The last bell-note thins into silence. Dust settles through the Hall of a Hundred Thrones, silvered by pale daylight and the lingering glow of blue fire.
Eldruin lowers the sealed vessel beneath the nearest guarded throne. The Horned Beast remains across the chamber, held within a quiet ring of fading runes, awake but still.
Eldruin Vaul
There. For the first time since the gates opened, nothing is asking us to choose between disaster and worse disaster.
He turns toward the shattered thrones. Blue fire clings to their broken arms and crowns, wavering without heat.
Eldruin Vaul
I cannot tell whether that is residue, a warning, or proof that another spirit was bound here. Your eyes held the beast at bay while I worked. I would trust what they noticed.
The Horned Beast
The thrones remember every oath made beneath them. They do not remember kindly.
Eldruin studies the beast for a long moment, then gestures toward the nearest shattered seat. The quiet returns, gentle enough for an answer, or simply for rest.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine whether another spirit was bound to the shattered thrones
“I inspect the blue fire clinging to the nearest shattered throne.”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +3)
Solona leans close to the nearest shattered throne. The blue fire bends toward her hand, revealing thin marks beneath the soot.
The marks are not vessel-runes. They form the remnants of an oath, repeated across the throne's broken arms, but no second spirit answers from within them.
Eldruin Vaul
No bound soul. Only the throne's memory, burned into the stone when the old oath failed.
The fire withdraws from the cracks and gathers around one surviving sigil. Its shape matches the seal Eldruin used, but its final stroke points toward the sealed vessel.
Eldruin Vaul
You found the distinction I feared to miss. The thrones did not imprison another spirit. They witnessed the binding, and preserved its command.
For a breath, the blue flame illuminates a narrow line beneath the throne, leading toward the vessel's hiding place. Then it dims, leaving the old oath legible only in fragments.
The Horned Beast
Witnesses can still testify. Ask what oath was broken before you trust the one that followed.
Determine what oath was broken before the binding
Quest Complete
Determine whether another spirit was bound to the shattered thrones