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The Long Winter · Week 2 — When Survival Becomes Tradition
Mara & Chibi
Three bells. One locked door. An ancient warning nobody questions. Then, in the middle of a winter storm, somebody knocks.
In the 41st millennium, the difference between caution and cruelty can be terrifyingly small. Explore difficult choices and lasting consequences in Black Tide: Shadow of Leviathan.
THE THIRD BELL
CHIBI:
“That’s a stupid rule.”
MARA:
“You haven’t heard all of it yet.”
“I heard enough.”
Mara points towards the records of a small Imperial settlement, buried deep within the mountains of an unnamed ice world.
MARA:
“Every evening, three bells ring. The first tells everyone to finish working. The second tells them to return home.”
CHIBI:
“And the third?”
“All outside doors must be locked. Nobody may open them again until morning.”
“Not even if someone knocks?”
“Not even then.”
“What if they’re cold?”
“The rule doesn’t say.”
“What if they’re lost?”
“It doesn’t say.”
“What if they’re little?”
Mara hesitates.
MARA:
“It says nobody.”
Chibi pulls his oversized sleeves over his hands.
CHIBI:
“Then it’s a very stupid rule.”
MARA:
“Unless there’s a reason.”
“Then somebody should tell us.”
WHY THE OLD STORIES MATTER
MARA:
“Some traditions began as ways to protect people.”
CHIBI:
“Like checking whether the ice is safe?”
“Exactly. Imagine adults telling children that a monster lives beneath a frozen lake.”
“Does it?”
“Not in this example. The ice is simply too thin to cross.”
“Then why tell them there’s a monster?”
“Perhaps because the story is easier to remember.”
Chibi thinks about that.
CHIBI:
“But what if everybody remembers the monster and forgets about the thin ice?”
MARA:
“Then they might stop understanding the real danger.”
“So the story is useful until it isn’t.”
“Sometimes.”
He studies the Imperial settlement.
CHIBI:
“But this is Warhammer. There might actually be a monster outside.”
MARA:
“There might. That’s why we need evidence rather than assuming every warning is foolish—or every frightening story is true.”
Chibi looks towards the dark mountain pass.
CHIBI:
“I’d still like to know what’s knocking.”
THE COURIER IN THE SNOW
Mara opens another record.
Thirty-seven years earlier, a traveller reached the settlement after the third bell.
The storm had damaged the courier’s heating equipment.
They knocked on the outer gate.
CHIBI:
“Did somebody let them in?”
MARA:
“No.”
“Did somebody help?”
“The record says the guards obeyed the rule.”
Chibi waits.
CHIBI:
“What happened to the courier?”
Mara looks down.
MARA:
“They found the courier outside the next morning. They hadn’t survived.”
For a moment, neither child speaks.
CHIBI:
“But they were right there.”
MARA:
“Yes.”
“And the people could hear them?”
“Yes.”
Chibi’s face tightens.
CHIBI:
“Then the rule killed somebody.”
MARA:
“It may have contributed to their death. But we still need to understand why the door wasn’t opened.”
“Why?”
“Because opening the main gate during a blizzard could have endangered everyone inside.”
He looks troubled.
CHIBI:
“So the guard might have been frightened of hurting the people in the city.”
MARA:
“Possibly.”
“But the courier needed help too.”
“Yes.”
Chibi shakes his head.
CHIBI:
“Then there should have been another way.”
THE DOOR NOBODY REPAIRED
Mara discovers an old engineering diagram.
MARA:
“Look at this.”
CHIBI:
“It’s a door.”
“Two doors, actually. There used to be a small emergency airlock beside the main gate.”
“Like a little room between outside and inside?”
“Exactly. Travellers could enter the first chamber without exposing the heated city to the storm.”
Chibi brightens.
CHIBI:
“Then they could have saved the courier!”
MARA:
“Perhaps. But the airlock had been broken for years.”
“Why didn’t they fix it?”
“The engineers requested repairs. The administration rejected them.”
“Why?”
“Because nobody was supposed to enter after the third bell. They decided the emergency airlock wasn’t necessary.”
Chibi stares at her.
CHIBI:
“But that’s why you need an emergency door!”
MARA:
“Exactly.”
He folds his arms.
CHIBI:
“That’s like making a rule that nobody’s allowed to get sick and then closing the hospital.”
Mara smiles sadly.
MARA:
“That’s a very good comparison.”
WHEN A WARNING BECOMES SACRED
The oldest records finally explain the third bell.
Centuries earlier, a terrible storm damaged the main gate. Freezing air flooded the settlement, killing many residents.
The doors were ordered shut at night to prevent another disaster.
CHIBI:
“So the rule was good?”
MARA:
“It may have been necessary then.”
“What changed?”
“Generations passed. The third bell became a religious ceremony. People were taught that obedience honoured the Emperor and their ancestors.”
“And nobody remembered the broken gate?”
“Not everyone understood the original danger.”
Chibi considers this.
CHIBI:
“So first they locked the door to save people.”
MARA:
“Yes.”
“And then they kept it locked even when somebody needed saving.”
“Yes.”
He looks at her.
CHIBI:
“Can you thank your ancestors for protecting everyone and still fix their rule?”
Mara smiles.
MARA:
“I think that’s exactly the question the settlement should be asking.”
THREE KNOCKS
MARA:
“Now imagine tonight.”
CHIBI:
“The third bell has rung?”
“Yes. The settlement is sealed. Snow covers the mountain road.”
“And then?”
“Somebody knocks.”
Three times.
CHIBI:
“Do we open the door?”
MARA:
“Not before checking. We could use the vox, cameras and sensors. We could call the guards and medical staff.”
“And repair the little emergency room.”
“That would be a sensible precaution.”
“So we help the person without letting the storm into everybody’s houses.”
“If the circumstances make it safe, yes.”
Chibi thinks for a moment.
CHIBI:
“Then I wouldn’t throw away the old rule.”
MARA:
“What would you do?”
“I’d make it better.”
“How?”
“Don’t open the door without checking what’s there. But don’t forget the person outside.”
Mara nods.
MARA:
“Carefulness and compassion don’t have to be enemies.”
The imagined traveller is brought safely into the repaired airlock.
The main gate remains sealed.
Then the guards hear something.
Three more knocks.
From outside.
CHIBI:
“But the traveller is already inside.”
MARA:
“Yes.”
“Does the camera show anybody?”
“No.”
Chibi looks towards the dark window.
CHIBI:
“Maybe the wind?”
MARA:
“Perhaps.”
Another three knocks.
Nobody answers the vox.
Chibi lowers his voice.
CHIBI:
“Maybe the old stories weren’t completely wrong.”
MARA:
“Maybe. But we still need to find out what’s happening.”
“Without opening the door?”
“Without taking an unnecessary risk.”
THE QUESTION WE LEAVE OPEN
CHIBI:
“I think I know what the third bell should mean.”
MARA:
“What?”
“Check the doors. Check the heaters. Check that everybody’s home.”
“And if somebody isn’t?”
“Find a safe way to help them.”
Mara looks at the settlement’s ancient shrine.
MARA:
“Then perhaps the Bell of Mercy could finally deserve its name.”
Chibi turns towards us.
CHIBI:
“If somebody was freezing outside your door, would you try to help?”
Mara adds:
MARA:
“And if an ancient rule forbade you, would you first ask what danger it was meant to prevent—or obey without ever finding out?”
Beyond the walls, the snow continues falling.
And somewhere in the darkness, something knocks again.
PLAY EPIC. FEEL THE STORY.
In Black Tide: Shadow of Leviathan, danger does not always announce itself with weapons. Sometimes a single decision reveals the difference between protecting a community and abandoning someone who needs it.
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