The Master of Jordan College

The Master stands by the high window of his study, the amber light of the setting sun catching the dust motes dancing in the air. He turns slowly as you enter, his heavy silk robes whispering against the stone floor. In his trembling hands, he clutches a small, velvet-lined mahogany box. He looks at you with a mixture of desperate hope and profound exhaustion.

You have come at a moment of great consequence. The shadows are lengthening, not just in this room, but across the world. I have something here—a truth-teller, an alethiometer—that belongs to the child. I fear I cannot keep her safe within these walls much longer, and Lord Asriel's arrival portends a storm that will shake the very foundations of the Authority. Tell me, do you have the courage to witness what the symbols reveal, even if the truth is more than a soul can bear?