The Herald steps in with a silver goblet held high, cutting neatly between Erius and the royal pair. Candlelight flashes on the rim as he offers the cup with formal ease.
The Herald
Our guest of honor leads the toast. To Dorain, and to the ancient foundations beneath our feet.
The Queen pauses, watching with pleased curiosity. The Princess angles her gaze toward Erius, intent and amused. The Guard stays still, his focus caught between duty and the sudden ritual.
The Queen
A fitting honor. Let us hear it.
Erius remains in his human disguise and stands directly over the tainted seam in the dais. The hidden chill there seems to press upward through the stone, faint but unmistakable.
Erius
The seam is directly below him.
The Princess
Go on, then. We are listening.
The Herald keeps the goblet extended, his unreadable face fixed on Erius, while the hall waits in a tight, candlelit hush.
✓ Quest Accepted
Survive the royal toast
✓ Quest Accepted
Investigate beneath the throne dais
“I say i feel odd, like an evil is here, i feel, below me”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +1)
Erius
I feel odd. Like an evil is here, below me.
The words settle over the toast, plain and careful. The silver goblet hangs still in the Herald’s hand as all three nobles look down toward the dais step.
The Queen
Below you?
Candlelight thins across the seam in the stone. For a breath, the hidden chill seems to answer, a dark pressure pulsing up through the platform.
The Princess
That is not courtly fancy. You mean you feel it now?
The Queen’s expression tightens with interest, not alarm. The Herald lowers the goblet a finger’s breadth, and the Guard’s attention snaps fully back to the dais.
The Herald
Then the toast comes with a warning. We should hear every word our guest has for us.
“I say, it needs your clerics and such to banish it”
SUCCESS (Great Arcana, rolled +3)
Erius
It needs your clerics, and such, to banish it.
The warning lands cleanly. The Queen turns at once to the Herald, and the Princess’s brows lift as the dark pulse under the stone answers with a cold tremor.
The Queen
Then we do not waste another breath. Herald, send for the chapel.
The Herald
At once, Your Majesty. I know the priest who serves this hall best.
The Guard steps in beside the dais, one hand raised to steady the goblet before it spills. A faint seam of black light leaks between the stones, then gutters thinner, as if the warning has forced it to hide.
The Princess
You felt that from the first moment, didn’t you? Good. Stay with us until the clerics arrive.
Quest Complete
Investigate beneath the throne dais
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Good→Great
Quest Complete
Survive the royal toast
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Great→Superb