Black water breathes around Sorsha’s boots as she steps into the bog shrine. Reed torches hiss in the fog, and the air tastes of peat and old spells.
Ahead, the Bog Witch kneels beside a circle of bones and willow roots, her hands stained with green ash. Something unseen thrashes inside the runes, making the whole ring shiver.
The Bog Witch
At last. Your blood feels old to me, bright one. If you mean to help, stand within the circle and lend your power before it tears loose.
Sorsha halts at the edge of the ward, sword in hand, spellbook damp against her side.
The Bog Witch
Do not fear the stain. Fear what comes free if we fail.
The runes flare. Cold wind coils through the shrine, and a hidden voice hammers at Sorsha’s ribs from inside the mist.
The seal is weakening.
The Bog Witch
Well? Step in, Sorsha, or let the thing walk out of the mire.
✓ Quest Accepted
Help the Bog Witch contain the bound presence
“I step into the circle and channel my magic into the runes.”
SUCCESS (Great Magic, rolled -1)
Sorsha steps into the circle, and the black water parts around her calves. The runes answer at once, waking brighter beneath her boots.
Sorsha
The seal takes her weight.
Her magic threads out through the bones and willow roots, knitting into the glyphs. The shuddering at the center dims, then holds.
The Bog Witch
Yes. Keep it there, bright one.
A cold pulse slams back through Sorsha’s hands, and the ward bites her skin with a sting like nettles. Green light leaks from her fingers into the mud.
The Bog Witch
Good, but not free. Feed it more, or it will splinter under us.
The circle steadies under Sorsha’s spell, but the strain leaves her palm smoking faintly, and the hidden presence presses once more against the bound glow.
Quest Complete
Help the Bog Witch contain the bound presence