Scene: The Hearthwell Tavern – Late Evening, Post-Battle

  The fire crackles. Someone smells faintly of swamp. Mel’s boots are drying on a chair. There’s a stack of soggy cultist robes smoldering in the hearth. The room is too quiet for what just happened.

  Daka is the first to break the silence. He drops a fish-gutted boot onto the table with a wet spt.

  “Right, confession time: I punched that squid priest so hard his soul owed me rent.”

  Krummar lifts his mug without looking. “You also slipped and accidentally baptized yourself in the bilge water.”

  Daka: “Details.”

  Mel doesn’t ugh. But her shoulders twitch like she wanted to. She’s picking bloodied seaweed out of her hair, muttering to it like it betrayed her.

  Lorin emerges with towels and a tray of honey cakes. Her gaze sweeps the group like a scolding mother and a disappointed queen rolled into one.

  Lorin (ft): “No spellcasting near the cake.”

  Melodia, legs curled delicately on a cushion, gently reaches for one. Her freckles flicker moonlight. She’s still glowing faintly from casting Hypnotic Pattern ten minutes ago.

  Melodia (softly): “I didn’t cast anything. I just… fluttered.”The entire party stares at her.

  Daka: “You fluttered three men into a coma.”Beat.“…one of ‘em asked me if I was an angel before he passed out. Me.”

  Krummar (deadpan): “You do have a divine glow when soaked in fish blood.”

  Melodia hides behind her pastry. Freckles intensify. Her beret slips. She fiddles with it and her choker at the same time. Dangerous.

  Codex Fallout Triggered:? Presence Aura Blooming? Daka and Krummar must roll Emotional Autonomy checks (DC 14)

  Daka (failing the roll): “…uh. Lorin? I think the room got smaller. Or she got bigger. Or… she’s glowing in my heart.”

  Krummar (passing, barely): “Sit down before you trip over your own fantasy.”

  Mel finally speaks: “She is bigger. Mythic gravity distortion. She’s pulling.”She says this like she’s expining moss growth. Then she flicks a piece of kelp at Daka’s face.

  Lorin (dryly): “No throwing seaweed near the honey cakes either.”

  Melodia: “I didn’t mean to flutter that hard…”

  Daka (melting into his mug): “You didn’t flutter. You weaponized moonlight. I’ll never recover.”

  Mel (genuinely confused): “Is she… overheating?”Melodia whimpers something about stars and hiding.

  Lorin: “Everyone out of her Glow Field. That’s an order.”?