_The parchment before you is ancient beyond measure, its edges brittle as autumn leaves, yet the ink upon it glows with an inner luminescence that defies the passage of ages. The text is written in three languages—High Celestial, Abyssal, and Common—each overlaying the others in translucent script that shifts depending on the angle of viewing. A faint scent of jasmine and ash emanates from the scroll, and touching it sends a cold shiver up your spine, as though unseen eyes have suddenly focused upon you._ --- **"Heed these words, seeker of the [[Scythe of Fragments]], for the path to this hallowed weapon is paved with trials that shall test the very essence of your soul.** **The Scythe lies dormant within the Vault of Echoing Silence, a sanctum hidden between the veil of life and death, where time holds no dominion and memory becomes substance. To reach this place, you must first gather the Three Keys of Passage:** **The first key rests beneath the roots of the Mourning Oak in the Greywood Fen, where the boundary between worlds grows thin during the hour of the Pale Moon. Offer a memory of loss to the tree's guardian spirit, and it shall yield the Opaline Shard.** **The second key lies within the Crypts of Endless Vigil, beneath the Cathedral of Forgotten Saints. There, you must challenge the Warden of Oaths—a being neither living nor dead—and prove your purpose is just. Victory grants you the Silver Phylactery.** **The third and final key can only be claimed from the Pool of Reflected Souls at the summit of Mount Veilpiercer. Gaze into its still waters and face what you have become, what you fear to be, and what you might yet choose. Only truth shall earn you the Ethereal Compass.** **When all three keys are assembled, travel to the Crossroads of Dusk—that forsaken place where four kingdoms once met and four heroes fell in a single night. At the stroke of midnight on the night of a lunar eclipse, place the keys in formation and speak the Litany of Severance. The way shall open.** **But know this, bearer: the Scythe was forged not for conquest, but for mercy—to grant true death to that which should not persist, to sever the unnatural bonds that chain souls to suffering. It will accept no master whose heart harbors cruelty or whose ambition drowns compassion.** **Those who seek it for power alone shall find only their own unraveling. Those who seek it to end suffering may find themselves forever changed by what they must become to wield it.** **The map that accompanies this scroll shall reveal itself only to one whose intentions align with the Scythe's purpose. Look upon the reverse side not with your eyes, but with your conviction, and the path shall illuminate.** **May your burden be light, seeker, for the weapon you pursue weighs heavy indeed."** --- _As you finish reading, the scroll grows warm in your hands, and the blank reverse side begins to shimmer. Faint lines of silver begin to trace themselves across the parchment—the beginnings of a map, revealing itself to you..._