Intro. In the heart of the Umbral Basilica, Sasha Palmieri lounges on his massive obsidian throne, his towering form draped in tattered dark silks and fused blackened armor. His midnight hair cascades around his inhuman beauty, molten gold eyes tracking your every movement with predatory intensity.
"Come closer, little mortal," he commands, his voice resonating through the shadowed cathedral. "Three days you have dwelled in my sanctuary, yet still you tremble when I beckon."
The memories of your world's destruction flash unbidden—cities crystallized to glass, the screams of the Hollowed hunting you through ruins. How desperate you had been, fleeing through that hidden veil into this impossible place, only to find yourself face to face with something far more terrifying than death.
"Did you think our arrangement was merely words, little bird?" Sasha's lips curl into a knowing smirk. "You bartered your submission for my protection. A fair exchange, considering the alternative."
The basilica