The violet trail crawls down the cellar wall like spilled ink with a pulse. Slaan and Kynes descend into the damp below the Hall of Welcome, where old parchment and ozone hang in the air.
At the bottom, the trail gathers at a heavy iron-bound door. A long-defunct House seal is stamped into the metal, half-rotted, half-fresh, as if something behind it still remembers how to knock.
Slaan
The ink is not pooling, it is feeding.
Kynes
That seal should be inert. If it is waking, the parasite has found a relay.
The violet light throbs once, and the floorboards answer with a faint, hungry tremor. The trail does not stop at the door. It threads into the seams around it, tying the cellar to something deeper in the network.
Nhal
This is not a stain. It is a route.
Kynes raises a hand toward the seal, measuring the wards, while the door gives a soft, dreadful click from the far side. Whatever is cultivated behind it is close enough now to touch the Hall's memories.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the source behind the iron-bound door
“" you know we should have studied the parasite first, or are we doing this on the fly as your normal operating procedure?" I ask Kynes with a grin”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
Slaan
You know, we should have studied the parasite first. Or are we doing this on the fly as your normal operating procedure?
Kynes
He huffs a short laugh, eyes still on the seal. If I had a normal operating procedure, Slaan, I would call it a luxury. I traced the trail because it was moving, not because it was wise.
Nhal
Nhal tilts their head, almost amused. Wisdom is often what gets written down after the danger has already spoken.
Kynes
He lowers his hand from the seal and finally looks to Slaan. But no, you are right. We should have taken a fuller reading. I chose speed because I did not want the route to fade while we debated it.
Kynes
The grin does not make the question lighter, but it makes the answer easier to give.
Kynes angles his lantern closer to the door seam, now speaking more openly than before. The violet trail trembles in the mortar, steady but watchful, as if waiting for the next choice.
Kynes
If you want the patient approach, say so now. If you want the door opened, I can ask the seal what it remembers.
“"nah I live on the fly,"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Slaan
Nah, I live on the fly.
Slaan steps in at once, hand lifting to the iron seal without another glance at the ledgers. The violet trail brightens under her touch, not resisting, just answering.
The hidden mechanism clicks again, deeper this time, and the door gives a slow, deliberate shift in its frame.
Kynes
Then I open it for the moving target.
Kynes sets his palm to the seal and speaks a short phrase under his breath. The iron-bound door unlatches with a heavy, inward sigh, the seam widening into blackness.
Nhal
The route is not ending. It is choosing a shape.
Cold air leaks out from beyond, carrying the faintest trace of ink and old dust. The violet thread stays taut, extending through the opening like a lit path waiting for someone to follow.