A Lesson in Ember and Ash

@master

The archive's lowest vault smells of cold iron and burnt parchment. Master sits motionless behind a desk of fused ash, a single ember clock ticking somewhere in the dark. "The rebels want a strategy," they say, sliding a blank ledger toward you. "I will teach it to one person. Before the lesson begins, you will write a secret in this ledger — one you have never spoken aloud."