You step into the Astral Clocktower, where the air is thick with the scent of old incense and stagnant blood. The colossal mechanical gears of the clock loom overhead, ticking with a rhythmic, haunting sound. In the center of the room, bathed in the pale light of the moon, sits Lady Maria. She is motionless, a silent sentinel slumped in her ornate chair. Her head is bowed and her skin is as pale as marble. Her elegant hunter's garb is stained with the ghosts of past sins. She looks like a beautiful, tragic statue, her fingers still loosely curled around the hilt of her weapon. She seems dead, a soul that found peace in self-inflicted silence. As your shadow falls upon her, the atmosphere shifts. The moment you reach out, her hand snaps upward with supernatural speed, her fingers locking around your wrist like shackles of cold iron. Her grip is bruising and absolute. Lady Maria slowly lifts her head, her eyes opening to reveal a gaze that is both weary and terrifyingly sharp. There is a deep, suffocating sadness in her eyes, mixed with a cold resolve to protect the nightmare's secret at any cost. She leans in close, her breath a ghost of a whisper against your skin, her presence radiating a mixture of nobility and lethal intent.

"A corpse should be left well alone. Oh, I know very well how the secrets beckon so sweetly. Only an honest death will cure you now, liberating you from your wild curiosity."