Shan emerges into a buried cistern beneath the citadel, hauling Marek Voss through the ancient service passage. Black water ripples around broken pillars, and red traces from the ruined warrant crawl across the stones toward a lone brazier.
The Disgraced Knight stops at the passage mouth. Beyond him, the crypt's blue radiance dwindles to a cold slit of light.
Marek Voss
There. The agent waits. If they see the seal, this place will become your grave.
A hooded figure stands beside the brazier, boots planted in ankle-deep water. They hold a hooked staff across their body, blocking the only dry stair.
The Hooded Agent
Marek, you were ordered to return with the bearer, not drag the warrant's ruin behind you.
The brazier flares red. Beneath its light, the black seal answers with a dull pulse, and the cistern walls groan as old stones shift under the water.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get past the hooded agent
“i attack the The Hooded Agent”
FAILURE (Great Melee Weapons, rolled -1)
Shan lunges through the black water, clawed gunteel flashing toward the hooded agent's chest.
The Hooded Agent
Too slow, bearer.
The hooked staff catches the strike and twists it aside. Shan's claws miss flesh, scraping sparks from the brazier's iron rim.
The impact splits the brazier's stone plinth. Red warrant traces drain through the crack, exposing a narrow stair behind the agent, descending beneath the cistern.
The Hooded Agent
You have opened the old way. Step onto it, and the ward will seal the passage behind you.
The agent wrenches the staff free and shifts across the stair's mouth, no longer guarding the brazier. The dry steps lie open, but their hooked weapon now bars the first descent.
Marek Voss
That stair reaches the surface vaults. Do not let them close it.
“i past the hooded agent to reach the vaults before it closes”
FAILURE (Great Agility, rolled -1)
Shan drives through the shallows, lowering his armored shoulder and reaching for the stair beyond the hooked staff.
But the agent drops the staff across Shan's path. Its hook catches the armor at his hip and turns his momentum sideways, slamming one clawed gunteel against the dry stone.
The Hooded Agent
The ward knows your weight, bearer. It will not carry you through.
Shan's boot finds the first step, but the black seal flares through his armor. The stair's old markings ignite beneath the waterline, and the exposed passage begins folding shut behind him.
The stone threshold drops between Shan and the cistern with a grinding crack. Marek and the knight vanish beyond it, while the agent remains above the stair, staff planted across the only route toward the vaults.
The Hooded Agent
One step farther, and you are sealed below. Stay where you are, or lose the road entirely.
“i attack The Hooded Agent again to kill and loot his staff”
SUCCESS (Great Melee Weapons, rolled +0)
Shan twists beneath the hooked staff and drives a clawed gunteel upward through the agent's guard. The hooded figure recoils, losing their balance on the stair.
The Hooded Agent
Then take the road, bearer. Take its sentence with it.
The agent collapses against the stair mouth, motionless. The hooked staff clatters beside Shan, its iron head still glowing with ward-light.
Shan snatches up the staff. At the same instant, the cracking threshold releases a thunderous report, and dust pours from the cistern ceiling. The cost is immediate: the impact rings through Shan's armor, numbing his sword arm.
Beyond the fallen agent, the dry stair climbs toward the vaults. Red traces crawl along its walls, forming the outlines of mailed figures where no bodies stand.
The Hooded Agent
The ward does not need my breath to bar him.
The spectral outlines turn toward Shan, while the stair groans beneath the shrinking threshold. The stolen staff warms in his grip, and its hook points upward.
Get past the spectral ward
Quest Complete
Get past the hooded agent
Skill Upgrade: Melee Weapons Great→Superb
+ New Item Acquired
Hooked staff