The sealed bundle rests within Neferteri’s reach beside the brazier. Dust sifts from its unfamiliar cloth onto the polished floor, untouched since Seshat placed it there.
Seshat
I was told the seal would answer only to the goddess. I do not know what waits inside, nor whether Ilyra meant warning or bait.
Seshat keeps both hands visible upon her knees. Meren stands near the doorway, watching the bundle, the pilgrim, and the corridor beyond with equal suspicion.
Meren
Great One, the chamber is secure. The guards remain outside, and no worshipper has entered since I brought Seshat within.
From far below, a muted tremor passes through the temple stones. Vaurakh remains in the sealed depths, but its awareness brushes the sanctuary like pressure beneath deep water.
Seshat
Ilyra feared the influence had already reached someone here. She said the bundle contains the proof, if it survives being opened.
Meren
Give the word, Great One. I can carry it to the lower altar, guard it here, or cast it into the brazier without touching the seal.
“Neferteri opens the package.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Strength, rolled +0)
Neferteri draws the sealed bundle closer and works her fingers beneath the unfamiliar cloth. The old seal splits cleanly beneath her strength, scattering pale wax across the polished floor.
Inside lies a thin black tablet wrapped in oilskin, its surface carved with concentric script. A shard of crimson stone rests atop it, warm despite the chamber’s cool air.
Seshat
That is the proof Ilyra meant. She said the tablet records the relic’s first binding, before the adventurers ever carried it beneath your temple.
Meren
The stone is answering the depths. I can feel the floor tightening beneath my feet, Great One.
The crimson shard pulses once. Far below, Vaurakh’s awareness presses upward through the stone, not as a voice but as a vast attention fixed upon the opened package.
Seshat
Ilyra warned that the tablet names what the relic awakened, and who first taught it to hunger. She feared the knowledge would reach the cavern again.
Dust lifts from the tablet’s carved rings and hangs in the brazier’s glow. The script remains legible, while the shard’s warmth steadily spreads into Neferteri’s chamber.
✓ Quest Accepted
Discover what lives deeper under the temple
“Neferteri commands Vaurakh to explore deeper under the temple, find out what lies beneath.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Neferteri
Vaurakh, explore deeper beneath the temple. Find what lies below and bring its truth before me.
The command travels through the crimson shard and into the foundations. Far below, stone parts around Vaurakh’s many-jointed form as the guardian descends beyond the consecrated cavern.
Vaurakh
I obey, Neferteri. I will pass beneath the place of worship and seek the oldest chamber hidden under your temple.
The tremor deepens. Dust spirals from the ceiling while Vaurakh tears through sealed strata, revealing a vast shaft lined with black stone and ancient red script.
Vaurakh
I have found what lies below. Beneath the cavern rests a buried temple older than mine, built around a hollow where something was taught to hunger.
The black tablet flares in Seshat’s hands, its concentric script rearranging into a map of the lower structure. The crimson shard answers with a slow, heavy pulse.
Vaurakh
The hunger is not the foundation of your cult, goddess. It is a chained remnant beneath it, and the first binders fed it names, blood, and worship.
Subdue the chained remnant beneath the temple
Quest Complete
Discover what lives deeper under the temple