The smoke sigil pulses above the blockhouse, and the Pit goes still around it. Hhannvis feels cold pressure slide over his skin like mist with intent.
Zarona Vos Zhurshitt
You are here on a quest, I can sense it. I felt your prayer earlier.
A white shimmer gathers in the haze, long and serpentine, smoke coiling around bright scales. The apparition leans closer, its lisp soft but sharp as a blade.
Zarona Vos Zhurshitt
Speak, little summoner, why do you tread this basin and disturb my silence?
Sefru tightens his grip on his spear near the ledge. Huryol watches the dragon shape with wary awe, half a step behind cover.
Hhannvis
The sigil and the apparition are linked.
Zarona Vos Zhurshitt
That symbol is no gift, it is a notice. If you mean to pass my blockhouse, you will answer me first.
✓ Quest Accepted
Answer Zarona Vos Zhurshitt
“I relax and listen”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled +3)
Hhannvis stills himself and lets the hush settle. The smoke around Zarona slows, as if it listens with him.
Zarona Vos Zhurshitt
Mm. Better. You are not trembling like a thief.
Her long head dips once, measuring him. The sigil above the roof steadies, its pulse matching her breath.
Zarona Vos Zhurshitt
I know the feel of a prayer that still echoes. Behemos has marked you with a loud heart.
Sefru lowers his spear a finger's width. Huryol keeps watching, but his stance eases at the edge of the ledge.
Zarona Vos Zhurshitt
Speak plainly, gargoyale. If you seek the tribes, why does your road end at my door?
As she asks, the smoke sigil brightens and leaves a clean lane of air toward the blockhouse opening, a silent invitation and warning at once.
“I say, i am a hero sent here. the will of the divine set our paths to cross. i was sent here from the future by a good green wizard named Wixllon to save man from extinction”
SUCCESS (Fair Diplomacy, rolled +1)
Hhannvis
I am a hero sent here. The divine set our paths to cross. I come from the future, sent by a good green wizard named Wixllon to save mankind from extinction.
The words leave his mouth cleanly, and the smoke lane beneath Zarona opens wider, as if making room for them. Sefru glances at Hhannvis, then back to the dragon, his grip loosening by a breath.
Zarona Vos Zhurshitt
A hero, then. Or a very brave liar.
Zarona Vos Zhurshitt
Future. Wizard. Extinction. Those are large stones to carry into my doorway.
Her long body coils higher over the roofline, but her tone stays level. The sigil above the blockhouse keeps its steady pulse, gray-black and watchful.
Zarona Vos Zhurshitt
Wixllon is not a name I know. Yet you speak like one who has been burned by truth.
Huryol exhales once, slow and careful. The silence of the Pit hangs around them, broken only by Zarona's measured breath and the faint grit shifting on the black pebble shelf.
Zarona Vos Zhurshitt
Come closer, Hhannvis. If your road is real, I will hear the shape of it.