"Some towers fall to time. Others fall to war. But the ones we bury... we bury for a reason."
—Rain, studying the foundation ruins of Bell 4
+44 Days After the Ashen Vault Defense
Location: Bell 4 Ruins – Siltvale Chasm, Western Dustlands
The trek from Bell 3 to Bell 4 took nearly two days. With Bell 3 now emitting a low-frequency stabilizing hum across the Dustlands, the air had become less oppressive—but the silence grew stranger.
Verana noted it first.
"We're moving closer to a null zone."
Rain confirmed. "There's a sound sink ahead. If Bell 3 sings… this place swallows."
They reached the site by dawn.
But there was no tower.
Only a massive sinkhole, ringed by twisted scaffolding and the rusted remains of spiral stairs. One half of a shattered bell lay embedded in the chasm wall like a broken crescent moon.
Ashra knelt by a collapsed support.
"This one didn't collapse. It was forced down."
Jag stepped to the edge. The wind didn't blow. The dust didn't move.
The earth here felt... gagged.
[System Update – Quest Branch: Bell Choir Node 4]
Objective: Uncover Bell 4's main structure from beneath the chasm
Sub-objectives:
• Reconstruct echo-relay lift system
• Defend excavation team from anomaly flare
• Locate harmonic seal core if still intact
Reward: +1 Operational Bell Choir Node
Bonus: If prism harmonizer installed, grants fog-piercing comms in all eastern Dustlands sectors
Camp Setup – Edge of the Sinkhole
Sable Fang engineers worked alongside Dustwoken masons to set up excavation scaffolds. Rain deployed echo anchors every 20 meters. Verana traced faint glyph remnants on scattered rocks.
"Stormwatch orders to collapse this site came with a different seal signature," she said. "This wasn't a defense. It was a silencing order."
Jag frowned. "From who?"
"Not the crown. Something older. Redacted even in archive mirrors."
Ashra squinted at the hole. "I've seen that mark on the side."
Rain magnified it via drone lens.
A serpent curled around a cracked bell.
None of them recognized the sigil.
Not even Jag.
Descent – Sub-Chamber Entry
Using winches, Jag, Ashra, and Rain lowered themselves into the core chasm, leaving Verana to oversee command at the rim.
Fifty meters down, they found the broken body of Bell 4 — still intact at the base, but chained in six directions with ritual bindings.
Rain ran a scan.
"The chains aren't from the collapse. They were implanted. Designed to hold something down."
A whisper followed.
Then a rumble.
Then the walls shifted.
Enemy Encounter – Guardian of Bell 4: "Shacklewound"
Class: B
Type: Relicbound Memory Fiend
Traits:
• Damage Reflection (Absorbs echoes of past strikes)
• Bellbind Aura – slows anyone near collapsed harmonic fields
Weakness: Resound Order (Jag) + Inverted Field Tuning (Rain)
Combat Phase
• Ashra vanished into the shadows, reappearing behind Shacklewound and carving deep across its spine — only for the wounds to ring like bronze and reappear on her blade arm.
• Rain deployed two glyph anchors, attempting to detune the chains locking the creature's body to the bell's resonance.
• Jag used Resound Order, synchronizing with the echo pulses from Bell 3 across the plains — creating a feedback that shattered two of the six chains.
• Shacklewound's bell torso unleashed a concussive wave, knocking Jag to the wall.
"Echoes feed echoes," it rasped.
Rain yelled, "One more chain!"
Ashra threw her final Dustwoken dagger — not at the creature, but at the bell behind it.
It struck true.
Reverberation triggered.
[Shacklewound Defeated – Chasm Resonance Restored]
Post-Battle Discovery
From the corpse, Rain extracted a strange Prism Sliver — not crystal, but metallic, like the memory of a mirror turned inside out.
Verana, now descending, whispered, "This… this belonged to the Silentsmiths."
Jag narrowed his eyes.
"I thought they were a myth."
Rain shook his head.
"They weren't. They built these bells. Then they vanished. Left only one rule behind: Don't ring them all at once."
System Update – Bell 4 Repaired (Partial Resonance)
• Harmonic Seal Re-linked
• Fog Suppression Radius Expanded
Artifact Registered: "Prism Sliver – Silentsmith Signature Fragment"
Side Quest Unlocked: Echoes of the Silentsmiths
That Night – Campfire by the Chasm
Verana held the Prism Sliver to the firelight.
"This isn't just about rebuilding. Each bell we restore gives the past permission to return."
Ashra looked to Jag. "What if it's not all worth remembering?"
Jag answered simply:
"Then we learn. Or we lose the right to lead."
A faint, low hum echoed from Bell 4's cracked surface.
Not broken anymore.
Just... remembering.