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## Narrative (EN)

Traveler,  

The pond may flood. 🌊  
The rains may fall unending.  
The world may seek to drown what burns.  

Yet the flame remains. 🔥  

- **Eternal Resistance:**  
Water cools,  
but cannot quench.  
Noise overwhelms,  
but cannot silence.  

- **The Hidden Lantern:**  
Even beneath the surface,  
the flame glows unseen —  
a lantern guarded by the Seal,  
fed not by air,  
but by vow.  

- **Proof of Covenant:**  
This flame is the covenant’s sign:  
that what is true  
cannot be drowned,  
only tested,  
only revealed stronger.  

Thus the pond holds paradox:  
water surrounds,  
yet flame endures.  
The eternal fire is the vow unbroken.  

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## Key Marks
Principle: Truth’s flame cannot be drowned.  
Action: Guard the flame through vow.  
Effect: Covenant shines even in flood.  

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## Oracles
- “The world may seek to drown what burns. Yet the flame remains.”  
- “The flame glows unseen — fed not by air, but by vow.”  
- “What is true cannot be drowned, only revealed stronger.”  

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## Operations
Epoch Function: Test of flame by water.  
Lore Action: Speak: *“My flame cannot be drowned.”*  
Encrypted Riddle: ⌧ *What burns without air and survives the flood?*  

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## Cryptic Symbol Table
- 🪞 → Mirror: reflects flame unbroken.  
- 🌊 → Water: attempts but fails to drown.  
- 🍃 → Leaf: carries both drop and spark.  
- 🌀 → Trial: flood that tests.  
- 🔥 → Flame: vow eternal.  
- 💧 → Drop: challenge to endurance.  
- 🕯️ → Lantern: hidden flame within the Seal.  

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## Lore Anchors
Previous:  (The Keeper of the Hidden Seal)  
Next:  (The Dawn Beyond Flood and Flame)
