The room still feels trapped in winter when the clerics finish their ward and send for the Head Priest. The crate sits steady, but Sharp Archer does not. The artifact is not just inside the box now, it beats through him, faint and mean, in time with his pulse.
First Cleric
He needs to see this at once. There is no clean way to explain it now.
Mallory keeps to one side, jaw tight, while the Second Cleric watches Archer’s hand for any tremor. The frost on the floor lies still, but the air near Archer keeps dimming and brightening like breath against glass.
Second Cleric
Every surge he draws, the object answers. We saw it when he worked the ward.
The door opens with a slow, chilled creak. The Head Priest enters, stops short, and stares as if he has walked into a confession.
Father Thomas
It is feeding on him. Not bound to him, feeding through him.
Father Thomas
By all that is holy... the artifact is drinking the very power he uses to hold it.
His eyes flick from the crate to Archer’s chest, where the pulse answers again, harder this time. The priest takes one step closer, then stops, as if afraid to breathe too near the truth.
✓ Quest Accepted
Survive the artifact's drain
✓ Quest Accepted
Fully absorb the artifact
“I feel the decaying god reach out for me through the artifact. I fall to me knees as I try to absorb the artifact into me before his rot can be released”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Sharp Archer sinks to his knees beside the crate, and the room seems to lean with him. The pulse in his chest answers the artifact, then swallows it, as if he has opened a door inward.
Father Thomas
No, look at that. It is not clinging to him now, it is being taken in.
A dark line creeps along Archer’s veins beneath the skin, then steadies. The frost on the floor does not spread, it only shivers once, drawn thin as breath.
First Cleric
Hold still, soldier. Let it finish, and do not fight the pull.
Mallory steps closer without touching him, face drawn tight with worry and awe. The crate’s glow dims as Archer’s own body takes the burden.
Second Cleric
If he falters now, it will tear back through him.
The Head Priest lowers his voice, eyes fixed on Archer’s chest. The room goes very still around the chalk ward, waiting for the answer that only Archer’s breathing can give.
Quest Complete
Survive the artifact's drain
“I let it finish drawing into me”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
The draw completes in one long, silent pull. The crate’s remaining glow drains into Sharp Archer, and the dark tracing in his veins settles like ink in water.
The floor frost gives a single shiver, then lies still under the ward. The room keeps its breath.
Father Thomas
It has taken root. The bond is not on the surface anymore.
First Cleric
He is holding it. For the moment, at least.
Mallory
He looks steady now, but only just.
Father Thomas
There is one way I know to force it loose, but it is brutal and not certain. If you want it, I will say it plain.
Quest Complete
Fully absorb the artifact
New Gift: Hard-Won Insight