Kalazan retreats from the humming depths of the vault, his boots rhythmic against the stone stairs as he ascends toward his private quarters.
He enters his chamber, closing the heavy oak door behind him. The room is still, smelling of old leather, drying ink, and the sharp, thin air of the mountain peaks.
Kalazan
I will be in my room for a while. If anyone needs me, or if something develops with the expedition, call for me.
He settles into his heavy, fur-lined chair, the exhaustion of the vault finally catching up with him. He watches the shadows lengthen across his desk.
Kalazan
The blueprints from the vault are etched into my mind, waiting for the gnomes to decipher the final layer.
A soft, urgent scratching sounds against his door, followed by the muffled, polite voice of a young page.
The Page
My Lord Kalazan, Commander Korth has sent word from the excavation site. They have encountered a wall that does not appear on the blueprints.
+ Scene Quest Added
Investigate the unknown wall at the excavation site
“I tell them to treat it with high caution till i arrive, i tell him i have a little to do and i will come down there, he can tell him i will be there after a short while”
SUCCESS (Legendary Leadership, rolled +1)
Kalazan
Tell Korth to halt all progress immediately. No one touches that wall until I arrive.
Kalazan
I have one final ledger to finish here. Tell him I will be at the site in a short while.
The Page
Yes, my Lord. I shall relay your orders to the Commander at once.
The page bows quickly, his footsteps retreating rapidly down the stone hallway.
Kalazan
If the blueprints failed to record a wall, that section of the mountain was either sealed deliberately or it predates the original fortress construction.
Kalazan stands, his heavy robes swirling as he moves toward his desk to secure the remaining maps.
“I use my art, scribing and casting to hurry the process of writting and drawing a non detail specific letter about the events and needed supplies and types of trained specialist we need to fully stabalize and investigate all the unknown. I say we need the veteran clerics of our royal minotaur family or we loose this hold to evil corruption”
SUCCESS (Good Scribe, rolled +4)
Kalazan grips his quill, his hand moving with a fluid grace born of long practice. With a series of precise, sweeping strokes, the parchment fills with calligraphic script and technical diagrams.
Kalazan
By the strength of our blood, send word to the capital. We require the veteran clerics of our house to cleanse this stone of corruption, for the very foundations of the hold are changing beneath our feet.
The magic of his command seals the parchment, the ink pulsing with a soft, golden light as it binds the request with his royal sigil.
Kalazan
The speed of the response will be the deciding factor in whether the corruption takes hold or we purge it before it breathes.
He rolls the scroll, the surface of the paper cool and vibrating with residual arcane energy. As he tucks it into his robe, a sudden, sharp thud echoes from the vent shafts, shaking dust from the ceiling beams.
A low, rhythmic grinding sound follows, like tectonic plates shifting against one another in the dark, and a faint, sulfurous scent begins to bleed through the air vents.
+ New Item Acquired
Sealed royal request
“I summon skeletal rats in the duct to attack it”
SUCCESS (Legendary Conjuration arcana, rolled -1)
Kalazan
Whatever is moving in those tunnels will not be scared off by silence.
Kalazan
Rise, my little spies. Seek the source of this rot and strip it to the bone.
Kalazan raises his staff, its black wood shivering as cold, necrotic vapor bleeds from the tip.
A dozen skeletal rats coalesce within the vent, their hollow ribcages clicking against the metal grating as they scramble into the darkness of the shaft.
A horrific, wet screech erupts from the ventilation duct, followed by the frantic scurrying of unseen things retreating deeper into the mountain.
One skeletal rat drags a tuft of unnatural, iridescent slime back through the vent, dropping the glowing, pulsating sample at Kalazan's hooves.
+ Scene Quest Added
Identify the source of the iridescent slime
− Scene Quest Removed
Investigate the unknown wall at the excavation site
+ New Item Acquired
Iridescent slime sample
“I cast dispel evil on the slime”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled -2)
Kalazan
This resonance feels unnatural, a festering blight upon the hold.
Kalazan raises his staff, the dark wood vibrating as he channels his mastery of the arcane.
Kalazan
By the weight of the crown and the law of the stone, I banish this stain.
A pulse of pure, white energy erupts from the staff tip, washing over the iridescent slime.
The sludge screeches with a sound like tearing metal before evaporating into harmless grey dust.
Silence returns to the room, though the green haze in the air lingers, thick and pungent.
Quest Complete
Identify the source of the iridescent slime