At the passage mouth, attendants settle the fallen knight against a pillar and bind her shoulder. Behind them, the remaining candidates stay in formation beneath the gallery's watch.
The gallery commander strides toward Arzerelus, a broad-shouldered middle-aged woman, with weathered brown skin and a square jaw in dark green commander's leathers, her iron-gray braid pinned beneath a crested helm.
the gallery commander
You. Stay there. I want your account before I order another trial.
She turns toward the arena and points with a scarred gauntlet. Several ward-stones stand dark, their runes dead while neighboring stones still pulse blue-white.
the gallery commander
They followed the drills exactly. Brace, advance, rotate, withdraw. Yet the eastern line collapsed, then the center answered late.
Dust settles over the marked sand. The two knights who remained behind now help steady the formation, while attendants continue working around the injured knight.
the gallery commander
You reached her before the ward failed completely. Tell me what you saw, Arzerelus, and do not spare the truth.
✓ Quest Accepted
Give the commander an account of the ward failure
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify the cause of the eastern ward collapse
“I study the dark eastern ward-stones for signs of damage.”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Perception, rolled +2)
Arzerelus crosses the marked sand toward the eastern ward-stones, ignoring the gallery commander’s demand for the moment. Dust clings to the dead runes.
Up close, the stones show no fractures or scorch marks. Their carved channels are intact, but a thin residue of blackened magic stains the lower runes.
Arzerelus
The damage is inside the ward, not on its surface.
She traces the pattern with her eyes and finds three severed lines where the eastern circuit should feed the center. The breaks are clean and deliberate.
the gallery commander
You found something. Is it damage from the trial, or sabotage?
The gallery commander strides closer, boots grinding over sand. Behind her, the surviving ward-stones pulse unevenly, answering the eastern failure with delayed blue light.
the gallery commander
No candidate touched those stones. Seal the arena and summon the wardwrights. This trial is finished until I know who altered the circuit.
“I inspect the center circuit for matching tampering.”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Perception, rolled +1)
Arzerelus moves to the center circuit as the gallery commander orders the arena sealed. The surviving ward-stones pulse unevenly around her, casting restless blue light across the sand.
She follows the carved channels beneath the central stone, comparing each junction to the eastern pattern. Dust hides the damage until her fingers brush away the grit.
Arzerelus
The center circuit is severed from within as well.
Three clean cuts interrupt the central feed, each marked by the same blackened residue. The breaks align with the eastern sabotage, forming a deliberate chain beneath the trial ground.
the gallery commander
Matching tampering. Someone wanted the failure to spread, not merely to break one ward.
A faint current of hostile magic lingers in the channels, cold against Arzerelus's fingertips before fading into the stone. The circuit's hidden pattern is unmistakable.
the gallery commander
No one leaves the grounds. Wardwrights will preserve these marks, and every candidate will be questioned before sunset.
Quest Complete
Identify the cause of the eastern ward collapse
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Mediocre→Fair
“I give the commander my full account along with a few theories”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Reasoning, rolled +3)
Arzerelus
The eastern ward failed first. The knights followed their drills, but the stones answered late, then the center collapsed. I reached the injured knight as the passage buckled.
Arzerelus
The stones show no fractures or scorch marks. Their channels were cut cleanly from within, and the black residue matches on both circuits.
Arzerelus
My theories are these: someone altered the wards before the trial, someone used the exercise to test how the failure would spread, or the sabotage was meant to injure more than one candidate.
The gallery commander listens without interruption, her scarred gauntlet resting against the pommel at her hip. Around them, wardwrights, a young adult woman with copper-brown skin and a close-cropped black bob and a young adult man with light skin, a narrow face, and sandy hair, both in gray-blue work coats, leather tool belts, and silver-threaded gloves begin marking the dead channels with chalk and silver pins.
the gallery commander
You observed the sequence, inspected the stones, and separated fact from suspicion. That is a fuller account than most soldiers would give under pressure.
the gallery commander
Your theories remain unproven, but each deserves investigation. The wardwrights will test the residue, and I will question every hand permitted near these circuits.
She turns toward the sealed gates and raises her voice so the guards can hear. The arena falls into disciplined silence, preserving every altered stone for examination.
Quest Complete
Give the commander an account of the ward failure
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Fair→Good