Round 87 Transcript

The runes writhe and twist in response to Merrin's touch, their mouths agape in a silent scream of hunger. As she pauses at the wall, her fingers tracing the cracks and crevices, Varrika readies her mace, its heavy head at the ready. Halie extinguishes her torches, plunging the area into darkness, and Seraphine documents the rune pattern with a mixture of fascination and trepidation. The air is heavy with the ward's hostility, its slow pressure building behind Jeane's eyes like migraine precursors. She warns Merrin to map out traps without setting them off or feeding the ward's appetite, her voice laced with concern. "Merrin, we can't let its hunger consume us. We need a key sequence or word to bypass its power structure."

Merrin's gaze darts between the runes and the surrounding stone, her mind racing with possibilities. She knows she must proceed carefully, for one wrong move could prove disastrous. The Time-Splitting Sword waits within these crumbling walls, but at what cost?

I watch Merrin scale the crumbling stonework of the tower's base, her small form silhouetted against the moonlight. The air crackles with an ancient energy, a hunger that seems to emanate from the very runes carved into the gate before us. A shiver runs down my spine as I feel it probe at my mind, a faint, insistent pressure at the edges of my thoughts.
I turn my attention back to the parchment spread before me on a makeshift table, the quill trembling slightly in my hand. The runic patterns are complex, far more intricate than anything I've studied. Each symbol seems to be a piece of a greater whole, a puzzle waiting to be solved. I lean closer, squinting in the dim torchlight, trying to decipher their meaning.
Halie's voice cuts through the air, sharp and commanding. "We need to map this ward's anatomy before we bleed into its veins." She's right, of course. But the thought of what lies beyond this wall fills me with a deep unease. The Time-Splitting Sword is said to grant unimaginable power, yet every tale speaks of the terrible price paid by those who wield it.
I hear Varrika shift her weight behind me, the rasp of leather against stone. She's ready for anything that might come our way. I glance up at Merrin again, now crouched on a narrow ledge above us, her head craning as she peers through a grimy window set high in the wall. If anyone can find a way inside without setting off the ward's traps, it's her.
My gaze drifts back to the gate, to the writhing runes that seem to pulse with malevolent intent. They call to something deep within me, a primal fear of the unknown. I push the feeling down, focusing instead on the cold logic of my spell components scattered across the table before me. We have come too far to turn back now. But we must proceed with utmost care, lest we become lost to their insatiable hunger.*

I taste it now—the ward's hunger isn't for flesh, but essence, magic, power itself. This thing was built to devour spellcasters whole, and Merrin fancies herself a wall-crawler? Foolish girl. The runes aren't just symbols; they're teeth in a hungry maw. Seraphine, document every line and curve, we need to know what feeds it before I try starving the beast. Varrika, keep that mace ready—if anything tries to swallow us whole, crack its jaw with iron and bone. Merrin, use your eyes, not your hands. No tools near those runes until we understand their appetite. And Halie? Put those torches out before it mistakes firelight for a meal. We proceed when I say the pattern is clear, not before.

I pause at the wall, scanning for weaknesses and potential entry points. My hands twitch at my sides, eager to scale the crumbling stone and find a way in, but I force myself to be patient. "Varrika, keep an eye on those runes while I do a bit of wall-crawling," I call over my shoulder. "Halie, keep those torches ready. We might need them."

I take a deep breath and start to climb, my nimble fingers finding purchase in the cracks and crevices. As I scale higher, I keep a watchful eye on the runes, ready to pull back at any sign of their hunger growing. The tower's exterior is riddled with traps and pitfalls, but I've dealt with worse. My heart pounds in my chest as I reach for a ledge, wondering what secrets lie beyond this ancient gate. The Time-Splitting Sword waits within these crumbling walls, but at what cost? One wrong move and we could be lost to their hunger. But we've come too far to turn back now. We must find a way in, or all our efforts will have been for naught.