The hollow answers Huarti’s will. Frost peels back from the black stone, and the red ring on the floor steadies into a hard, living glow.
Hollow Matron Veyra
Then hear the oaths. Hear what holds this place together, and what it costs to break it.
Pinned by pale roots, Veyra lifts her chin and recites the old binding words. The scouts go still. The ward in the floor throbs once, as if listening.
The bound scouts watch in silence, their hands tightening on empty air as loyalty and fear trade places across their faces.
Huarti presses his dominance deeper into the stone. The recited oaths snag, then bend. The blue chill behind Veyra thins into a faint, failing haze.
Hollow Matron Veyra
No. The hollow is answering him.
A final pulse runs through the floor. The seal loosens just enough to show the nursery path beyond, no longer guarded by frost, but waiting to be claimed.
“I secure it”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -2)
Huarti draws the ward inward. The red glow tightens from a ring into a seal, then settles like a lock setting in stone.
The frost hushes. The passage stands open, no longer asking permission from the hollow.
Hollow Matron Veyra
You have taken its answer. If you mean to keep it, speak your claim now.
The scouts shift at the edge of the light, watching Huarti more than the opening.
Crescent Hollow Scouts
If the path is yours, say it plain.
Above them, the red seal holds steady, and the nursery path waits in cold silence.
Quest Complete
Take the hollow
Skill Upgrade: Arcana Superb→Legendary