The Copper Parley Tablet lies beneath the rune-holders’ hands. Its cracked surface reflects the fading authorization pattern, while Durn watches beside the eastern wicket.
Durn Coalvein
The pattern is Histol’s, but the forge need not remain its instrument. Tell us what defense means when no distant throne gives the order.
Three rune-holders lean over the tablet, comparing its copper lines with the wall’s weakening lattice. Their tools remain ready, but none touches the release sigil.
The Rune-Holders
A ward may shelter roads, settlements, and those who seek refuge. It must not become a chain placed upon every neighbor beyond its stones.
The eastern rune brightens at the word shelter, then dims at chain. A blank space opens on the tablet, waiting for a covenant precise enough to outlast its makers.
Durn Coalvein
Name the limit, bearer. Say when this ward may answer, whom it must protect, and who may withdraw its power when the danger passes.