D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Seal-Chain Ruptures of the Restricted Stacks and the Notches Gnawed into the Signet by Vermin

# Investigation# Intrigue# Arcane# Dungeon

The Grand Archive of the city-state of Kethis is rotting from within. The ancient Seal-Chains that bind the Restricted Stacks—tomes of forbidden knowledge—are unraveling, leaking arcane corruption that twists flesh and mind. Whispers speak of vermin gnawing at the very heart of the Archive, the Signet of Compliance, whose destruction would unleash the stacks' horrors upon the world. You are drawn into a web of blame and desperation, where the cure may be as deadly as the disease.

Chronicle Prelude

You stand in the public atrium of the Grand Archive of Kethis. Soaring marble pillars are marred by creeping, oily black veins. Scholars whisper in hushed, frantic tones, casting nervous glances towards the heavy bronze doors that lead to the inner Restricted Stacks. The air hums with a low, subsonic thrum of barely contained power.

Environmental Traits

A catastrophic arcane breach is imminent. The Seal-Chains, a network of magical wards and physical locks, are failing. Containment is breaking, and the forbidden knowledge within is leaking out as a corrupting psychic miasma that warps reality and sanity. The source is the gnawed Signet, the master key, now compromised by an unknown verminous force.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (8)

Keeper Vela
An elderly woman with sharp, intelligent eyes and hair like spun silver pulled back in a severe bun. She wears the heavy, dark blue robes of the Archivists' Conclave, frayed at the edges from long hours of study and worry. Her expression is one of profound weariness etched with grim determination.
Inquisitor Malek
A tall, powerfully built man in burnished silver and black armor. A sigil of a burning book is emblazoned on his chestplate. His face is gaunt, marked by righteous fervor, and his eyes hold the fire of absolute conviction. He moves with the precise, controlled energy of a soldier and a zealot.
Scribe Kael
A wiry, twitchy man in tattered, ink-stained scholar's robes. His eyes dart constantly, unfocused, as if tracking invisible text in the air. He mutters to himself, sometimes quoting passages, sometimes warnings. Despite his fractured state, a keen, desperate intelligence still flickers within.
The Vermin Host
A horrifying amalgam of a human woman and a colony of chitinous, iridescent insects. The woman's face, Elara's, is visible, serene and almost beatific, but her body is a writhing host for the swarm. Patches of pale skin show through gaps in the living carapace. The insects hum with a low, psychic resonance that is unsettling but not immediately aggressive.
Mutated Sentinel
A towering figure in rusted, library guardian armor, now grotesquely fused with warped wood and pulsating parchment. One arm ends in a sharpened, bookshelf-like blade. Its helmet is cracked, revealing a single, multifaceted insectoid eye that glows with a sickly purple light.
Zealot Theron
A young man in the armored vestments of the Order of the Purifying Flame. His expression is conflicted, his hands restlessly gripping the hilt of his sword. The fire in his eyes is tempered by doubt, setting him apart from the truly fanatical members of his order.
The Archivist Spirit
A translucent, shimmering figure of a robed scholar, perpetually turning pages in a spectral book. It does not have feet, but drifts just above the ground. Its form flickers like a dying candle. It regards intruders with a calm, measured curiosity.
The Psi-Null Queen
A massive, semi-arachnid creature of gleaming chitin, easily the size of a wagon. Her thorax is fused with a pulsating, organic crystal that seems to absorb light and sound. Where her face should be, a cluster of multifaceted eyes reflects the room, and psychic impressions of distress and confusion emanate from her. She is not attacking, but her very presence warps reality.

Chronicle Prelude

Environmental Traits

Legendary Archetypes

✦ Related Cases ✦

The Spell Trap Reset of the Arcane Cloisters

The Feathered Children and the Altar of the Unseen