Heavy footsteps descend through the broken stones. A warhammer scrapes against marble, and Reggie Vonland emerges beneath the ruined arch, bronze skin tense beneath his travel-worn armor.
Reggie Vonland
Roku. I felt your magic tear through something buried. The dragon in my blood has been restless ever since.
Ash drifts around Reggie’s boots without wind. His fingers tighten around the hammer as the gray dust briefly coils into the shape of a claw, then collapses.
Jessica
You came from the fort. That means Larry’s wound reached farther than this chamber.
Vaelith
The artifact is gone, but its first voice may have escaped. I hear it beneath the silence, searching for Roku’s blood.
Beyond the eastern arch, the fort remains behind them with its commander, soldiers, and the sealed village. Only Vaelith and Jessica have accompanied Roku into the ruins.
Reggie Vonland
Then we should not linger. Whatever answered your power is still close, and it knows we are here.
✓ Quest Accepted
Discover what the escaped first voice seeks from Roku
✓ Quest Accepted
Reveal the truth of Reggie’s dragon blood
“I study the claw-shaped ash around Reggie's boots.”
FAILURE (Fair Perception, rolled +0)
Roku crouches beside Reggie’s boots and studies the claw-shaped ash without touching it. Its ridges resemble talons, but the powder shifts whenever his gaze settles on them.
Roku Luaghly
The ash is responding to my attention.
He traces the pattern through sight and remembered magic, seeking its source. The shape suddenly folds inward, scattering across the marble and erasing its own outline.
Reggie Vonland
Careful. It is not ash alone. Something in it recognizes you, and recognition cuts both ways.
A thin residue remains where the claw’s middle talon rested. It forms a crooked trail toward a sealed stair beneath the chamber, though the marks fade with each breath.
Vaelith
You did not find the creature’s shape, but you found where its memory withdrew. The stair was silent before you looked.
Jessica
Then the ash cannot be studied safely here. Follow the fading trail, or seal the stair before it vanishes.
“*i take Reggie hand and lead him to the fort to help him while blushing*”
SUCCESS (Fair Agility, rolled +0)
Roku reaches for Reggie’s hand and closes his fingers around it. Heat rises visibly across his cheeks as he leads the warrior away from the sealed stair and toward the fort.
Reggie Vonland
All right, Roku. I will follow your lead, though you should know this makes leaving considerably harder.
Reggie’s hammer knocks against the marble as they climb, making a sharp report through the ruins. The noise spends their quiet, but no pursuing force answers it.
Jessica
The stair can wait. If the fort has healers, use them before that cut worsens.
Vaelith gathers her chain and follows with Jessica close behind. Together they pass beneath the eastern arch, leaving the ash trail and its fading memory underground.
At the fort, the commander sends a healer forward. Reggie keeps Roku’s hand until the wounded forearm is cleaned and wrapped, while the soldiers stare at their return.
Reggie Vonland
There. You helped me get back safely, and I am still standing. Whatever waits below, we face it after you have rested.