L2-11b. Knot of Names — Reliquary of Balance

What this room is

A genealogical reliquary for the craft-orders who served here. The Suel idea is simple: Stone (Jascar) and Craft (Fortubo) must agree before any honor is dispensed. Bringing them into balance opens the central knot and yields a token of the wing.

Solving the room (no checks; player-led)

Clue verse (thin Old Suloise line under the knot, with a gloss):

“Stone consents, hand consents—then law remembers.”

1. Two creatures stand on the peak and hammer floor tiles facing each other.
2. On the beats of a soft six-count, each keeps one hand pressed to their tile.
3. On the sixth beat, either creature taps the small ruby pip set in the center of the knot.
   Result: The knotwork panel breathes inward and slides aside, revealing the reliquary niche.

Why this works: Jascar and Fortubo agree (sustained contact), then Wee Jas witnesses (the ruby). No skill rolls—only cadence and cooperation.

Failure feedback

• Out of sync / lifted early: the tiles hard-click and lock out for 1 minute.
• Shouting or rushing: the nearest Stone Bite slit snaps across the mid-floor (DEX 13, 2d6 slashing) and the room gains +1 Attention.
• Forcing the panel: loud, no effect; +1 Attention.

Mercy hints

• The murals’ eyes catch torchlight and glint toward each other if the party presses only one tile.
• The knot’s ruby pip faintly warms on the sixth beat of any steady count.

The reliquary niche (treasure)

• Stonebond Token (Suel). (wondrous, uncommon) A palm-sized bronze disc in Jascar-knot. While you carry it within L2-11, you have advantage on checks and saves to resist forced movement and against effects that knock you prone. As a reaction 1/short rest, you may reduce forced movement against you by 15 feet (to minimum 0).
• Oath-nails (2) and a folded ledger slip mapping which family lines in this room appear again in L2-11d (pillar truss).
• Ruby chalk (2 uses).

Occupants & behavior

• Default: quiet.
• On Attention ≥ 2 or if PCs break name-plates: a Ruby Ghoul and 2 Ruby Zombies arrive from the hall in 1d4 rounds. The ghoul tries to shove characters off tiles mid-rite, or to hold one tile while a zombie shambles to the other (they know the trick).

Interactions & lore

• Name-reading: Any PC with Old Suloise or Suel Religion Lore easily spots House Veyras bands braided through the knot (ties back to L2-11a).
• Returning a plate: If the party replaces any missing name-plate to its matching space in the knot (there’s one obvious empty lug), the next attempt to open the reliquary ignores out-of-sync errors once—forgiveness for one mistake..

Boxed outcomes

Success (niche opens):

Your palms keep the count—one… two… three… four… five… six—and the brass warms. The ruby in the knot flashes and the interlaced panel sighs inward, revealing a shallow shelf lined in red felt.

Off-beat (lockout):

The tiles clack and chill. The knot sits silent, the ruby’s light guttering to a pin.

Loud force (hazard):

The panel refuses—and the floor answers: a thin blade snaps from a grout line, licking across your shins with a stony hiss.