Stabilize the ley-focus, protect the Grand Hall, and confirm whether the party unknowingly carried a soul-binding sigil into the Citadel.

The party needs access to the restricted archives; Cindreth needs their recovered tokens because the sigil was carried through the Broken Wagon ambush.

• Offer immediate archive access after successful isolation.
• Let each PC nominate one token to test beneath the focus.
• Place the evidence on the northeast channel to amplify the hidden resonance.
• Use the lead-lined box to prevent further psychic feedback.
• Have Cindreth provide the stabilizing chant once the fragment is exposed.
• Arcana (DC 12): You sense one token emits a faintly corrupt pulse.
• Investigation (DC 13): You notice scratch-wide grooves in the rune circle directly beneath the resonant item.
• Perception (DC 12): A soft hum grows louder when your hand hovers above the hidden fragment.
• Insight (DC 11): The crystal’s light flickers strongest when you place your evidence on the northeast channel.
• History (DC 10): Soul-binding sigils often imprint shadow shapes on arcane foci.

• Ask each PC what item they test and why.
• Call for individual DC 14 Arcana checks, one per assisting PC.
• On a success, describe a warm pulse and a thin blue thread linking the token to the crystal.
• On a failure, describe cold metal, dead light, and a brief headache.
• After 3 successes, call for DC 12 Sleight of Hand or Dexterity to extract the fragment.
• Once isolated, direct the PCs to five rune points and have them repeat Cindreth’s chant without further rolls.

• Helpful reasoning earns: “Good. Trust the pattern, not the object.”
• A reckless hand near the crystal earns: “Stop. That is not courage. That is volunteering your mind.”
• Accusations toward another PC earn a hard stare: “The sigil wants suspicion. Do not give it more than it already has.”
• A successful extraction earns: “There. Seal it before it remembers a name.”
• Failure earns clipped urgency: “Again. The Citadel can survive your mistake. I am less certain we can.”