The altar map finishes revealing its descent. Then the listening bell remains slack, yet a second note vibrates through the undercroft, the same impossible tone that answered from the chained coffin.
The False Caller
Three thrones wait below. The last seat belongs to Ilyrien.
Living Witness
That is not my name. I have never known that name.
Brother Caldus
The coffin used a borrowed voice. This is the same caller, reaching through the stones.
Living roots peel away from the passage walls, sinking into the cracks. Beneath them, footprints emerge in old dust, one trail descending toward the three empty thrones.
The False Caller
Come, Ilyrien. The thrones remember what you deny.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reveal whether the caller serves the Briar Sisters
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the three empty thrones
“I keep the Witness close and descend through the root-cleared passage.”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled +0)
Malrec Voss gathers the Living Witness close and enters the cleared passage. The old dust accepts his armored stride without giving way.
Living Witness
Do not let it name me again.
Therefore Brother Caldus follows, keeping one hand near the Witness while the altar's crimson glow narrows behind them. The briar-veined map remains visible above, its route pointing downward.
Brother Caldus
There. The stones are carved with the Sisters' seal.
But the false voice answers from beyond the seal, and the carved briars blacken instead of awakening. A second sigil burns beneath them, angular and unfamiliar.
The False Caller
Their harvest is spent. I am what waited beneath it.
Brother Caldus
Then the Sisters did not command the caller. They fed it.
The passage ends at a forked stair descending toward a vast chamber. Three pale thrones show above the darkness, still beyond reach, while the unfamiliar sigil opens like an unblinking eye in the stone.
Quest Complete
Reveal whether the caller serves the Briar Sisters