Inside the temple, Danica Pure Spring lifts both hands toward the altar. The black ichor on the stones shivers, then slows as if caught in an invisible net.
Danica Pure Spring
Hold him steady. I can bind the blade’s reach, but only for a little while.
Hrolf staggers to one knee beside the altar, keeping the wrapped obsidian bundle close, his jaw clenched against the pull of it. Rae Olson Daughter steps in with a wary glance at the spreading stain.
Rae Olson Daughter
If you can pin it here, I can help the temple wash out the taint afterward.
Danica traces a slow sigil in the air. Pale ward-light threads down the altar, across the floor, and tightens around the blade like silver roots. The ichor on the wall stops climbing.
Danica Pure Spring
There, the bond is muted, not broken. To sever it, the blade must be taken where the old powers still listen.
Waylan Grey
The throat of the world.
For a heartbeat, the temple feels less cold. Then the wrapped blade gives one hard pulse in Hrolf's arms, as if it hears the plan and resents it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Take the obsidian blade to the Throat of the World
“I ask Danica for a blessing to protect us on the journey.”
SUCCESS (Good Persuasion, rolled -2)
Waylan Grey
Danica, give us a blessing for the road, if you can.
Danica Pure Spring
I can, and I will. Hold still a moment longer.
Danica lowers one hand from the altar and touches two fingers to Waylan Grey's brow. The ward-light thins, then gathers into a soft ring around his head and shoulders.
Danica Pure Spring
May the old paths hide you from blight, and may your feet stay true when fear tries to turn them aside.
The blessing settles like cool rain. At the same time, the wrapped blade gives off a bitter hiss, and a thread of smoke leaks from the cloth where it rests in Hrolf's arms.
Rae Olson Daughter
That will help. I can feel the temple breathing easier already.
Danica exhales, but her hand trembles with the effort. A faint smear of blood runs from beneath her fingernails, and the ward sigils dim a shade.
“I ask Danica to seal the temple after we leave”
SUCCESS (Good Persuasion, rolled +0)
Waylan lowers his bow and gestures toward the temple doors. Danica follows his line of sight, her tired fingers curling against the altar as the ward-light shivers around them.
Waylan Grey
Seal the temple after we leave.
Danica Pure Spring
I will. I will bar it behind us and set fresh wards on the threshold.
Rae looks from the cracked stone to Hrolf’s smoking wrappings, then gives a sharp nod. The blessing-ring around Waylan holds steady, pale against the dimming sigils.
Hrolf
Good. If it means the blade stays out of this place, shut it tight.
Danica reaches for the altar runes, already gathering the closing prayer. The temple falls hushed except for the faint hiss from the blade and the wet glimmer of black ichor in the cracks.
Danica Pure Spring
Go now. Once the last of you steps clear, I close it.
“I take the blade and set out”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled -1)