The Broken Oath

THE LIGHT BURNS LOW
The border villages stand empty. The creatures that crawl out of the dark were beaten back a decade ago — beaten back, the Church said, not destroyed. Your father was one of the two paladins who held that line. He did not return from it.
Your mother left you two things: a letter of recommendation, and a broken medallion. Take them to Ashvale. Find Father Adelmo. Take the vigil your father laid down.
DELIBERATE, PUNISHING COMBAT
Stamina-bound melee built around spacing and commitment. Every swing costs something, every enemy can kill you, and the ones that look harmless are the ones that will. Read the attack, take the opening, earn the ground.
THE RUNE SYSTEM
Runes are your build. Stat runes strengthen you passively; utility runes grant active abilities. Two runes of the same type and tier can be fused into a stronger one — so every rune you find is either a tool or a component, and you decide which. Slots are limited. Specialize or stay flexible.
SHRINES
Rest at a shrine to restore yourself, and the road refills behind you. Death costs you progress, never possibility. The map is short, dense, and meant to be learned.
A SILENCE THAT ISN'T EMPTY
Fog-choked roads, a mountain pass that watches you walk it, and an order of paladins whose account of that night has a hole in it. Someone came back from the border. It wasn't your father.