The hollow remains quiet beneath pale stone. Caelir’s ankle rests in Jalesa’s careful bandage, the swelling easing while Sereth kneels beside the covered crest.
Sereth Thornwake
The first covenant was not a commandment over the grove. It was a promise of guardianship. The elves would shelter its memory, and the grove would shelter every sworn heir.
Sereth’s lined face hardens as her fingers hover above the cloth. Caelir listens without interruption, his injured foot still and his hands folded against his knee.
Sereth Thornwake
House Vaun broke that promise when it sought to possess the names instead of preserving them. Your ancestors meant to bind the covenant’s voices into their bloodline, so obedience could masquerade as protection.
The covered crest pulses sharply. Silver light leaks through the cloth in time with Sereth’s words, then fades when she pauses. Caelir’s jaw tightens, but he does not interrupt.
Sereth Thornwake
That is the part he avoids naming. House Vaun did not merely betray the grove. It tried to make the grove witness its own enslavement.
Caelir Vaun
I cannot deny it. My house called domination a sacred duty, and the seal remembers every voice that helped make the lie.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure Caelir's honest account of House Vaun's betrayal
✓ Quest Accepted
Return the crest to the First Root
“"Caelir. I need you to be honest. Just what part do you play in this. Why would your house send someone like you. No offence but why not mages or knights. You don't seen like just a random member of your house. Just who are you to House Vaun,The Heir? You haven't shared much but your name." Jalesa asked this confused while checking only Caelir's now shirtless body to look over and bandage up his other wounds.”
SUCCESS (Good Healing, rolled -2)
Jalesa
Caelir, I need you to be honest. What part do you play in this? Why would House Vaun send someone like you, not mages or knights? Are you the heir?
Caelir removes his shirt without protest. Jalesa checks the older bruises and shallow cuts across his ribs and shoulder, then cleans and binds them with careful, practiced hands.
The last clean strips of bandage disappear into the work. One knot must be tightened twice, and the salve jar is scraped nearly empty before the wounds are properly covered.
Caelir Vaun
No offence taken. Mages and knights would have served House Vaun’s public face. I was sent because I am its quiet answer when public faces fail.
Caelir Vaun
I am Caelir Vaun, eldest surviving son and named heir. My father put me in the emissary’s coat because I could carry orders, secrets, and blame without making a spectacle.
Caelir Vaun
I came to stop my house from reclaiming the seal, but I also came because the council expected me to secure it for them if stopping them proved impossible.
Sereth Thornwake
There. The heir finally names the hand that sent him. Whether he has severed that hand remains for the First Root to judge.
Quest Complete
Secure Caelir's honest account of House Vaun's betrayal