The oath-lit path sinks into a fresh cleft, its walls carved with runes that glow beneath the snow. Above, The Circling Dragon folds one vast wing across the upper trail, sealing the mountain pass.
The Circling Dragon
Pass beneath my wing together, oath-breaker and witness. Separate steps earn no passage.
The Elven Emissary studies the carvings below the descending path. Their lines form a ring around a sealed stair, each symbol answering the next like links in a chain.
The Elven Emissary
There. The final witness of the Oath of Open Passage. It does not ask who commands the road. It asks whether both travelers enter by consent.
The Stonebound Herald
The witness records deed, purpose, and price. Beyond it lies the mountain's high archive, where the oldest laws of magic remain unbroken.
The sealed stair opens by one narrow span, revealing a darkness threaded with constellations of silver script. The dragon's wing leaves only enough room for Maximus Magi and The Elven Emissary to pass side by side.
✓ Quest Accepted
Gain passage through the mountain
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the mountain's high archive
“I enter the sealed stair beside Caelithra by mutual consent.”
FAILURE (Fair Willpower, rolled -2)
Maximus Magi steps into the silver-script stair beside Caelithra. The threshold accepts his weight, then rejects the joined passage with a soundless shudder.
The runes flare beneath his feet. A force folds the stair between them, sliding Maximus Magi back onto the cleft while Caelithra remains beyond the first span.
The Elven Emissary
The oath heard movement together, but not consent together. The witness demands a sign neither traveler can give for the other.
The silver constellations rearrange. Their pattern reveals a narrow sigil shaped like two open hands, one on each side of the threshold.
The Elven Emissary
There is the opening. Each of us must mark the witness separately, then choose whether to cross under the dragon's scrutiny.
The Circling Dragon
Choose, travelers. The mountain will record your own consent, not an intention borrowed from another.
“I mark the open-hand sigil with my consent”
SUCCESS (Fair Willpower, rolled +0)
Maximus Magi presses his numbed hand toward the nearer open-hand sigil. The cracked arcane focus catches the silver light.
The sigil accepts his touch. Silver fire traces his palm without burning, and the divided threshold recognizes his consent.
The Elven Emissary
Then the witness has heard you clearly.
Across the passage, the matching sigil answers. The folded stair straightens, joining both spans into one descending path.
The Circling Dragon
The mountain records two willing travelers. Pass beneath my wing, and let the archive judge what follows.
The dragon's wing lifts just enough to reveal the silver-script descent. Beyond it, pale doors stand far below, marked with the same open-hand sign.
The Elven Emissary
The way is open, Maximus Magi. Will you cross with me, or will you make the descent alone?
Quest Complete
Gain passage through the mountain
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Fair→Good