Dust drifts from the cracked vault as a sharp staff tap cuts through the chapel. A robed stranger emerges from the mist, tall and severe, his gaze fixed on the child inside Holly Sandahl's shimmer.
Bram
Hold still. I did not come for blood.
The Hooded Figure stiffens beside the child. The Armored Sentinel shifts one step forward, then stops, reading the newcomer’s intent.
Bram
That ward is mine to judge. If it fractures, the seal below will answer.
Holly Sandahl
...
He lowers the staff a fraction, empty hand open at his side, neither kneeling nor advancing. For the first time, he looks at Holly Sandahl instead of through her magic.
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect the child from the Inquisitor
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn the Inquisitor’s motives
“"Fine. Why are you here?"”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +1)
Holly Sandahl
Fine. Why are you here?
Bram
Because the seal beneath this chapel answers to me, and something inside it is waking.
The Hooded Figure
Then say what you know, and spare the boy your riddles.
The Armored Sentinel
The ward holds. For now. I will not strike while it stands.
Bram
The child is not my quarry. The thing bound below is. If that ward fails, we all feel it.
The Hooded Figure
So we agree, then. No one here wants that thing loose.
Bram
For the moment, no. Keep the child steady, and I will judge what the ward is protecting.
Quest Complete
Protect the child from the Inquisitor
Quest Complete
Learn the Inquisitor’s motives
“"What is this ward, what is so special about this child?"”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled -1)
The Inquisitor lowers his staff a fraction, and the chapel seems to listen. Dust sifts from the cracked arch above as he studies the child through Holly Sandahl's ward.
Bram
It is a binding lattice, old as the stone here. Not a prison, exactly, a shelter built to catch what cannot be touched.
The Hooded Figure tightens his arm around the child's shoulders, relief and strain flickering across him at once. The Armored Sentinel stays still, head angled as if comparing the ward to something remembered.
Bram
And the boy, or what clings to him, is special because the seal recognizes him. He is not merely inside the ward. He is part of its answer.
Holly Sandahl
What answer?
Bram
The one that keeps the thing below from learning the way back. Someone here knew the seal would fail, and built a second lock in living form.
The Armored Sentinel
Then the ward is sound. But if the child is a key, the chapel has become a hinge.
The Hooded Figure
A hinge can still hold, if no one forces it. Tell me what you want us to do.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what the child means to the seal
“"What does the child mean to the seal? What is his name?" I say”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled +1)
The Inquisitor studies Holly Sandahl for a long breath, then gives the child a grave, almost tender look. The chapel dust drifts between them like ash from an old fire.
Bram
His name is Bram. And to the seal, he is the living latch, the part that remembers how to close.
Bram
When the first ward was made, the makers could not trust stone alone. They bound a child into the answer so the dark below would meet a will, not just mortar.
The Hooded Figure
Bram... Gods, that is all he ever was to me, and still I did not ask enough.
The Armored Sentinel
Then the boy is neither hostage nor bait. He is consent, preserved in living form. An abhorrent craft, but sound.
The Hooded Figure lowers his chin over Bram’s head, relief and sorrow crossing his face together. Bram clings tighter, silent but no longer trembling as hard.
Bram
If the seal is to hold, Bram must remain near it, but not as a prisoner. Who will keep watch, while the chapel still stands?
Quest Complete
Learn what the child means to the seal