The rough, gray stones of Aethelgard stand once more as a silent sentry over Douxel Vale. For weeks, the scraping of trowels and the thrum of restorative magic have echoed through its ancient halls. The fortress, home of the Laetora Gravebound, is slowly being woven back together—its deepest scars mended by shimmering ribbons of dark obsidian rock, like solidified shadow holding history in place.

Yet, for all the progress made by the forces securing it, Aethelgard refuses to yield all its secrets.

Deep within the keep, several massive doors remain tightly shut, sealed by layers of impenetrable, ancient magic. Frustrated by these arcane dead ends, word was sent to the Sunless Tavern in Douxel Vale. It didn't take long for an answer to appear. Nix, the strange, shifting creature of shadow, slinked out of the tavern's dim corners and offered his unique talents to bypass the wards.

The air inside the threshold tastes of old parchment, cold stone, and the unmistakable metallic sting of dormant magic. Before you stretches the Echoing Scriptorium—a towering, multi-tiered labyrinth of lead-ribbed bookshelves that vanish into the gloom above, illuminated only by the faint, eerie pulse of thousands of floating soul-crystals. A low, rhythmic murmur hums through the floorboards, not from the wind, but from the trapped memories of a thousand dead scholars whispering their secrets all at once into the quiet darkness.

Resting at the center of the grand rotunda sits a massive, ironbound catalog, its pages turning on their own despite the dead calm. In this hall, the true histories and fatal weaknesses of the world’s greatest evils are preserved—along with the souls bound to protect them. Every shadow between the stacks feels heavy with eyes, and as the brass chains holding the crystals sway without a breeze, you realize that uncovering the truth here means convincing the dead to speak, and ensuring you don't end up bound to the shelves alongside them.