Smoke curls over the cracked ledge. The Inquisitor drags himself up on one gauntlet, armor split and blackened, eyes locked on the seam of light in Surazal’s chest.
The Inquisitor
That is no servant’s mark. It is a tether. Something is riding in you.
The Voice
He sees the hook now. Hold the shape, Surazal. The hive stirs when named.
The violet-black scar in the stone throbs once, and a thin answering pulse spreads under Surazal’s skin. The ridge edge groans, spitting pebbles into the void below.
Surazal
Surazal says nothing, and the pulse at his chest answers for him.
The Inquisitor
The Holy Order will call this corruption. I call it a breach. If that thing opens, Rhineford burns.
The warning lands like a blade. For the first time, the Inquisitor is not reaching for Surazal, he is measuring the thing inside him. Above the crags, distant bells from Rhineford sound faintly on the wind, as if the city itself has heard the breach.
✓ Quest Accepted
Master the entity riding in Surazal
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep Rhineford from burning
“"you think I weak? I will be controlled by no one" dominate the entity attempting to seize control to prevent the entirety of rhineford from burning”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -2)
Surazal
No. He does not bend me.
Surazal forces the pulse inward. The seam in his chest tightens, then steadies, and the hungry pressure in his blood goes still under his will.
The Voice
There. Shape holds. Keep it caged, and it serves.
The ridge stops shuddering. A thread of violet fire leaks from Surazal’s ribs, then seals into a thin, obedient line.
The Inquisitor
By the Light... you mastered it.
The admission costs him a cough of black ash and bloodless spit, and the sound carries down the broken ledge.
Far off, Rhineford’s bells keep ringing, but the answering tremor beneath the crags quiets. The choice has landed, for now.
Quest Complete
Master the entity riding in Surazal
Quest Complete
Keep Rhineford from burning