A sudden hush rolls through the gallery. Pilgrims drop to their knees as six armed household guards enter beneath the arches, their polished helms and great hammers gleaming.
The Household Guards
Make way! The Empress and her escorts come to assemble in communal worship! Make way!
The courier kneels beside the pilgrims. The archive keeper lowers her head, bronze keys stilled at her belt, while the empress enters in silver-crowned splendor and surveys the gallery.
Empress Sabellice
Rise, Avel. You have maintained this Sanctum well. Tell me, why is this place bustling with humble worshipers today, of all days?
The Archive Keeper
Your Majesty, the courier posted a wanted notice for several of the Empire's most notorious enemies. The details of said villains and the rewards promised brought many eyes to unexpected places, I suspect.
Sabellice studies Avel, then the crowd within and outside of the Sanctum, weighing their lives and stories with cold efficiency. At last her gaze settles on Effruin’s hood and the records he stood beside. There, she takes more time than the others to take in the information of the man she laid eyes upon. Between the missing arm and the skin of a drow, something in the Empress' instincts told her that she should press this man.
Empress Sabellice
Hello, Goodfellow. I apologize for disrupting your worship. Might I ask which God it is you pay homage to?
✓ Quest Accepted
Avoid detention by Empress Sabellice
“I bow and answer with a measured devotion to one of the old Gods, the devourer of memories and dreams.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Effruin bows with measured precision. The richly embroidered burgundy robes conceal the scars that might otherwise mark him as an escaped slave, while their severe magnificence lends his posture borrowed authority.
Effruin
I pay devotion to Nhalor, the devourer of memories and dreams. In forgetting, the faithful find release; in surrendering dreams, we become difficult to rule.
The old name leaves him without hesitation. Resisting the pull of blood ties and inherited loyalties, Effruin gives the answer the calm weight of practiced faith, never allowing the room to command his composure.
Empress Sabellice
A bleak god for a man dressed in such splendid colors. Yet your devotion is disciplined, and discipline is more useful than piety performed for an audience.
Sabellice’s scrutiny eases by a fraction. The drow beneath the hood remains suspect, but the robes, the bow, and the controlled answer give her no cause to expose him before the assembled worshipers.
Empress Sabellice
Rise, pilgrim. You may continue your worship in the outer galleries. Avel, please see that none disturb me.
Permission settles over Effruin like a shield. The Empress turns onward, and the archive keeper resumes her watch, leaving the relic records and their guarded secrets open to his continued inspection.
Quest Complete
Avoid detention by Empress Sabellice