"A bell rings to warn, not welcome. So what do six bells mean, when none of them ring anymore?"
—Rain, surveying the Sandscar Range
+41 Days After the Ashen Vault Defense
Location: Dustlands – Eastern Edge, Bellscar Ridge
The outpost scouts called them "the six towers that sing to no one."
Jag rode ahead on a dustclad steed, with Ashra flanking his right and Verana riding left, scribal pack bouncing beside her.
Ahead stood six towers — tall, blackened, hollow. Each topped with a shattered bronze bell chained to a cracked frame. Their real name had been lost for decades. Locals just called them the Broken Choir.
Rain's survey drone hovered overhead, transmitting glyph feedback.
[Relic Network Ping: Class-B Containment Field – Failing]
Warning: Residual Echo Threat Detected
Suggestion: Investigate center chamber of Bell 3 — the only tower not fully collapsed.
Mission Triggered – "The Six Broken Bells"
Objective: Identify the original purpose of the bell network
Sub-objectives:
• Retrieve any pre-collapse records
• Assess current stability of magical seals
Optional: Locate the bellsmith's missing glyphhammer
Threat Level: Moderate (Echo Hazards, Memory Static)
Exploring Bell 3 – The Still Bell
The interior was deathly quiet. Too quiet.
Even Rain's boots made no sound.
Inside was a glyph-sealed pedestal, still humming faintly. Verana brushed the sand away.
A bell sigil. Old Stormwatch make. Pre-Fall era.
Ashra scouted the upper frame. "Something scratched the walls from inside."
Jag studied the pedestal. "This wasn't a tower. It was a prison."
Rain found a control rune on the base:
[Echo Seal Type: Harmonic Lock]
Status: 28% Integrity
Core Note Lost – the main bell needed to keep the seal resonant is missing
Suddenly, wind howled through the broken slats above — and something howled back.
Enemy Encounter – Echofiend: Bellshriek
Class: C+ Echo Manifestation
Threat: Sonic Disruption & Memory Shatter
Traits:
• Immune to ranged glyphs
• Feeds on broken oaths and false names
• Screams override comms for 8 seconds
The air split as a ghastly figure lunged from the shadows — its body half-human, half-bronze, chained and ringing with every movement.
Verana clutched her head. "It's forcing forgotten sounds into us!"
Ashra dashed forward with Dustwoken Shadow Step, slashing its throat to cut the scream.
Rain activated an Echo Shroud to mute its frequency.
Jag launched a vertical cleave with Oathbrand, carving a deep line across the fiend's chest.
Final Strike: Jag's "Flame Arc" seared the false bell embedded in its ribcage
[Bellshriek Defeated – Area Stabilized Temporarily]
Item Acquired: "Cracked Heartbell Core"
Verana notes: "This may substitute for the missing harmonic node… if reforged."
Subquest Unlocked – "Reforge the Choir"
Objective: Rebuild one of the six bells to restore regional containment
Required:
• Lost Glyphhammer of the Bellwright (last seen in Hollow Mine)
• Cleaned Heartbell Core (ritual purification required)
Optional: Reclaim all six bells for continent-wide barrier network
That Night – Campfire by Bell 3
Rain worked tirelessly on transcribing the ruined glyphs. Ashra cleaned her blades with sand-silk. Jag stood watching the stars hang heavy over the dustlands.
Verana joined him.
"These bells… they weren't just sealing monsters."
Jag didn't look at her.
"They were sealing memories, weren't they?"
She nodded. "Stormwatch built these not to protect from beasts—but to lock away truths too dangerous to remember."
Jag's grip tightened.
"Then the price of keeping the past buried was paid in silence. We're changing that."
Rain approached, eyes tired but resolute.
"I tracked the bellwright's glyphhammer. It's deep in Hollow Mine. South ridge."
Jag turned.
"Then tomorrow, we wake up a bell."