The temple erupts in solemn song as the clerics set hammer to anvil, binding fire and faith into steel. The Dragon Token glows with molten power as runes etch themselves into its length, light and shadow entwined. At last, the Cardinal himself takes the weapon in hand, raising it high—the Dragon Staff.
He steps down from the altar, robes trailing like a tide of scarlet flame. His voice is low, grave, heavy with the burden of truth:
“You have faced Vile, yes… but what you struck was only a shadow, a fragment, a proto-stage. Now he rises closer to full power, and with but a glance he can strip the soul from your flesh. No mortal heart can endure such a gaze.”
The staff lowers into your hands, its weight immense, thrumming with divine fire. The Cardinal meets your eyes, his own flickering with a rare trace of doubt.
“To fight him, you must do what no paladin nor cleric can endure—you must embrace undeath. Only the unliving are shielded from the Devouring Eye of Vile.” He pauses, and the chamber falls silent, every word like a stone cast into eternity. “This will demand the aid of one who walks in shadow willingly. One you have already faced in blood.”
The torches gutter as the Cardinal speaks the name you already know.
“The Vampire Lord. The master of the swamp mansion. You slew him once… but death is a door he does not stay behind. He lingers, bound by his own curse. Go to him. Convince him, bribe him, or break him—but you must be turned. You must become as he is… undead.”
He presses his hand over yours, clasping the staff between you.
“Whatever it takes. Without this transformation, your body will crumble at Vile’s gaze, and all the world will fall to silence.”
The temple bells toll, the sound like a funeral dirge as you set out once more. The swamp waits—its master stirring in his mansion of shadows.
[Return to the Swamp to continue…]