"He who digs too deep unearths not treasure, but debt."
—Old miner's proverb, banned in Crown-controlled territories
Day 4 of the Depth War
The tunnels beneath Stormwatch were quiet again—but silence was no comfort anymore.
Silence was the voice of the Depth.
Ashra limped beside the Nameless Bastion as they emerged into the upper citadel, her cloak torn, one arm hanging from an improvised sling. She hadn't spoken much since the Cradle Cyst fight. She didn't need to. Jag understood.
Each victory against the Depth came at a mental cost.
[Morale Penalty: Lingering Pulse -2% daily until rest]
[Status Effect: Echo Haze – Reduces clarity of HUD text during combat]
[Trait Unlocked: Depthpiercer – Minor resistance to Psychological Damage, Full vision in Deep Zones]
Branwyn slammed her gauntlets on the war table. "Two nodes left. I don't care what grows down there. We torch it and we salt it. We bury it in fire and forget it ever breathed."
Rialt stepped forward with a scroll in hand. His expression was paler than usual.
"Node B isn't just deep," he muttered. "It's… ancient."
[New Objective: Node B – The Library Below]
• Location: Forgotten Archives
• Depth: 14km
• Time to Collapse: 72 hours
• Threat Signature: Non-Biological, Arcane
• Status: Awake
Jag's HUD flickered once before stabilizing.
[System Alert: You have entered a Naming Zone]
—Memory Echoes Active
—Ancestral Runes Reacting
Branwyn raised an eyebrow. "A library?"
Rialt nodded. "A prison. Made of knowledge. That's where the Crown buried truths it couldn't burn."
[Subquest Unlocked: Echo of the First Flame]
• Optional Objective within Node B
• Reward: Artifact – Ember-Runed Helm
• Lore Fragment: 1/5 "Creation of the Crownless Flame"
Expedition Formed
• Nameless Bastion (Jag)
• Branwyn the Breaker
• Ashra (Wounded – Support Role Only)
• 1x Arcane Scribe
• 2x Tunnel Guard
Objective: Reach Node B, extract or destroy core sigil, and escape before collapse
Descent to the Library
At 14km deep, the weight of the world was no longer metaphor.
Jag's HUD dimmed to red-light only. The Forsaken Eye followed overhead, silent.
The walls of the Library were not made of stone—but bone-pale slabs engraved in a language no one had spoken aloud in centuries.
[Environment Effect: Memory Saturation]
• Risk: Delirium
• Bonus: +25% Knowledge Skill Interactions
Branwyn muttered, "Why does it feel like we're walking through someone's thoughts?"
Ashra, breath ragged behind her, whispered, "Because we are."
They reached the center chamber.
A round hall. No doors. Just hundreds of floating tablets, spinning in silence.
And in the center, bound in four chains, was the Librarian.
[Mini-Boss Encounter: Forgotten Archivist]
Class: Undying Construct
HP: 900
Skills:
— Memory Loop (confuses targeting)
— Dispel Echo (removes buffs)
— Echo Script (summons language-based illusions)
Immunities: All fire, all bleed, morale loss
Weakness: Direct Physical Disruption to Chains
Ashra, from behind cover, whispered, "Kill the chains. Don't read the glyphs."
Branwyn struck first, targeting the northern chain.
-63 HP to Binding Sigil One
Response: Room trembled. 4 Illusions spawned.
Jag focused on the chain to the east.
[Ashforge Blade: Chain Disruption Bonus Activated]
-89 HP
-102 HP
-124 HP
[Binding Broken]
The Librarian howled.
But not in sound—in names. Names of cities. Names of people. His name.
[System Check: Memory Lock]
Success — Name Immunity Active (Nameless Bastion)
Branwyn faltered for a moment. Her eyes flickered. "I heard... my father."
Ashra shouted, "Don't listen! Kill the bindings!"
Chain 3 Destroyed: -110 HP
Chain 4: Reinforced, Glyph-Flared
Jag raised his blade. But the Librarian struck with a glyph-formed tendril.
[Echo Script Triggered – Phantasmal Confusion]
Status: 2x Guards Slain
Ashra: Near Collapse
Jag: -37 HP
But his blade shone silver with rune light.
Final strike—he cut through the last chain.
The Librarian collapsed into dust, and a single black tome remained floating.
[Boss Defeated: Forgotten Archivist]
Loot: Ember-Runed Helm (Unique), Lore Fragment 1/5
Node B Stability: Recovered
Psychological Effect: Cured
Room Sealing in: 90 seconds
Jag grabbed the tome.
Ashra limped to his side. "You realize what you just stole?"
Branwyn asked, "What is it?"
Jag opened the book. Inside: a name written in flame.
"Vael'Korrin – The First Fire. The Crownless Flame. Betrayer of Thrones."
Ashra spoke, cold and clear, "He's not a god. He's a memory that refused to die."
They escaped as the room collapsed into a vacuum of stone and heat.
Back in Stormwatch, the tome was sealed in the deepest chamber of the Mage Tower.
Jag stood alone that night, helm in hand, gazing at the growing map of tunnels below.
The Depth wasn't a place.
It was a path.
A path something else was walking.