Lodge Master,
There are two things in this letter. One is yours by right. The other I bring because I trust you, and because silence has cost me enough.
You remember the day I came to you. I had fire, faith, and a philosophy still finding its shape — but no place in the world that felt like mine. You gave me one without asking for much in return. I learned something about you in that moment. It is why I am writing now rather than saying nothing.
That trust became a vow. I stood before the Lodge, before allied clergy and the Current itself, and lit the Keeper's Beacon — pledging my fire and my protection to these walls and the people inside them.
I have kept that pledge. Let it be known what it has cost.
At The Trials in March, I was killed within these walls by a contracted blade. I spent one of my lives on the floor of the place I swore to protect. I rose — as the Current wills — and stood for the Unity Mead that same evening.
The prayers of that ritual were answered. Four things now stand bound into the Current on behalf of this Lodge.
Once, when the Lodge stands in defense, the strength of every banner, faith, and soul who offered into the Unity Mead stands behind them. Defense doubled. Twenty names behind one shield. It is spent on invocation and does not return.
Before something significant comes for this Lodge, a warning will reach me directly — in person, with time to act. The Current does not promise safety. It promises sight.
Every soul who offered into the Unity Mead is known to the Current by name. Any among them who moves deliberately against this Lodge is marked as a covenant-breaker. The Current remembers what was given here — and it remembers what was betrayed.
Bearclaw stood at the center of the Unity Mead and bore its full weight. Twenty names worth of faith and offering passed through him. The Current does not forget those who carry it willingly. Should this Lodge ever stand at the real edge — not a hard night, but genuine ruin — the Current will hold him there. He will not fall in that moment. He carried the unity. The Current carries him. I have given him the title he earned: the Hand of the Current.
These are bound. They belong to the Lodge.
In the past year I have been targeted three times within reach of these walls. Three contracts. Each time, the person who accepted that coin came back through our door and sat at our hearth like nothing happened.
I am not asking the Lodge to take sides. I am asking that assassins who accept a contract on the life of a Lodge member are no longer welcomed to our hospitality — that includes food, drink, or even a seat at our tables.
We remain neutral. But we are not a house without standards or strength. A Sworn Protector should not have to check her cup at her own table.
The second matter is Lysus Maowulf, who is a Lodge Member and a Priest of the Current.
He lost control at the Festival of Champions. What he did is on record — Korsin bears the scars, and I put my own fire into that wound to stop it spreading. It was not a small thing.
But Lysus is not a monster who chose his nature. He came to me after with grief in him, not excuses. He didn't run. He asked for help. We are already pursuing a cure. I am asking the Lodge's monster hunters to hold while the Witchers and I work.
He gave his name to the Current. He deserves the same chance this house once gave me.
With respect, with fire, and with the Current behind every word,
Talia Emberborn
High Priestess of the Keepers of the Current
Sworn Protector of The Lodge
One use, player-activated. When the Lodge declares a defensive action, their defense stat is doubled for that action. Lodge leadership triggers this by telling a GM they are invoking "The Weight of Many." Once used, it is gone permanently.
One use, GM-triggered. Before a significant threat to the Lodge manifests, a GM or GM-appointed NPC will deliver a personal in-person warning to Talia Emberborn with enough lead time to respond.
This requires actionable notice, not a last-second alert. The intent is narrative opportunity.
Ongoing, no expiry. Any named contributor to the Unity Mead who takes deliberate action against the Lodge is recognized by GMs as a covenant-breaker with appropriate consequences. Full contributor list is in the Unity Mead scroll.
Talia will be notified in-character when this activates.
One use, GM-triggered. In a moment of existential threat to the Lodge — a situation where the Lodge itself could genuinely fall — Bearclaw cannot be taken down. The specific mechanic is at GM discretion: last-stand defensive bonus, immunity to a killing blow in that engagement, a rally effect for nearby Lodge members, or similar.
This applies to Lodge-level stakes only, not personal combat. Talia should be notified in-character when it fires.
Bearclaw carries a title recorded in the Unity Mead scroll: Hand of the Current, conferred by the Keepers of the Current.