Bottu wakes beneath the wind-carved ice shelf, the Pearl Claw close beside him. The dream of Tiamat thins into cold starlight and fading voices.
Seraphine remains far behind at the northern waystation; no companion has followed Bottu across the glacier. He is alone beneath the storm-dark sky.
Bottu
The storm peaks are nearer than they were last night.
Eastward, the mountains rise like broken teeth. A fortress crowns their highest ridge, its black silhouette repeatedly pierced by constant lightning.
The Pearl Claw’s pull angles toward that distant citadel, steady and cold. Beneath it runs a second sensation, an answering awareness from within the fortress.
Something in the Azure Citadel has noticed him. The storm briefly illuminates narrow towers, shattered battlements, and a high entrance glowing faintly between strikes.
Snow streams across the glacier shelf, erasing the hollow behind him. The route east waits beneath the gathering storm, while the unseen presence waits within the citadel.
✓ Quest Accepted
Enter the Azure Citadel unseen
“I had to get closer. It was still rather far away, but I could sense it, the pull. Another relic was in that citadel somewhere.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +0)
Bottu follows the relic’s pull across the glacier, moving swiftly between wind-carved ridges. His small frame slips through narrow breaks in the ice while the storm gathers overhead.
The ascent carries him onto the mountain’s lower shelf, where the Azure Citadel rises above him. Lightning reveals its towers, bridges, and shattered battlements in stark intervals.
Bottu
The Pearl Claw is answering something inside the fortress.
Bottu crosses the exposed shelf with practiced balance, timing each burst of wind against the thunder. The citadel’s entrance grows distinct between the storm strikes, its high arch lit from within.
A final narrow ascent brings him beneath the fortress walls. Dark stone towers over the mountain path, and old runes shimmer around the entrance as the distant relic pulses in response.
Bottu stands at the Azure Citadel’s high entrance, close enough to feel the answering presence through the Pearl Claw. Stormlight spills across the threshold, and the sealed way awaits his next action.