The tournament herald’s call reaches Damakos’s reserved room. Beyond the pavilion, drums summon him to the next fighting circle, where the crowd swells beneath Elterra’s green and purple banners.
the tournament herald
Damakos Honourbound, return to the grounds. Thrasi’s current champion, Theron Algrens, faces the half-dragon behemoth in the next trial.
The attendant leads Damakos through the curtained passage. The spice factor, pilgrim, and hired courier remain behind under Elieren’s discreet protection; Paladin Sola accompanies him toward the royal enclosure.
Within the circle, Theron raises his legendary blade through Thrasi’s sacred gestures. Opposite him, the towering half-dragon behemoth grips a gnarled club, its scales catching the enchanted lamps.
the Arch-Cleric of Thrasi
Let the champion’s oath be witnessed. Let strength bow to honour, and let corruption reveal itself beneath the Father’s light.
Theron’s motions appear reverent, yet each gesture finishes a fraction too late. In the club’s dark reflections, shapes move against the arena’s light, twisting toward the champion’s shadow.
Paladin Sola
Damakos, watch closely. Something in those rites is false, and the circle may reveal whether Theron is deceived, corrupted, or hiding the infernal trail.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reveal whether Theron Algrens is corrupted or manipulated
“I whisper an infernal incantation to enchant my vision with the ability to pierce any illusions that my be in view.”
SUCCESS (Superb Hellfire magic, rolled -1)
Damakos lowers his voice to a breath and shapes the infernal incantation. Hellfire threads across his silver eyes, sinking beyond surface light and sacred display.
The arena changes beneath his gaze. False radiance peels from Theron’s rites, revealing shadowed sigils braided through each gesture and a thin black tether descending from his blade into his silhouette.
Paladin Sola
There. You see it too, don’t you? The rite is being used to conceal something within him.
The behemoth remains untouched by illusion, but dark reflections crawl across its club, shaped like hooked letters. They converge on Theron’s shadow rather than his flesh.
Theron Algrens
By Thrasi’s law, I claim this trial. Let the beast test the strength granted to the faithful.
the Arch-Cleric of Thrasi
Champion, hold the final gesture. Your oath bears a second pattern, one not taught beneath the Father’s light.
Theron’s blade trembles once. The revealed tether tightens, and a whisper without a mouth passes through the circle, promising victory in a voice that does not belong to Thrasi.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify the source of Theron Algrens’s infernal tether
“I draw on my studies of infernal magics to identify the tether”
SUCCESS (Good Lore, rolled +1)
Damakos fixes his silver-eyed gaze upon the tether and follows its infernal cadence through the false Thrasi gestures. The pattern resolves beneath sacred disguise.
Damakos Honourbound
The tether is a pact-brand, anchored in Theron’s shadow through his blade. It feeds on vows spoken before witnesses.
The black thread bears the seal of coercive covenant, not a summoned spirit. Its far end disappears into a deeper shadow nested within the legendary blade.
Paladin Sola
Name what you have found, Damakos. The arch-cleric must know whether Theron serves the darkness willingly.
The hooked sigils flare as Theron completes another sacred motion. The tether tightens around his silhouette, but the mark reveals no binding over his limbs or tongue.
the Arch-Cleric of Thrasi
The pattern is infernal, yet the champion remains himself. This is corruption laid upon a vow, not proof of willing treason.
Theron Algrens
You trespass upon a rite granted by Thrasi. Withdraw your suspicion, or let the trial judge us all.
Quest Complete
Reveal whether Theron Algrens is corrupted or manipulated
Skill Upgrade: Hellfire magic Superb→Legendary
Quest Complete
Identify the source of Theron Algrens’s infernal tether