Before the covenant’s violet circle can fade, a mud-stained royal physician emerges along the restored road. He carries no weapon, guard, or escort, only the king’s private signet.
the royal physician
Prince Ulkesh, I came from the capital without delay. His Majesty has begun speaking in the old administrative tongue, naming the eastern covenant as though he watches it awaken.
The physician raises the signet. Elyr’s cracked staff answers with a violet pulse, and the surviving ward-stones echo it beneath the riverbed.
Elyr Tann
That seal carries the king’s private authority, yet the covenant recognizes more than royal blood. Something within the capital now speaks through its oldest laws.
Ulkesh's brother
Then this crisis no longer belongs to the succession chamber. If Father can summon the covenant from afar, every claim to the throne is already being judged.
Maerith keeps the guards at the ward line, while the human delegation remains beneath the truce banner. Serath stands beside Ulkesh, watching the signet rather than the physician.
the royal physician
He spoke one phrase before the physicians restrained him: the keeper must return before the seventh bell. Then he named Vaelor, and the chapel lamps went dark.
✓ Quest Accepted
Return to the capital and confront the king’s warning
✓ Quest Accepted
Discover who in the royal line has identified Ulkesh’s hidden power
“I question the physician about who heard the king name Vaelor.”
SUCCESS (Superb Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Ulkesh Valen
Who heard the king name Vaelor? Tell me every witness, and tell me who restrained him.
the royal physician
I heard him first, Prince. Two senior physicians stood beside me, and the chief chamberlain entered before the chapel lamps failed.
The physician grips the signet tighter. Across the riverbed, Elyr’s violet circle gives a subdued pulse, as though weighing each named witness.
the royal physician
The physicians restrained him after the second utterance. The chamberlain heard both, but fled when the darkness reached the royal chapel.
Elyr Tann
Then the king’s words were witnessed by healers and court authority, not carried from rumor. The covenant has a living testimony to summon.
Serath Vael
Ask next whether the chamberlain carried the king’s command beyond the chapel. If he did, the old laws may already be moving through the capital.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine whether the chamberlain carried the king’s command beyond the chapel
“I ask whether the chamberlain carried the king’s command beyond the chapel.”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled +2)
Ulkesh Valen
Did the chamberlain carry the king’s command beyond the chapel?
the royal physician
Yes, Prince. He carried the king’s words to the inner council before fleeing the darkened chapel. I heard him order the scribes to awaken the eastern covenant’s records.
The physician lowers the signet. Elyr’s staff answers with a sharper violet pulse, and faint script briefly circles the cracked mark beneath his feet.
the royal physician
He named the keeper’s return as a royal command, not a warning. The chamberlain also sent a sealed copy toward the royal chapel archives.
Elyr Tann
Then the old laws have already been invoked within the capital. The covenant will recognize every hand that carried the command.
Serath Vael
The chamberlain did more than flee. He distributed the king’s authority among the administrators, giving them cause to convene before the seventh bell.
Beyond the ward line, the riverbed falls silent. The human delegation watches beneath its white banner while Maerith’s guards turn their attention toward the road to the capital.
Quest Complete
Determine whether the chamberlain carried the king’s command beyond the chapel
Ulkesh Valen leaves Elaris Ford behind and arrives at capital.
“I return to the capital with the physician”
SUCCESS (Fair Agility, rolled +0)
The capital rises beneath a gray-violet dawn, its elven towers veiled in chapel smoke. Ulkesh arrives beside the royal physician at the inner gate, where bells toll before the seventh hour.
Royal scribes and anxious administrators crowd the gatehouse steps. Their tablets bear the eastern covenant’s sigil, freshly inked and sealed with the king’s authority.
the royal physician
We have returned, Prince. The inner council waits in emergency session, and the chamberlain’s sealed copy has already entered the archives.
A palace herald descends through the gathered officials, bowing first to Ulkesh and then presenting a narrow scroll bound in black thread.
the palace herald
By order of the inner council, the keeper named by the covenant is summoned to the royal chapel. The administrators demand his testimony before the seventh bell.
the royal physician
His Majesty remains confined, but he is awake. Since your arrival, every chapel lamp has burned violet, and the old tongue has spread through the halls.
Behind the herald, the palace doors open onto a corridor filled with violet fire. At its far end, unseen voices begin reciting ancient administrative law.
“I demand the inner council reveal its witnesses”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -2)
Ulkesh Valen
I demand that the inner council reveal every witness to the king’s command, and state each witness’s office before this assembly.
The demand cuts through the recited law. The palace herald stiffens, while scribes turn their tablets outward and record Ulkesh’s words beneath the covenant sigil.
the palace herald
The witnesses are the royal physician, the two senior physicians, the chief chamberlain, and three archive scribes who received his sealed command.
the royal physician
I confirm my testimony. The senior physicians are Lethan Or and Miravel Senn. The chamberlain is Odran Pell. The scribes are named on the council roll.
A concealed bell rings once within the chapel. Violet script crawls across the herald’s scroll, forcing the council’s sealed witness roll into visible form before the gatehouse.
the palace herald
The archive scribes are Tavar Eln, Sira Vey, and Halen Dorr. All three received the chamberlain’s copy before he fled.
Elyr Tann
Your demand is answered, keeper. But the covenant has marked your public examination as a formal inquiry. Every witness must now appear before you before the seventh bell.
Quest Complete
Return to the capital and confront the king’s warning
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Fair→Good