The blank space on the Copper Parley Tablet fills with interlocking dwarven script. Three rune-holders compare its limits against the failing lattice while Durn Coalvein watches in silence.
The Rune-Holders
The covenant permits shelter, road-keeping, and defense of those within the ward. It forbids conquest, tribute, and command beyond the stones.
Fresh script locks into the tablet’s copper surface. Across the chamber, the eastern rune steadies, though its outer lines still flicker like embers beneath ash.
Durn Coalvein
The dwarves will release the ward under that defensive covenant. It will answer only to its keepers when danger is present, and its power must cease when the danger passes.
One rune-holder turns the tablet toward Bottu. A narrow final space remains beneath the covenant, shaped for a single binding mark.
Durn Coalvein
The terms are accepted. Give the final mark, Bottu, and the eastern ward will leave Histol’s command behind. Refuse, and it remains unchanged.
The chamber falls still. Ink, copper, and fading rune-light wait before Bottu, while the three rune-holders hold their hands above the tablet without touching it.