The nailed ring lies in the mud, leaving a dark circular mark in the tower door. The open entrance exhales air colder than the drowned chapel water.
The fae remains behind at the woodland house, and no companion followed Flailet along the eastern road. She stands alone before the leaning bell tower.
Somewhere below, the bell rings once from within its own hollow chamber. The sound travels upward through the stones, vibrating faintly in the warm vial.
The Daughter’s Voice
Flailet. Do not come farther. It heard you promise.
The vial turns cold against Flailet’s hand. Behind her, the daughter’s voice hangs in the mist, though no footstep disturbs the mud or chapel water.
The Voice Beneath Hers
Flailet. That is not the name you carried first.
The tower door remains open. From below comes a slow scrape across stone, followed by the faint shifting of something that has learned to wait.
✓ Quest Accepted
Force the voice back behind the tower’s threshold
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn the name Flailet carried first
“I know the name you want that name is dead to me”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +1)
Flailet
I know the name you want. That name is dead to me.
Her words enter the tower without echo. The cold vial warms in her hand, and the scrape below ceases as though the stones themselves have listened.
The Daughter’s Voice
Then it cannot use that name to open you.
The daughter’s voice comes from the stairwell now, closer but still unseen. Dust sifts from the ceiling, and the open doorway behind Flailet remains empty.
The Voice Beneath Hers
Dead names still have graves. Graves still have doors.
The vial clears, revealing a dark thread suspended in the gold. Below, a narrow stair curves into the tower’s foundation, where a bronze tongue hangs motionless beneath the bell.
The Daughter’s Voice
Come for what remains of me, Flailet. Leave the other name buried.