Director's note
who Myk knocked out to keep safe
Mara Vey turns the bone key. A seam opens behind the altar, revealing a narrow stair descending into warm amber light, while Anessa remains unconscious and concealed beyond the fallen buttress.
The Chapel Commander
The inner passage leads to the sanctuary vault. Nadira and the witnesses can shelter there, but protection begins only when their testimony is entered under my authority.
Zesh studies the stair, then the commander’s hands, keeping one blade ready. Zalise remains at the doors, her rune-marked weapon angled toward the nave.
Zesh
Then record the custody plainly. Nadira is protected, the testimony remains intact, and no order agent gains authority below this floor.
The Chapel Commander
Agreed. The sanctuary recognizes a living guarantor, but my seal must name the account’s keeper before the passage will close behind them.
The amber light deepens along carved walls, revealing empty niches for ledgers and witness tablets. From behind the buttress, Anessa’s breathing remains steady and undisturbed.
The Chapel Commander
Myk, who will speak first for the account when Nadira arrives?
“I demand Mara guarantee independent witness custody”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Myk
I demand independent custody for Nadira and every witness. Your sanctuary may shelter them, but no chapel authority may control their testimony or decide what they say.
Marked Sorcery fractures Myk’s demand into whispering contradictions, but Oathbound Negotiator holds its meaning exact. His Protective Leadership carries the terms toward the stair, while the blackened sword makes refusal feel perilous.
The Chapel Commander
Granted. The witnesses remain independent under Nadira’s custody. My seal will protect their bodies and the passage, never their words. No chapel officer may alter, suppress, or claim their testimony.
The bone key turns again. Amber light floods the niches, and the inner passage opens fully. Mara presses her seal into fresh wax, naming Nadira as keeper and the witnesses as independent voices.
Zesh
That is a custody I can accept. I will witness the entry, and I will remember every word if this chapel later tries to make the promise smaller.
Zalise lowers her blade by a fraction. Beyond the fallen buttress, Anessa remains unconscious and breathing steadily, safely hidden while Mara’s written guarantee hardens in the wax.
The Chapel Commander
Bring Nadira down. The sanctuary will receive her as guarantor, and the account will remain beyond my authority, beyond the order’s reach, and answerable to its witnesses alone.
“I ask Mara to guard Anessa too”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Myk
Extend that protection to Anessa as well. She is unconscious beyond the buttress, and she remains under my responsibility.
Marked Sorcery twists Myk’s request into contradictory whispers, but Oathbound Negotiator preserves its exact terms. Protective Leadership carries the demand toward the buttress and the waiting sanctuary.
The Chapel Commander
Granted. Anessa enters under the same protection, though unconscious. No order hand may claim her, question her, or remove her from this refuge.
The promise settles into fresh wax beside Nadira’s custody. Amber light reaches the fallen buttress, tracing a guarded line from Anessa’s hidden body to the sanctuary stair.
Zesh
Record her name beside Nadira’s. If this chapel protects one unconscious ally, it protects her completely, not merely until she becomes inconvenient.
The Chapel Commander
It is recorded. Bring Anessa within the amber boundary when you are ready, and the sanctuary will hold her safely beside the witnesses.
Beyond the buttress, Anessa continues breathing steadily. The chapel’s seal now names her among those under protection, while the open stair waits for Nadira and the witnesses.
✓ Quest Accepted
Bring Anessa into the sanctuary
Director's note
while reminiscing about are child hood growing up as orphans together in the cult (you think to yourself you'll protect her this time)
“I carry Anessa across the amber boundary into the sanctuary. I change her bandages”
SUCCESS (Superb Strength, rolled +0)
Myk lifts Anessa carefully, keeping her wounded side supported. The blackened sword at his hip seems to draw the amber boundary open before him, its passage-right sigil answering the sanctuary’s seal.
Marked Sorcery fills the stair with phantom echoes, showing false turns and doubled thresholds. Protective Leadership steadies Myk’s route: the sanctuary receives Anessa because his protection extends to her.
The Chapel Commander
Set her on the inner cot. I will provide clean linen and binding strips. The sanctuary’s protection holds while you tend her.
Myk carries Anessa across the amber boundary and lays her beneath the carved niches. The light settles over her unconscious form, excluding every order hand from the vault.
The chapel commander brings fresh bandages from a sealed chest. Myk removes Anessa’s darkened wrappings, cleans the wound, and binds it firmly without disturbing her steady breathing.
Zesh
She is inside the boundary, treated, and named under protection. That is what matters. I will stand watch until she wakes.
The bandage holds. Myk remains beside Anessa beneath the amber light, remembering two orphans raised among killers, and silently resolves to protect her this time.
Quest Complete
Bring Anessa into the sanctuary