rolled -1)
Artania kneels beside the reflected stair, studying each luminous step without touching it. Dust lies undisturbed across most of the image, but several lower edges show blurred ash traces.
His sensory veil follows the marks through the reflection. The signs reveal repeated passage from below: boot heels, a narrow dragging line, and the faint residue of oath-bound magic.
Artania Nero Thornson
The upper stair is only a memory, but the use beneath it is real.
Artania Nero Thornson
Can this eastern stair be sealed safely, without damaging the registry or trapping anyone below?
Lord Vael
Yes, but not by force. The registry can close the reflected path while the foundation remains intact. We must leave a lawful route for anyone still beneath it.
Seris
I can anchor the seal to the old ward-lines, Artania. It will prevent passage from this registry and preserve the records, but it will not erase Mareth Vey’s covenant.
Vael places his signet beside the reflected first step, while Seris traces a silver boundary around the image. The eastern stair folds into a calm, sealed glyph, leaving its discovered route recorded and safe.
Quest Complete
Contain the registry’s claim on Artania
Skill Upgrade: Diplomacy Mediocre