Unit Captain Brann
Do not let your guard down, my lord. The creature still draws breath, and the stillness in this hall feels brittle.
Unit Captain Brann keeps his crossbow bolt trained steadily on the prone Shadow-Stalker, his knuckles pale against the wood.
The Dark Arcana Caster
The key... it hums with a frequency that makes the very stone of this archive weep. Kalazan, you must shield it before it anchors itself to your essence.
Kalazan
The metal feels colder than the winter air outside.
The Dark Arcana Caster
It is not merely a key. It is a splinter of the void itself, and it hungers for a new lock.
The Shadow-Stalker lets out a wet, rattling gasp, its fingers twitching against the scorched flagstones.
+ Scene Quest Added
Neutralize the Shadow-Stalker
“I cast magic missile at the stalker”
SUCCESS (Legendary Conjuration arcana, rolled +1)
Kalazan
Silence it, for good.
Kalazan gestures sharply with his staff, and three glowing bolts of force streak through the violet haze.
The magic impacts the Shadow-Stalker with a series of heavy, rhythmic thuds, pinning the creature's limbs against the floor until the movement ceases entirely.
The Dark Arcana Caster
His command over the arcane is absolute. Perhaps too absolute.
As the Stalker falls silent, a rhythmic clicking sound begins to emanate from the hollow pillar behind the key.
Unit Captain Brann
My lord, the pillar is shifting. Something is trying to climb out from the space where the key rested.
Quest Complete
Neutralize the Shadow-Stalker
+ Scene Quest Added
Investigate the shifting pillar
“I cast seering light in the the space where the key rested”
SUCCESS (Legendary Conjuration arcana, rolled +3)
Kalazan
Burn whatever wretched thing stirs within that stone.
Kalazan thrusts his staff forward, calling upon his deep reservoir of conjuration arcana. A brilliant, searing beam of pure sunlight erupts from the crystal tip, striking the center of the cracked pillar with the intensity of a midsummer noon.
The Dark Arcana Caster
The light is blinding, but it will not be enough to satisfy the hunger of the void.
The oily vapor inside the column hisses and dissolves instantly under the radiant assault, leaving behind only the scorched, hollowed interior of the rock.
Unit Captain Brann
The clicking has stopped, my lord. But look, the light from your spell revealed something etched into the back of the chamber.
Brann steps forward, pointing his gauntlet at a set of shifting, glowing sigils burned into the masonry that now thrum with a faint, pulsing heartbeat.
Quest Complete
Investigate the shifting pillar