The silver chain tightens with a sharp chime. Behind the lectern, hidden seams ignite, and a pressure-locked door opens into a narrow vault lined with royal seals and a map etched in silver.
The fugitive rises beside the lectern, while the elderly witness steadies herself against her staff. Silver light crawls across the vault walls, tracing roads beneath the lost kingdom.
The Elderly Witness
The seals bear the royal mark. Whatever lies within, the elder kings meant it to outlast their throne.
The tome’s pages stop turning. A man’s preserved voice rises from the ink, clear despite centuries of dust, and the silver map answers with a pulse of blue light.
Caelan Aster
I am Caelan Aster. If this testimony survives, I have abandoned the Crown’s trail at the Refuge of Nine Bells, beneath the western cliffs.
Caelan Aster
Do not mistake the dragon’s vigil for pursuit. It guarded something beneath the kingdom, something older than our bloodline. The Crown was only drawn into its shadow.
The Fugitive
The Refuge of Nine Bells is marked here. Sir Thickrod, the passage may show us how to reach it before the hunters return.
Beyond the open vault, the silver map reveals a stair descending toward a sealed mark beneath the kingdom’s heart. The tome falls silent, leaving the next choice in Sir Thickrod’s hands.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the Refuge of Nine Bells
“Using the map as a guide we take the staid decending to the reufe of the nine bells.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +0)