Aminora bears Huarti high above Merllin, her immense wings carrying them beyond the smoking slopes. Behind them, Ehahase remains with the unconscious Obsidian Dragon beneath the stars.
Aminora
The forest boundary lies ahead. I will set you down where their eyes do not yet reach.
Aminora descends beyond the treeline’s immediate notice. Her broad wings settle without a cry, leaving Huarti a clear view of a corrupted clearing and the warband spread around it.
Orcs and goblins scout between blackened trunks while an ogre watches the flank. Twisted large wolves nose through the ash, their bodies warped by green-black threads in the soil.
At the clearing’s center, an orc shaman, a middle-aged orc man with a broad, scarred face, coarse black hair, and a stocky build beneath a hide vest and moss-dark robes, raises a bone staff. Roots writhe beneath his feet as corruption spills outward in slow rings toward the living forest.
Orc 1
Drink deep, old roots. Carry our strength beneath every tree.
Aminora
There is their leader. The spell has not yet crossed the heartwood, but each pulse brings it nearer. What will you do?
✓ Quest Accepted
Halt the corruption’s spread through Aminora’s forest
“I say to them, "Matrixarga has sent you to corrupt this innocent forest but you must refrain"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Huarti
Matrixarga has sent you to corrupt this innocent forest, but you must refrain.
Huarti’s command crosses the clearing with quiet, immovable force. The roots halt beneath the orc shaman’s feet, and the green-black seepage withdraws from the living soil.
Orc 1
I refrain. The roots will take no further corruption from me.
The bone staff lowers. Around the clearing, scouts and goblins stop their movements, while the ogre watches the silent roots and the twisted wolves retreat from the clean edge of the forest.
Aminora
The forest has heard you. Its heartwood remains untouched, and his working has ended.
Aminora’s immense wings stir the ash as she steps nearer. The clearing stays tense, but the corruption no longer advances, and the living trees begin drawing their roots back into stillness.
Orc 1
Matrixarga ordered the spreading, but your word has stopped my hand. What protection do you demand next?
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn Matrixarga’s plan for Aminora’s forest
Quest Complete
Halt the corruption’s spread through Aminora’s forest
“I say, "i offer advice, soon the Heavens are finalizing their reign over the realms, i would recommend you stop sinning as its patiences is past drawn thin"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Huarti
I offer advice. Soon the Heavens are finalizing their reign over the realms. Stop sinning. Their patience is drawn thin.
The warning settles over the clearing with the weight of judgment. The halted roots remain clean, and even the watching warband keeps still beneath the trees.
Orc 1
Then I will stop. I will not feed this corruption again, nor lead another hand into sin for Matrixarga.
The orc shaman turns his bone staff upside down and presses its blunt end into the ash. The remaining taint withdraws from the roots and fades from the clearing’s edge.
Aminora
Your counsel has been heard, Huarti. The forest is spared, and his surrender is plain.
Orc 1
Tell me what must be done now. I will withdraw my scouts and leave the living forest untouched.
Behind him, the orcs and goblins lower their weapons and begin backing from the trees. The shaman waits openly for Huarti’s next instruction, while Aminora watches the forest breathe again.