The Heart of the Comet
You descend through a shaft of impossible ice into a cathedral of frozen brass. At its center thrums a mechanism vast and unknowable, its gears locked in patient sleep for eons. Steam-breath and aether-song rise from its core, resonating with the dying pulse of the Sovereign above.
A pedestal waits, hollow-cut for the crystalline key trembling in your gloved hand. It knows you have come.