"Some truths rot when buried. Others wait. And some… were never meant to be truths at all."
—Verana, on the glyphs scrawled beneath Hollow Mine
+42 Days After the Ashen Vault Defense
Location: Dustlands – South Ridge, Hollow Mine
The Hollow Mine had once fueled the entire Dustreach district. But since the Memory Collapse, it had gone dark — its veins unmined, its records sealed by glyphburn. Locals whispered that voices still echoed from its depths — not of miners, but of something deeper.
Now, Jag and his squad descended not for ore — but for a weapon: the Glyphhammer of the Bellwright, an ancient tool capable of re-tuning the Heartbell Core retrieved in the last chapter.
[Subquest Active: Reforge the Choir – Phase I]
Objective: Retrieve the Glyphhammer of the Bellwright
Hazards:
• Collapsed shafts
• Echo Residue pockets
• Unstable memory glyphs
Reward: Ability to reforge Bell 3 and reactivate the Eastern Harmonic Seal
Team Composition:
• Jag (Frontline)
• Rain (Echo Mapping)
• Verana (Archive Glyph Support)
• Two Dustwoken Guides: Keera and Tharnn (Stealth & Local Knowledge)
Entering the Hollow
The first 300 meters were uneventful. Sand. Dust. Silence. Jag's torchlight barely pushed the darkness back.
Rain frowned. "No wind. No sound loops. This place isn't empty — it's hiding."
Verana marked glyphs on the wall. "These were drawn by resistance scribes. But… inverted. Like they were writing their secrets backwards."
Jag stared at one phrase:
"To ring the bell is to remember the wound."
He said nothing. Just moved forward.
Sub-Level 1 – The Echo Pockets
A sudden pulse warped the air.
Dustwoken Tharnn screamed — then fell silent, face pale, hands clawing at his own ears.
Rain activated a Sound Dome, isolating the team.
[Echo Anomaly – Emotional Replay Triggered]
Rain's Analysis: "The mine stores emotional remnants. Unresolved trauma. If we don't shield up, we'll relive them."
Jag nodded.
Verana added: "Then we walk with walls up, minds sealed. No drifting."
They pressed on — through sounds of crying, chanting, even old Stormwatch orders repeated like broken hymns.
Sub-Level 2 – Bellwright's Workshop
The chamber was choked in rubble and rust. Bell molds. Glyph anvils. Broken tuning forks. And there, atop a stone pedestal half-consumed by dust — the Glyphhammer, its surface etched with names and notes in a spiral.
Rain scanned it.
Artifact: Glyphhammer of Haru Everdeep
Condition: 63% Stable
Echo Locked: Yes – requires Memory Key to activate
Verana blinked. "Memory Key? Where—"
The pedestal shifted.
A voice, dry as the mine itself, groaned from the stone.
"Only a rightful bellkeeper may ring again…"
Boss Encounter – Echo of Haru Everdeep
Class: C
Type: Bound Memory Guardian
Traits:
• Resistant to direct flame
• Draws strength from fractured resolve
Mechanics:
• Will test each character's intent
• Only one may wield the Glyphhammer after judgment
Haru's form rose — no body, just a coat of dust, ash, and memory. His bellsmith's hammer floated beside him.
He spoke without a mouth. "What will you remember in my name?"
Jag stepped forward, but Haru turned to each companion first.
Memory Trial (Condensed):
Rain: "You forget your limits chasing echoes."
Rain responded, "Limits are dead. We survived."
✔ Passed.
Verana: "You rewrite truth too easily for your cause."
She replied, "Because lies rot faster than silence."
✔ Passed.
Jag: Haru spoke longest.
"You bear a prince's name, a soldier's sword, a commander's will. But do you carry the bellwright's burden? Can you ring a warning for others, even when no one thanks you?"
Jag answered, voice low: "I'm done ringing for kings. But I'll ring for them. For the ones who were buried too deep to scream."
Silence.
Then Haru's form nodded, and the Glyphhammer descended gently into Jag's hands.
[Glyphhammer Obtained – Echo Seal Approved]
Special Action Unlocked: "Hammer of Resound"
• Reactivates broken memory structures
• Can be used to purify corrupted echoes or unlock sealed chambers
Optional Path Discovered – Sealed Chamber: Stormwatch Decree Room
As they climbed back out, Verana noticed a side passage — glyph-bound.
The Glyphhammer pulsed.
Jag cracked the seal.
Inside: a scrollroom. Ancient. Marked with the royal seal of Stormwatch.
Rain opened the first scroll.
He froze.
Ashra, arriving late, saw only the last line:
"Let the Dustlands fall — better silence than rebellion."
The silence in the mine now felt heavier.
Verana looked at Jag.
"These weren't just sacrifices. This was abandonment. A command."
Jag said nothing for a long time.
Then: "We build it back. But not their way."