The caravan’s movement slips out of rhythm. Beneath the brown needles, unseen footsteps echo through the roots, answering each of the bundle’s cold blue pulses.
Ahead, the soil cracks in a straight line. Ancient stones rise from the earth one by one, forming a low boundary across the path as the five travelers halt behind Stryker.
Edris Vale
Stryker, bearer of the sealed light. Garran Voss, keeper of the rear. Mira Pell, freed beneath false accusation.
The voice comes from nowhere visible. Roots shiver around the stones, and the armed travelers raise their weapons without finding anything to strike.
The Caravan Guard
Hold formation. Nobody steps across that line until we know what speaks from under it.
Mira Pell
It knows our names. That is not a shrine guardian’s greeting.
The blue pulse brightens beneath Stryker’s hands. From below the stones comes another measured footfall, stopping precisely on the other side of the boundary.
✓ Quest Accepted
Force the hidden presence to identify its claim on the artifact
“"who are you? what is your purpose?"”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled +2)
Stryker
Who are you? What is your purpose?
The question travels beneath the stones. The blue light steadies in Stryker’s grasp, and the armed travelers lower their blades by degrees while Garran watches the boundary.
Edris Vale
I am Edris Vale, the last warden of this threshold. My purpose is to judge whether the bearer seeks restoration or dominion.
A pale shape gathers above the stones, not a body but the suggestion of a tall elf traced in drifting motes. Its hollow gaze fixes on the wrapped relic.
Mira Pell
A judgment was never part of the shrine’s old rites. What changed, Edris?
Edris Vale
The seal was broken once, Mira Pell. Since then, no oath is trusted without witness, and no bearer crosses unexamined.
The stones brighten in a ring around Stryker and the bundle. Beyond them, the five armed travelers stand silent as the threshold opens a narrow path toward the shrine.
✓ Quest Accepted
Pass Edris Vale's judgment
Quest Complete
Force the hidden presence to identify its claim on the artifact
Director's note
I step forward
“"please, last warden, I desire to return this artifact to its rightful place, and restore balance in these woods, may we pass in peace?"”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +1)
Stryker
Please, last warden, I desire to return this artifact to its rightful place and restore balance in these woods. May we pass in peace?
Stryker steps across the brightening ring, carrying the sealed artifact openly. The motes forming Edris incline toward him, and the stones answer with a low, harmonious hum.
Edris Vale
Your purpose is restoration, and your oath is freely given. I accept your word as witness.
The boundary stones sink halfway into the soil, their cold radiance softening to a gentle blue. A clear passage opens beyond them toward the shadowed shrine.
Edris Vale
Pass in peace, bearer. The shrine will receive what was taken, and the woods will judge the balance that follows.
The five armed travelers lower their weapons completely. Garran remains watchful, but he moves aside, while Mira studies the newly opened path in silence.
Ahead, pale roots withdraw from the stones, revealing worn steps descending beneath the trees. The artifact pulses once in Stryker’s hands, answering the shrine’s call.
Quest Complete
Pass Edris Vale's judgment