At dawn, the gate opened.
No key. No knock. Just Ash standing before it, scroll in hand, whispering a name Cregan didn't hear.
The ice cracked, fell inward.
Inside, the ruin was hollow—a vast amphitheater beneath the mountain, lined with petrified trees. At its center, a hole in the world.
Cregan stepped forward. Cold gripped his chest.
[Quest Triggered: Confront the Breach]
The hole pulsed faintly. Not light. Not heat. Something else—time folding wrong.
"This is it," Ash said. "The Breach. Not a place, but a wound. It bleeds memory. Magic. Monsters."
Cregan approached the edge.
From the depths, a voice called.
"Warg of the North... Stark of the blood... come home."
Ash gripped his arm. "It knows you. That means it's awake."
[Simulation Ready: Enter the Breach?]
Yes
No
He chose yes.