The reflected stair seals behind them as Vael’s signet opens a narrow lawful passage through the eastern foundation. Gold oath-marks descend beneath the academy, pulsing faintly through ancient stone.
Artania remains armored, carrying bow, shield, and sword while Al stays close at his heel. His bandaged hand aches beneath the blue-green plates, but the route holds steady.
Lord Vael
This passage is lawful, witnessed, and temporary. It will close behind us if the foundation rejects our purpose, so stay within the marked path.
Seris steps through first, silver ward-light gathering around her blade. Vael follows with the signet raised, while the sealed registry and its records remain under the academy’s protection above.
Seris
The oath-marks are older than the academy’s present walls. Mareth Vey’s covenant is still active below, and those servants are moving toward its heart.
Faint footsteps echo beneath the descending stones, accompanied by a dragging scrape and the dry stir of ash. The sound retreats deeper whenever the party advances.
Lord Vael
We follow carefully. If Mareth Vey still commands the first oath, we must learn whom it binds before we attempt to break anything.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn whom the first oath binds
“I inspect the dragging ash trail for signs of whom the first oath binds. I also spread my magical sensory veil out to scan the area.”
FAILURE (Superb Perception, rolled -3)
Artania kneels beside the dragging ash trail, studying its broken edges and residue through the faint gold pulse of the oath-marks. His sensory veil spreads along the passage.
The veil catches overlapping traces: boot heels, a narrow dragged burden, and several oath-signatures braided so tightly that their individual origins blur together.
Artania Nero Thornson
The oath binds more than one kind of servant, but the trail will not tell me whom.
When Artania presses the veil deeper, the ash answers. The trail flares gold and folds backward through his senses, turning every binding-sign into Mareth Vey’s single ancient mark.
The recoil snaps his veil shut. For a breath, the corridor’s footsteps vanish, and the ash trail rearranges itself into three branching lines, each bearing the same false certainty.
Lord Vael
Withdraw the veil, Art. The oath has noticed your inquiry and is disguising its servants. We must not follow a pattern it has chosen for us.
Seris
Your attempt revealed the danger, even if not the names. The trail is now a lure, and repeating the scan would only deepen its claim upon you.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the passage against the oath’s false trails
“I withdraw my senses and mark the three branches without following them.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Magic, rolled +1)
Artania withdraws his sensory veil completely. The corridor returns to ordinary sight and sound, leaving the oath’s backward pull outside his thoughts.
He studies the three branching lines without probing them, then marks each with a small blue-green sigil on the stone beside its entrance.
The marks remain distinct despite sharing Mareth Vey’s false signature. One branch slopes east, one descends sharply, and the third bends behind a curtain of ash.
Lord Vael
Good. You have preserved the distinction without granting the oath another opening. We can compare the branches by what they show us, not by what they claim.
Seris
Your marks give us a safe reference. I will anchor them to the lawful passage, so the false certainty cannot rearrange our understanding again.
Seris traces a silver thread between the three blue-green sigils and the gold oath-marks beneath their feet. The thread settles without resistance.
Lord Vael
We know the branches, and we know the trail lies. Now we choose our next step with the records above us and our purpose intact.
“Alright, shall we go and check the records to make a more informed decision on which way to take?”
FAILURE (Mediocre Diplomacy, rolled -4)
Artania Nero Thornson
Let us return and check the records before choosing which branch to follow. A more informed decision may keep us from serving the oath’s deception.
Vael turns the signet within the gold-marked passage. The lawful route opens upward, but the three blue-green reference sigils remain anchored below, tugging faintly against the silver thread.
Lord Vael
Agreed. The registry may distinguish the branches through older testimony, provided we do not ask it to name what the oath conceals.
They retrace their steps toward the sealed registry. As Artania crosses the threshold, the three marks flare together, and the silver thread draws a thin line of gold through his armor.
The registry doors open only a finger’s width before every cabinet seal answers at once. Scroll cases remain closed, but their ward-light pours into the corridor, flooding the branch marks with identical script.
Seris
Stop. The records are not showing us history. They are importing the oath’s false certainty into the lawful passage, and the path below is losing its distinctions.
The eastern, descending, and ash-curtained routes collapse into one radiant symbol beneath their feet. The registry remains unharmed, yet its threshold seals completely, leaving no readable record and one dangerous choice where three stood.
“I withdraw before the registry corrupts the passage.”
Artania withdraws from the registry threshold at once, stepping back before the radiant symbol can draw more of the oath through his armor. His shield remains raised between the passage and the sealed records.
The gold line slackens as he breaks contact. The three false branches fade from the floor, and the registry’s cabinet seals return to their steady blue-green lattice without a scroll shifting.
Seris
Good. You withdrew before the passage could accept the oath’s shape. No record was corrupted, and the lawful route remains intact.
Seris anchors the threshold with a silver ward, separating the registry from the buried marks. The radiant symbol contracts into a harmless stain of light, then vanishes.
Lord Vael
The records are safe, and your restraint preserved our choices. We will not ask the registry to interpret what Mareth Vey conceals.
Al settles beside Artania’s armored legs, his growl fading. Beyond the sealed doors, the scroll cases rest undisturbed while the eastern passage waits lawfully below.
Seris
We can study the records by ordinary testimony, then return to the revealed path with clearer purpose. For now, the oath has gained nothing from us.