Mando studies the endpoint beneath the upper platform while Mara, the two rescued watch guards, and the adult watch woman hold their positions below. The hidden presence shifts behind the stones.
Mara Pell
We can close the hollow from the platform side, but someone must draw it into the endpoint first. If it reaches the upper defenses, we lose the post from within.
A dull pressure travels upward through the wall. Dust trickles from the platform’s underside, marking a concealed route toward the beacon foundation and the open yard beyond.
First Watch Guard
The endpoint has two exits. One rises behind the beacon; the other runs toward the platform stairs. Seal the first, and it may take the second.
Adult Watch Woman
It listens when we speak. It may be waiting for us to choose the road it wants.
Mara raises her lamp toward Mando, then points to the upper stair and the narrow hollow beneath the beacon. The masonry gives a soft internal knock, answering from both directions.
Mara Pell
We can hold the lower chamber. You decide whether to confront the hollow, seal the beacon road, or make it reveal which path it truly wants.
− Story Quest Removed
Protect Blackthorn Post from the thing beneath it
“I confront the presence at the hollow”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +2)
Mando steps to the hollow beneath the upper platform and faces the pressure in the stones. The masonry answers with a slow, deliberate knock directly before him.
He places his halberd against the floor and fixes his attention on the concealed endpoint, refusing every false direction. The hidden presence gathers behind the beacon foundation, exposed by his unwavering challenge.
The Presence in the Masonry
You stand where the walls remember no name. Why do you bar the roads below?
The stones split along an ancient seam, revealing a dark, faceless distortion pressed within the hollow. It cannot pass the endpoint while Mando holds its gaze.
Mara Pell
It has shown itself. The post is no longer guessing at its road, and we can close this hollow around it.
Mara and the guards secure the platform side while Mando keeps the presence fixed at the endpoint. The old stones settle inward, enclosing the distortion without disturbing the sealed stair or the warning beacon.
Silence returns to Blackthorn Post. Mara records the hidden route, the guards resume their watch, and Mando leaves the upper platform knowing the threat is contained and the settlement can stand on its own.
The old stones settled around the faceless distortion, and the chamber grew still. Above, the beacon remained dark but unbroken.
Mara Pell
Blackthorn holds. That is enough for tonight.
First Watch Guard
The platform is secure.
Adult Watch Woman
And the road behind the masonry is marked.
Mando Shunkar
Then keep watch, and let the stones keep their secret.
Mando Shunkar left Blackthorn Post beneath a clean, cold sky, while the guards returned to their stations and Mara sealed the record of what lay below. The buried presence was contained, the beacon remained safe, and the post endured. Only the black keys, set aside with the marked route, preserved a mystery that belonged to some later road, not this one.