SCENE NINE — BLACKSTAFF TOWER (ENTRANCE CHAMBER), 9:58 AMLocation: Waterdeep’s Arcane Apex, unrecorded side wingCodex Layer: Mirage-Css Invitation ActiveParty Present: Mel, Melodia, Daka, KrummarTime: Just before the city’s official meetings beginObserver Mode: Continuous

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  Exterior — Bckstaff Tower

  The spire of Bckstaff Tower rises into a sky of blue-soaked shadow, its arcane silhouette never fully the same twice.The air near it hums with wards old as kingdoms and twice as smug.

  But the party doesn’t use the front entrance.They’re met at the northeast arch, where an unmarked stone door opens before anyone knocks.

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  Interior — The Illusionless Room

  No torches. No magical light.Just stone. Worn. Honest. Cold.

  This wing is built of Truths That Were Never Written Down.There are no chairs. Only a long, ste-gray table.On it: one cup of tea, already steaming, and four mirrored pce settings.

  Each one reflects not the person before it, but a version of them that never was.? Mel’s pte shows her in full druidic blight-form — no scars, no humanity left.? Daka’s shows him bald, robed, reading a book silently.? Krummar’s reflects him as a warlord, not a cleric. His tattoos burn.? Melodia’s shows nothing. Her seat is empty in the reflection.

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  Enter: Mirage Tier VI

  Not a person. A presence in armor made of silence and masks.Genderless. Ageless. Their voice is like pages being closed in rapid succession.

  They do not sit. They hover slightly.

  “Welcome.You are not what was expected.You are what was not accounted for.”

  Their mask rotates slightly — polished, faceless, full of light that reveals nothing.

  “You have three choices.”

  A scroll unfurls midair behind them — bnk, except for three lines:1. Accept guidance. Join the Mirage. Shape the scripts to come.2. Refuse. Remain unbound. Be rewritten by others in time.3. Forge a third path. Burn the scroll. Accept all consequences.

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  Daka, Immediately:

  “BURN IT. Never trust anything that makes three lists. It’s always a trap.”

  Krummar (evenly): “That includes menus, Daka.”

  “Exactly.”

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  Mel — Observing. Decoding.

  Mel doesn’t speak. She watches the mask. The ck of scent. The false shadows. The emotionless tea.

  “No roots. No lies. Just… bnk.”

  She looks at Melodia’s reflection—missing.

  “That’s not a threat. That’s a warning.”

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  Melodia Steps Forward

  Her voice is gentle. Clear. Barely louder than breath.

  “You want authors. But not souls.”

  She pces one finger on her mirrorpte, still bnk. It flickers. Then glows. A soft, vender pulse.

  The reflection begins to form — her — weeping, singing, alone on a stage with no audience.

  “No.”

  She stands tall.

  “Third path.”

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  Krummar — Resolute

  “We don’t follow stories. We finish them.”

  He holds out his page — the one he wrote on. It ignites.

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  Decision Locked: Third Path

  Mel holds the fme.Daka strikes the scroll.Melodia sings its name aloud.Krummar speaks a benediction.

  The scroll burns.

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  Mirage Tier VI Response:

  The mask tilts once.The armor colpses inward like a dying idea.

  “Noted.”

  They vanish. No smoke. No sound.

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  Codex Update: THIRD PATH SELECTED? Party has rejected Factional Narrative Influence.? Future storylines will respond to pyer-authored presence.? Codex Interventions will increase in unpredictability.? Mythos Rank: Elevated to Narrative Breakers? New Threat Detected: The Draftkeeper

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  The mirrored ptes vanish.

  Only the tea cup remains, still steaming.

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  RETURN TO KERESKA’S FAVOR, 11:08 AMStatus: Third Path Chosen. Faction Narrative Rejected.Codex Layer: Narrative Breaker Status Recognized by Pnar Storyline LatticeTavern Environment: Calm, sunlight through windows, heat of the hearth banced with the chill of choiceObserver Mode: Continuous

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  Exterior — The Walk Back

  The city doesn’t feel different—but everyone else does.

  People gnce longer, linger too long in conversation before remembering themselves. It’s as if the world recognizes the party not as adventurers—but as hazards to expected outcomes.

  A bard starts to sing in the distance—then stops. Starts again.A guard at a crossroad salutes out of instinct, then hides his hand.A child watches Daka pass and mutters:

  “That’s the loud man who suplexed the sky.”

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  Interior — Kereska’s Favor, 11:11 AM

  The tavern is brighter than it should be.The cat is now wearing Krummar’s scarf.The paper raven is gone.In its pce: a fresh stack of guest logs, newly written, with entries from people who haven’t arrived yet.

  Mel picks it up. Flips pages.Stops at a name:

  The Draftkeeper. Room 6. Check-in: “Not Yet.”

  She closes the book.Doesn’t speak.

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  Tavern Status: Active? Lorin is pting candied bacon and fig toast like a professional battlefield strategist.? Risotto has completed spice rack recssification. “Chili powder is now ‘feral’.”? Linguini brews tea with a vial beled: Narrative Suppressant. Use if everything explodes.

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  Party Settles In — Autonomy Phase Engaged

  Krummar

  He removes his shield, sets it down, and simply sits by the window. The sunlight against his armor is the only sermon he needs right now. He watches a sparrow nd on the sill.

  No magic. Just a bird.He nods to it once.

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  Daka

  He is already halfway into constructing a new “Victory Snack Tower” using danishes, ale mugs, and two forks. He’s wearing a new shirt that says “I’M THE BACKSTORY NOW.”

  “This tower represents our victory over scripted expectation.…And hunger.”

  He eats the top floor.

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  Melodia

  She is tuning her Lyre of Stars. The melody she hums hasn’t been invented yet.

  When asked what it is, she says:

  “A love song for a story that doesn’t end.”

  She hasn’t stopped glowing since the tower.

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  Mel

  Mel is outside. On the rooftop. Drawing again.This time: a sketch of the tavern from above, like she’s looking down from an angle she hasn’t reached yet.

  She signs the corner with a thorn-shaped rune.

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  11:17 AM — An Envelope Arrives

  Delivered by no one.Left on the tavern bar.Stamped with a gold seal shaped like an open hand holding a quill.

  The envelope smells like cedar, iron, and distant rain.

  It reads:

  “If they won’t write your story, we will.”—The Dreaming Press

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  Codex Expansion Triggered: Narrative Breaker Questline I — “The Draftkeeper’s Game”? Begins midnight, Room 6? Entry permitted only to those who refused authorship? Risk: Memory Alteration, Emotional Overwrite, Metaphor Weaponization? Reward: Authorship License — Codex Reality Layer Access

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