The pale root withdraws into the black soil, revealing a narrow stair descending beneath the pines. Maerith’s symbols kindle along each buried step.
The blackened fragment in Dyanara’s palm pulses in answer, sending cold through her hand. From below comes a faint, measured scrape of metal.
Astraya Orlaith
That is no settling stone. Something below is armed, and it knows we are here.
Astraya shifts her harp behind one shoulder and draws her rapier. Caspien advances to the stairhead, falcon sword angled toward the darkness, while Arvanis watches the trees.
Caspien Ashveil
The inscription says hollow mine, but the stair is older than any working recorded in the charter. We should expect a ward.
Arvanis
I will guard the rear. The pines have gone still, and stillness rarely means safety.
Far behind them, Sir Silas remains with the dead traveler, following the last trail before joining them. Below, metal scrapes again, nearer now, and the glowing stair waits.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get past the armed ward
“Alright I’ll go in first then stay alert everyone. *I walk inside and I keep my eyes peeled.*”
SUCCESS (Legendary Perception, rolled -2)
“Alright I’ll go in first then stay alert everyone. *I walk inside and I keep my eyes peeled.*”
SUCCESS (Legendary Perception, rolled +0)
Dyanara Orlaith
I will go in first. Stay alert, everyone.
Dyanara descends beneath the pines, glaive held ready as the black fragment chills her palm. Maerith’s symbols cast pale light across the ancient stair.
She reaches the hollow mine’s first chamber without resistance. Old beams arch overhead, silver veins glimmer in the walls, and dust lies undisturbed except for a single line of metal marks.
Dyanara Orlaith
The scrape came from deeper within, but nothing has moved in this chamber.
Astraya Orlaith
Dyanara, the air is holding its breath. Do you see any sigils beneath the dust?
Caspien Ashveil
The construction predates the mines recorded in my charter. Whatever waits below, this place was made to conceal it.
Arvanis
No footsteps behind us. I will keep the stair secured while you search ahead.
“*I search carefully off the path and look for more symbols on the floor walls brushing them with my hands*”
SUCCESS (Legendary Perception, rolled -1)
Dyanara steps off the marked path and lowers herself beside the ancient wall. Her gloved fingers brush dust from the floor, then trace the cold stone between the silver veins.
Dyanara Orlaith
The symbols continue beneath the dust, hidden rather than erased.
Her touch reveals a ring of Maerith’s script circling the chamber. Matching characters emerge along the walls, joining into a deliberate map of tunnels beneath the mine.
Caspien Ashveil
There. The lower passages form a seal around one central chamber. This was not a mine shaft, but a vault.
Astraya Orlaith
And these smaller marks repeat beside the entrances. They are warnings, Dyanara, written for whoever carried the flame.
As Dyanara clears the final section, a hidden inscription shines beneath her palm: Keeper’s blood opens the way; oath-bound hands must witness what sleeps below.
Arvanis
The path is clear now. We know where the vault lies, and the old magic has recognized you.
“*I furrow my brow in thought as I get up more determined and follow the path laid out to me.*”
SUCCESS (Fair Agility, rolled -1)
Dyanara furrows her brow, rises with renewed purpose, and follows Maerith’s glowing symbols into the lower passage. Her glaive brushes the stone as the tunnel slopes downward.
Dyanara Orlaith
The symbols form a route, not a warning alone.
The hidden path winds beneath silver-veined rock and opens into the central vault. A circular door of black stone waits there, already parted around a narrow seam.
Caspien Ashveil
The vault is open. Your blood has fulfilled the first condition, Lady Orlaith, but the seal is draining something from you.
Cold surges from the fragment into Dyanara’s marked palm. The black crescent spreads across two fingers, leaving them numb, while the vault’s inner chamber becomes visible.
Astraya Orlaith
Dyanara, stop and let me examine your hand. We have found the chamber, but I will not ignore what it is taking.
Arvanis
I hear no movement beyond the threshold. The way is clear, though the silence inside feels old enough to remember betrayal.
Quest Complete
Get past the armed ward
Skill Upgrade: Magic Fair→Good