The tower path crunches beneath approaching boots. A middle-aged woman emerges through the drifting frost, wrapped in a gray traveling cloak stiff with ice, her dark hair braided tightly and one sharp cheek marked by an old scar. She carries a ledger page sealed with black wax.
Marra Vey
My name is Marra Vey, descendant and appointed agent of Odran Vey. I have come for an unpaid obligation.
The incubus shifts between Marra and Lilith, one wing opening slightly. The winter crystal turns cold in Lilith’s hand, its violet warmth extinguished beneath a skin of white frost.
the incubus
Marra Vey. Odran’s bloodline has found remarkable patience for a debt everyone else considered settled.
Marra Vey
Settled? You were released from the oath, not absolved of its consequences. The ledger records every benefit you took while serving him.
She breaks the black wax with her thumb but does not unfold the page. Its ink crawls visibly along the edges, and a second line darkens beneath the incubus’s name.
Marra Vey
Lilith von Solbruluna is recorded as witness and claimant. Her debt binds her to this dispute, whether she intended to inherit it or not.
✓ Quest Accepted
Resolve Marra Vey's claim against Lilith.
✓ Quest Accepted
Break Odran Vey's blood debt.
“Would Marra have to kill us for her to enforce the debt?”
YES, BUT (Unlikely, rolled 30)
The ink finishes crawling across the page, forming a narrow clause beneath the incubus’s name. The letters sharpen, and the winter crystal cracks with a brittle blue sound in Lilith’s hand.
Marra Vey
Yes. Enforcement requires death, because Odran wrote the debt into blood and legacy. No living claimant can compel payment without becoming its executioner.
the incubus
You call that a debt? It is a delayed sentence, dressed in arithmetic. I was released from the oath, but not from the consequence waiting at its end.
The sealed page unfolds by itself. A final line appears in red ink, naming Marra as executor and Lilith as claimant witness. The black wax melts across her fingers, leaving a dark stain.
Marra Vey
I cannot collect coin, service, or confession. I can only complete the clause. If you deny the obligation, the ledger will eventually demand that I kill you.
the incubus
She is not threatening us. That would be simpler. She is explaining the shape of a blade already placed in someone else’s hand.
“I don’t give her time to finish her stupid debt. I attack her immediately. Trying to kill her first.”
SUCCESS (Superb Melee Combat, rolled +2)
Lilith moves before Marra can finish. Frost flashes from her hand, crossing the space in a silent, lethal arc toward the executor’s chest.
The spell strikes Marra beneath the collarbone. Her ledger page bursts into pale flame, the red clause vanishes, and she drops motionless into the frost.
the incubus
You do have a talent for making negotiations wonderfully brief.
The black wax on Marra’s fingers crumbles into ash. Her breath does not return, and the page lies blank beside her still hand.
the incubus
She came prepared to kill you, but the clause never anticipated being answered first. That may be the closest thing to mercy Odran’s legacy has received.
The winter crystal stops cracking and settles into Lilith’s palm, its blue light steady again. Around them, the tower path falls silent except for drifting snow.
Quest Complete
Resolve Marra Vey's claim against Lilith.