The stitched shadow follows beneath Veyka as blue fire carries her from the Gauntlet. The path ends at a roofless stone shrine beneath a colorless sky.
A blackthorn gate blocks the road, its twisted branches glazed with frost. Veyka’s true name gleams across it, cut beside older marks left by travelers who reached Sri Baris.
No attendant waits among the broken pillars. Beyond the gate, darkness pools over worn flagstones, while the blue guide-fire gutters low at Veyka’s heels.
An iron basin rests before the gate, holding gray ash, a neat mound of salt, and one unlit candle. Frost creeps from the threshold toward its rim.
Veyka
The gate bears my true name, but the shrine offers no hand to open it.
Behind Veyka, the path to the dwarf smith’s forge has vanished beneath black mist. The smith remains behind, while the witness and wounded pale hare are farther still, beyond the pool and longhouse.
The stitched shadow settles against her boots as the blue flame leans toward the basin. Somewhere beyond the blackthorn, stone gives a single hollow knock, then falls silent.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure protected passage toward Sri Baris
Veyka leaves Roofless Stone Shrine behind and arrives at Sri Baris.
“Sri Baris lay beyond this gate. Free now of any bonds to this shadowed world, the thorns, vines, and all left behind, i reach across the shrine. I knew the price. The smith had made it clear. The gate would open only when it knew my blood. So blood is what i offer it. My claws dip low to pierce my hand, and blood leaks gently from my palm into the shrine. When the gate opens and i pass through, the queen would know my name and my mark. One more person on my heels.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +3)
Veyka’s claws pierce her palm. Blood falls into the ash, salt, and candle, and the blackthorn gate drinks it with a sound like a satisfied sigh.
Her true name ignites across the branches. The thorns unwind, revealing Sri Baris beyond: a wind-carved valley of pale towers, green fire, and distant bells beneath a violet dawn.
Veyka crosses the threshold. The Queen’s mark burns once, broadcasting her name through the gate, then settles into a cold, watchful ember as the shrine falls behind.
Sri Baris smells of rain, old stone, and living magic. At the valley’s center, a great white tree rises from the ruins, its roots wrapped around a sealed bronze door.
The gate closes behind her, but a second figure slips through before the final thorn locks: an adult woman in a weather-stained green mantle, pale-faced and silver-haired, with a broken chain at her throat.
the silver-haired woman
Do not mistake my following for obedience, fae. I have my own claim upon Sri Baris.
Across the valley, the bronze door answers with three thunderous knocks from within. Green fire blooms along its seams, and every bell in Sri Baris begins to ring.
Quest Complete
Escape the Gauntlet and return toward Sri Baris
Skill Upgrade: Athletics Good→Great
✓ Quest Accepted
Sleep undisturbed at the tavern
“I'd been denied rest do to the Thorned Queen. I sought to return to the longhouse, crawl back atop my table, lay on my back atop its surface, remove my clothes, and sleep. Tomorrow morning I'd wake and return to my bounty board.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -1)