The cultist hits the crates hard, and the violet artifact nearly slips from his hands. Fruit rolls across the cobbles, bouncing into boots and stall legs as the guard captain closes in behind Surazal.
Captain Harlen
Drop it. Now. You are surrounded.
Vaelin
Not here. Not with them both on me.
The artifact pulses again, brighter this time. The glow crawls over the captain’s face, and for a heartbeat the dead body nearby seems even colder, as if the thing is feeding the square itself.
The stranger at Surazal’s side shifts one step back, keeping clear of the captain’s line, while the cultist tightens his grip and looks for a gap to bolt through.
Surazal now stands where the contest turns, close enough to seize the artifact, strike for the cultist, or force the captain to choose between arrest and the necromantic proof in plain sight.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the necromantic artifact
“Can I suppress the artifact's glow before the captain notices its true nature?”
YES (Even, rolled 39)
Surazal
The artifact's resonance is tied to the cultist's own frantic heartbeat, not just the stone itself. If I dampen his pulse with a minor ward, the light will fade.
Vaelin
You think you can just take it from me, mage? You have no idea what this hunger feels like.
“Is the cultist's grip weakening?”
YES, AND MORE (Likely, rolled 11)
The cultist's fingers spasm as the violet light flares, then abruptly dies, leaving his hands trembling and limp. The artifact slips from his nerveless grasp, clattering onto the cobblestones with a hollow, bone-like sound.
Vaelin
It is cold... so cold. My name is Vaelin, and I was never meant to hold this burden.
“I seize the artifact”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +1)
Surazal darts in low and clean, his staff hand brushing the cobbles as he hooks the dull grey artifact with two fingers and lifts it away from the stones.
Surazal
The pulse is gone. It is inert in my hand.
Vaelin
No, wait, that is not for him. Please, do not let him take it.
Captain Harlen
Hold still, both of you. Surazal, keep that thing away from the body.
Vaelin twists up from his knees, reaching helplessly toward the empty space where the relic was, while the captain steps in with a hard stare and a ready hand.
For a breath, the market square goes tight and silent around the dead weight of the moment.
Then the artifact rests in Surazal's grip, cold and unmistakably his to keep for now, as both men wait to see what he does next.
Quest Complete
Secure the necromantic artifact
+ New Item Acquired
Necromantic artifact