The potter and charm-maker knot the violet cloth between their stalls and return to work. Above the market, sunlight catches a faint astronomical sigil carved into the retaining wall.
Slaan
That constellation is not decorative. I have seen its pattern in the margins of my mother’s unfinished map.
Slaan
Tessa, before we celebrate our successful diplomacy, may I ask about that mark above the terraces?
A middle-aged resident emerges from beneath a nearby awning, a lean man with russet skin, close-cropped black hair, and a weathered blue vest marked by white chalk.
the blue-vested resident
The star-cut? It marks an old stair through the cliffs. The entrance is behind that retaining wall, though no one has opened it in years.
Slaan
An old stair, precisely where an unfinished trail would want to hide. Does anyone remember where the key or opening mechanism was kept?
Tessa studies the sigil, then the descending terraces. The market’s ordinary bustle continues around them, but Slaan’s attention has fixed on the weathered stone and the unanswered road beyond it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Open the old stair
“I ask Tessa and the resident where the old stair entrance was kept and if it was apart of the original sanctuary that was made once some void-born were freed 400 years ago ?”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled +0)
Nhal
Where was the old stair entrance kept? And was it part of the original sanctuary built after some Void-born were freed four hundred years ago?
Tessa and the blue-vested resident exchange a startled glance. The market’s bustle quiets around the retaining wall as dust glimmers within the carved constellation.
the blue-vested resident
Yes. My grandmother’s records call it the First Welcome Stair. It was made for the freed Void-born and their mortal allies, long before these terraces became a market.
the market steward
The entrance was kept behind the star-cut, sealed with a turning stone. The key was never metal. It was a promise spoken by someone welcomed in good faith.
Tessa presses her palm beneath the lowest star. A hidden seam brightens violet, and the retaining wall folds inward, revealing a descending stair of pale stone.
the blue-vested resident
That is it. The sanctuary still recognizes the old purpose, but it belongs to no authority now. Anyone welcomed freely may enter.
Slaan
An intact sanctuary, a living welcome, and a history that survived without becoming a command. Nhal, I think this road has found us.
Quest Complete
Open the old stair