"Every fortress is built on a warning. Ours were once bells — now rusted, silenced, and forgotten. The danger was never that they broke. It's that no one replaced them."
—Jag, briefing the War Table at Dustreach
+40 Days After the Ashen Vault Defense
Location: Dustreach Beacon – Command Pavilion
The map of the Dustlands had changed.
Where once there was only silence and sand, now there were paths. Trails traced by scouts. Watch glyphs blinking steadily from reclaimed ridges. The Dustwoken walked alongside Stormwatch patrols. Sable Fang banners fluttered next to Steelpact engineers.
But Jag's eyes were fixed on one corner of the map — marked only by a faded crest.
Six towers in a broken arc. Once known as the Bell Choir.
Verana tapped a finger on the location. "Originally constructed to act as harmonic stabilizers for echo anomalies after the First Collapse. Officially decommissioned fifty years ago."
Rain frowned. "But they weren't destroyed. Just... stopped ringing."
Ashra crossed her arms. "We've seen what happens when you silence warnings. What's out there now?"
Jag stood. "We find out."
[System Quest Activated – The Six Broken Bells]
Main Objective: Investigate the six Bell Choir towers east of Dustreach
Sub-Objectives:
• Assess structural integrity and magical seal status
• Determine what caused the bells to fall silent
Optional: Recover blueprints or relic tools of the Bellwright caste
Reward: Territory Defense Buff (Regional Passive Aura – Echo Ward)
Expedition Team: Bell Recon Group – Choir Line
• Jag (Commander)
• Rain (Echo Technician)
• Ashra (Vanguard)
• Verana (Archivist)
• 12 mixed soldiers (3 Sable Fang, 5 Hollowpath Arbalists, 4 Stormwatch regulars)
Day 1 – March to the Choir Line
The path wound between dead rivers and fossilized ruins. Wind screamed through natural arches shaped like howling mouths. No echo glyphs worked beyond the third ridge.
Rain muttered, "It's not just quiet. It's vacuumed. Like someone ate the sound."
By midday, they reached the first tower.
It loomed above a bed of sand and black glass — scorched from within.
Ashra entered first.
Inside, the bell was cracked through its core. Its support frame sagged. Chains were coiled and melted.
Rain tapped the glyph-rune.
[Harmonic Seal Node – Status: Shattered]
Echo Containment: Failed
Stabilization: Impossible
Warning: Residual instability detected in lower resonance pit
Jag descended the spiral stair.
The pit below was full of bones.
Not all human.
Towers Two Through Five
Each tower told the same story.
Bell 2 had been pulled down by something from beneath.
Bell 4's glyph rings had been reversed, nullifying the barrier.
Bell 5 was charred from a fire that left no burn marks — only cold.
Bell 6 was completely gone — replaced by a ring of silence that muted even Rain's tech.
Only Bell 3 stood somewhat intact.
And it pulsed.
Softly. Faintly.
Alive.
Nightfall – Bell 3 Encampment
Campfires ringed the base of the tower. Ashra stood guard. Rain adjusted a sensor node while Verana leafed through brittle pages of bellwright rituals.
Jag stared into the fire.
"What if these weren't meant to just warn us?" he asked quietly.
Verana looked up. "You think they were prisons?"
"I think they were locks," Rain said, without looking.
Ashra added, "And we've been opening doors."
A sudden ping cut through the air.
[Unknown Signal Detected – Tower 3]
Identity Tag: "Glyphhammer Signature Pulse: Fragmented"
Directive Added: Recover Bellwright's Glyphhammer to stabilize Choir Tower 3
System Update – New Chapter Objective: "Reforge the Choir"
• Tower 3 can be repaired with appropriate relic components
• Bell Choir network, if fully restored, grants map-wide anomaly suppression
• Danger: Restoration may awaken sealed threats
Verana's Research – Forgotten Orders
Before sleep, Verana shared her findings.
"These towers weren't Stormwatch's invention. They predate the crown."
She flipped to a page.
"Let no bell be silenced lest the hunger beneath rise again."
—First Bellwright Doctrine, Year 14 of the Fracture Era
Jag whispered, "We were never defending Stormwatch. These bells defended the world."