The temple bells toll as you return, their echoes solemn and urgent, carrying across the stone halls like warnings from the heavens themselves. The once-dismissive clerics now gather in silence, faces pale, eyes lowered. Whispers ripple through the crowd—of the shrine’s desecration, of cults emboldened, of a Demilich unleashed.
The great doors swing open with a boom, and the Cardinal strides forth, robes heavy with golden embroidery, his staff alight with divine radiance. Paladins kneel in a half-circle, their polished armor catching the torchlight, each warrior’s hand clenched tight around the hilt of a blade.
“Your deeds,” the Cardinal intones, voice resonant as though carried by more than mortal lungs, “have torn the veil from our eyes. Vile, the god of secrets, has returned—and we were blind to his chains breaking.” He raises his staff high, light spilling across the chamber, washing over the paladins. “We will not sit idle. We will not cower. The temple marches to war!”
The paladins pound their fists to their chests in unison, the clang of steel resounding like a war drum. Some step forward eagerly, offering their swords to the cause. Yet the Cardinal’s gaze falls on you, steady and piercing, as if measuring the weight of your soul.
“You,” he says, descending the dais, his voice lowering but carrying even more power. “You have borne the curse. You have walked into shadow, unblinking, and struck against the very hunger of death. The others may fight—but you are already woven into this battle. The gods themselves have set your path.”
He lowers his staff, and his tone sharpens to a command.
“To slay what is neither alive nor dead, to strike down Vile in his unholy form, you will need a weapon not of this world. The Dragon Staff. Forged from scale, blood, and fire. Only such a relic can pierce the silence of secrets.”
The chamber falls utterly still.
“Go,” the Cardinal commands, his voice reverberating like the toll of judgment. “Hunt a dragon. Rip from its corpse the essence of its power. Bring us the Dragon Token, and the clerics will forge a staff worthy of legends. Only then will you stand a chance at binding Vile once more.”
The paladins bow their heads in solemn unity as the torches flare higher, shadows dancing across the vaulted walls. The weight of the holy crusade is now yours to bear.
[Receive a Dragon Token and 5(N) and return to this Temple to receive the following Item:]
[Obtain the Dragon Staff Legendary Item, Lose the Dragon token and 5(N)]
[Receive the Dragon Staff to continue...]