The shelter groans around them. Fresh cracks lace the floor where the ritual broke, and the black seep retreats in a smoking thread toward the open dark.
Eldred shifts at the threshold, bow still drawn, his eyes fixed on the pulsing residue in the firs. It twitches, as if gathering itself.
The Entity
Not ended. Only loosened.
Tuiwen's blade hums in her hand, bright enough to silver the broken runes beneath her feet. The glow on the walls steadies, but the shelter keeps shedding dust.
Eldred
It is slipping out. If it reaches the trees, we lose its trail.
The black trail quivers at the threshold, then narrows into the roots beyond, as though the thing is forcing itself into a smaller shape to flee.
Eldred
Tuiwen, move. I cover the door.
Ahead lies the choice plainly now, escape the collapsing shelter at once, or chase the thing into the firs and learn whether the corruption is dead, or merely running.
✓ Quest Accepted
Track the fleeing corruption into the firs
“She chases after the creature, sword in hand.”
FAILURE (Fair Athletics, rolled -2)
Tuiwen lunges through the threshold, but the broken floor bites back. Dust sloughs under her boots, and her first stride skids hard on the fresh cracks.
The fleeing corruption slips away ahead of her, no longer a shape to strike, only a narrow smear of soot and cold rot threading into the firs.
Her blade flashes once in the dark as she drives forward, but the trail bends downhill between roots and needle-thick shadow.
A shard of bark snaps beneath her foot. The stumble steals speed from the chase and throws her balance off just long enough for the thing to gain ground.
Behind her, the shelter groans louder, spitting dust from its seams. Eldred stays at the door, bow trained outward, covering her retreat or advance.
Eldred
It is slipping into the trees. If you keep after it, do not lose the smear.
Tuiwen reaches the fir line at last, but the trail has already thinned to a dark stain between the roots, half-swallowed by the forest floor.
“She follows as best she can”
FAILURE (Good Agility, rolled -2)
Tuiwen pushes into the firs, but the forest answers with slick roots and loose needles. Her next step catches, and the dark smear slips half a length farther ahead.
Tuiwen
The trail is sinking into the ground.
She steadies herself on the blade, then spots the grisly truth. The grime runs not along the trunks, but between them, as if something has been dragged low through a shallow animal track.
Ahead, the stain forks at a fallen log, one line vanishing into a thorny dip, the other threading toward a narrow break in the roots.
Eldred
There, Tuiwen. It chooses the lower hollow.
Behind her, the shelter gives a final shudder, shedding dust into the dark. The way back is failing even as the way forward opens.
Quest Complete
Track the fleeing corruption into the firs
Skill Upgrade: Athletics Fair→Good