Round 7

Jeane Cromwell stepped closer to Elric, her voice cool but laced with steel. "Those runes aren't mere decorations." The air around them crackled with residual magic, and she could feel it prickling against her skin—a warning, perhaps, or just the ancient power of the place seeping through. She needed more information, faster.

Merrin moved to the gate's edge, crossbow held loosely but ready. Her eyes scanned the arcane symbols etched into the stone, searching for any hint of a pattern. The air around them felt thick with old magic, prickling against her skin like a thousand tiny pins. She could practically taste the power emanating from those markings.

Seraphine approached the gate directly, her fingers tracing the cool, worn stone of its frame. The runes etched into the surface seemed to hum under her touch, a low vibration that resonated deep within her bones. Her eyes narrowed as she studied them, seeing not just marks, but a complex pattern of magical energy. "This isn't a simple lock," she murmured to herself.

The base of the crumbling stone tower loomed above them, its entrance sealed by an ancient rune-covered gate deep within the haunted Whispering Woods. The quest was clear: retrieve the legendary Time-Splitting Sword from the accursed tower within. But first, they needed to breach this barrier—if it could even be breached at all.