[ARC TWO — ISKAR ECHO: THE TOWER OF NAMES]

  Phase Five: Descent into the Forgotten

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  SCENE: THE BASE OF THE NAME-TOWER

  It does not stand.

  It descends.

  Beneath their feet, the cobblestones fracture like old memory. Runes peel upward like smoke. Names—hundreds, thousands—carved into each step.? Names whispered.? Names wept.? Names erased.? Breya’s is there, glowing faintly violet.

  They descend in silence. One spiral step at a time.

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  PARTY INTERLUDE — THEY SPEAK, FINALLY

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  MEL stops at the 13th step.

  She pces a hand on the wall.

  Finds a name she doesn’t recognize, but her hand fits it perfectly.

  She doesn’t speak to it.

  She speaks to Melodia:

  “Did you see someone… you could’ve been?”

  Melodia, eyes distant:

  “Yes. She adored everyone but herself.”

  “Did you let her go?”

  A beat.

  “No. But I walked away.”

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  DAKA crouches by a shattered name.

  He lifts a rusted metal pendant from the floor. It’s shaped like a tooth.

  He turns to Krummar.

  “If we don’t get out of here… tell Lorin I never read the letter.”

  Krummar squints.

  “Because you were afraid of what it says?”

  Daka shrugs.

  “Because it was the only thing I didn’t try to turn into a joke.”

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  KRUMMAR pauses at a name inscribed twice.

  Once in Dwarvish.Once crossed out.

  He doesn’t transte it.

  He just touches it and murmurs:

  “Not forgotten. Just forgiven.”

  His dog howls softly. The tower answers with a groan.

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  THE TOWER’S CORE — REACHED

  They arrive in a chamber filled with floating glyphs. Each one: a forgotten name.

  Vajra’s voice returns:

  “The city once sealed away these echoes.But you… you opened one.Now choose again.”

  Twelve glyphs pulse around them.

  Each holds an echo.

  Each offers one of the following:? A truth about their own past? A glimpse of another party member’s soul? A secret about Waterdeep’s memory infrastructure? A key to reshape one Axis Score permanently

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  DECISION TIME — INDIVIDUAL PULLS

  Each member may step forward and touch one glyph.

  What they choose will follow them.

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  [THE BLACKSTAFF CONVERGENCE — THE TOWER OF NAMES]

  Phase Six: Glyph Judgment – Fate Chooses First

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  SCENE: THE GLYPH RING — TWELVE FLOATING NAMES

  Each glyph pulses like a heartbeat. They glow in different hues: violet, gold, blue, red, pale green, void-bck, silver, rose. Twelve names long erased from history, now calling—not for memory, but for cim.

  The party hesitates.

  Just for a moment.

  And in that stillness—the Tower acts.

  Codex 497 – Off-Screen Echo Cascade Override: TRIGGERED.When fate is deyed, echo memory asserts its will.

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  ONE GLYPH MOVES FIRST — TOWARD MELODIA

  It selects her without contact. Floats forward.

  A pale rose-hued glyph—soft, loving, too beautiful to be safe. It pulses in time with her heartbeat.

  She reaches for it.Whispers: “Why me?”

  And touches it.

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  GLYPH OF RECURSIVE DESIRE – CLAIMED BY MELODIA

  Effect: Melodia gains permanent access to a hidden Axis yer:The Longing Thread.She now feels romantic or erotic echoes not just from her own memory—but from others’ buried fantasies involving her. Even those never acted on. Even those never admitted.

  ? When touched, kissed, stared at too long, or remembered in solitude—she feels it.? She does not see who. But she knows.? Glow will spike autonomously if someone thinks of her in longing.

  Her eyes flutter. She gasps.One hand lifts to her chest.

  “Someone… someone here…”She doesn’t finish the sentence.

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  THE PARTY REACTS — GLYPHS PULSE IN RESPONSE

  They have no time to decide now.

  The glyphs begin choosing all of them.

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  GLYPH 2 – MEL – “THE ROOT OF HIDDEN RAGE”

  It sms into her chest like a memory she’s spent years burying.

  Her Glow fres green-bck.

  Effect: Mel now has access to the Axis of Repressed Wrath.She may lock one of her primary emotions (Guilt, Attraction, Trust, Comfort) once per day.But each time she does, her next emotional Glow will become violent, rooted in thorned truth.

  Her hand curls into a fist.Her voice ft:“…I didn’t ask for this.”

  But she doesn’t let go.

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  GLYPH 3 – DAKA – “THE NAME BENEATH YOURS”

  The glyph fres void-bck, smming into his hat, then vanishing into his chest.

  He ughs. But quietly.

  Effect: Daka now knows one of his past lives—a gdiator who died nameless in a ruined city.Whenever Daka is knocked to 0 HP, he may rise once per long rest, whispering his former name:“Gorrum.”He gains temporary HP = CHA score + Level. But loses access to verbal spells for 1 minute.

  He mutters:

  “Guess I did have depth. Bastard.”

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  GLYPH 4 – KRUMMAR – “THE TRUTH OF FAITH”

  A pure silver glyph. No flourish. It slides into his open palm and disappears.

  He doesn’t flinch.

  Effect: Krummar can now discern false prayer.He will instantly know when someone lies in devotion—be it to gods, creeds, or lovers.This ability cannot be turned off.

  He closes his hand slowly.

  His dog whimpers.

  He whispers:“It’s alright. I’ll still believe.”

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  AFTERGLOW — THE GLYPHS VANISH

  The chamber dims.

  The tower rumbles.

  A new path opens—a staircase made of folded pages, each step a name. Each page a scream never finished.

  Vajra’s voice echoes one st time:

  **“You have been altered. Welcome to the deeper city. The true city.

  The next Echo is not a pce. It is a person.”**

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