"Ruins do not forget. They wait. They bury the past so deep it becomes teeth."
—Ashra, before entering Sandhollow
+38 Days After the Ashen Vault Defense
Location: Dustlands – Southern Region, Sandhollow Ruins
Beneath a blistering red sun, the ruins of Sandhollow rose from the cracked soil like a half-buried beast's spine. Pillars jutted at odd angles. Crumbled statues wept sand from their empty eyes. Somewhere within lay a Memory Totem — the last anchor to the Dustwoken's true identity.
Rain tightened the strap on his Echo Pack. "These ruins predate even the First Reign. Whatever's inside wasn't just meant to be forgotten — it was sealed."
Jag nodded. "Then we unseal it."
Ashra leapt from stone to stone, scanning for traps.
Verana opened her field journal. "There's a high chance of defense mechanisms — both magical and mnemonic. We'll need to move as a single memory thread."
Jag gave the command.
"Move in. Stay linked. No one forgets the plan."
[System Subquest Active – The Dustwoken Pact: Totem Retrieval]
Objective: Recover the Memory Totem from Sandhollow
Sub-conditions:
• Survive the Inner Maze
• Resist the Totem's Echo Loop
Reward: Dustwoken Trust Tier increased to Alliance
Unlock: Dustwoken Shadow Step Technique
Entering the Maze – Memory Distortion Field Active
The ruins' interior warped as soon as they crossed the third arch.
Ashra turned sharply. "You feel that?"
Verana gasped. "We're already... forgetting the layout."
Rain slammed a ground glyph.
[Echo Anchor Placed – Local Memory Stabilized]
Jag pointed ahead. "Don't stop walking. These walls feed on hesitation."
The team pressed on. Voices whispered from the stone.
Ashra twitched. "I heard myself say something I didn't say."
Jag: "Ignore it."
They passed faded murals — depictions of the Dustwoken as royal guards, scholars, artists. Not savages, but once-proud people before the collapse.
"They didn't abandon memory," Rain said. "They were erased from it."
Echo Loop Detected – Totem Chamber
The heart of the ruin pulsed.
A towering stone pillar stood in the center, engraved with thousands of names — most flickering, fading, unstable.
Rain scanned it. "It's fighting itself. Every name is trying to remember, but the totem's unstable."
Jag stepped forward.
The moment he touched it, the world cracked.
[System Trigger – Echo Loop Initiated]
You are now inside the Memory Trial of Sandhollow
Each party member will face their own forgotten fear
Defeat it to stabilize the Totem
Warning: Failing a trial will result in partial memory loss
Jag's Trial – The Forgotten Throne
He stood before the Stormwatch throne. Empty. Cold.
Then a version of himself appeared — kneeling, broken, crown cast aside.
"You lost the kingdom," it said. "They made you believe survival was victory."
Jag clenched his fists.
"No. Survival was step one."
He stepped forward, blade in hand, and killed the kneeling version of himself.
[Trial Cleared – Jag's conviction reinforced]
Ashra's Trial – The Silent Room
She saw herself in the Stormwatch barracks — ignored. Overlooked. Always in the shadow.
"You were never more than a blade in someone else's sheath."
She replied, calmly.
"I chose that blade. And now it's mine."
She stabbed the illusion cleanly.
[Trial Cleared – Ashra's Shadow Technique improved]
Rain's Trial – The Archive Fire
He watched the great library burn, holding a book he could never save.
"You failed your first keep."
Rain wept, briefly.
Then said, "I failed once. Never again."
He opened the burning book and stepped into the fire.
[Trial Cleared – Echo Pulse Radius increased]
Verana's Trial – The Empty Codex
She stood before a codex with no words. Her life's work, blank.
"You were just footnotes in someone else's war."
She took a pen and wrote only one line: "We made it matter."
The words spread like wildfire.
[Trial Cleared – Memory Surge enhanced]
Totem Stabilized – Memory Restored
The Sandhollow Totem surged with light. Names stopped flickering. They shone.
A low rumble echoed through the ruins. The ceiling groaned, but the structure held.
Rain reactivated his relay.
"Dustwoken. Your names are back."
Outside, on the ridge, dozens of cloaked Dustwoken fell to their knees.
Their leader raised his hands toward the sun.
"We remember. The pact is sealed."
[System Update – Quest Complete: The Dustwoken Pact]
Result: Dustwoken join Stormwatch as a full alliance faction
Benefits Unlocked:
• Shadow Step Technique – battlefield repositioning skill
• Hidden Paths Revealed in Dustlands (6 zones)
Memory Resistance increased across all parties by 15%
That Night – Dustreach Beacon
The wind was still. The air smelled cleaner, as if memory itself had stopped bleeding.
Ashra perched atop the new wall, eyes scanning the horizon.
Verana wrote. Rain calibrated beacons.
Jag stared at the totem fragment installed beside the flag.
"We're not just rebuilding a kingdom anymore," he said.
Rain looked at him.
"We're restoring a world."
Jag nodded.
"Then we better make sure it remembers who did it."