The party follows the eastern marks along a collapsed quarry road. Broken stone crowds the track, while Celia, Maurice, Elianor, Tomas, Brother Caldus, and Iven pick their way beneath the hills.
Two standing stones lean together above a dry shaft, their weathered faces furred with lichen. Old mason marks circle the rim, but fresh black residue stains one hooked symbol.
Iven Marr
This is the landmark. The burden passed beneath these stones, though I never saw the shaft open. Those marks were clean when I fled.
The black residue descends in a thin, uneven trail into the shaft. No wind rises from below, yet the dust trembles as if something deep beneath the quarry has breathed.
Maurice Headsman
Keep away from the rim. I will search the rubble first. A buried thing may be waiting for our weight, not our names.
Brother Caldus
The symbol is not merely marked. It has been reopened. Whatever touched this place has begun drawing the old path downward again.
Maurice circles the leaning stones, studying gaps between fallen blocks. Elianor holds the lampglass near the stained mark while Tomas steadies Iven and Caldus watches the shaft.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish a reliable route to the eastern source
“I follow the residue trail into the shaft”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +0)
Celia follows the thin residue trail to the shaft and steps between the leaning stones. The black dust clings to the old footholds, marking a safe descent into darkness.
Her sanctified staff casts a pale glow down the dry shaft. Maurice braces one hand against the rim while Celia climbs, and the others hold the lampglass above her.
Maurice Headsman
The stones are stable. Keep your weight against the wall, and call if the marks change.
Celia reaches the shaft floor without disturbance. Beneath the dust lies a circular mason's seal, split by a narrow rootlike groove where the residue disappears into stone.
Brother Caldus
That is the record Iven described. The source touched this place, then withdrew below the buried world.
Elianor lowers the golden lampglass, revealing faint hooked marks around the seal. The residue trail ends at its center, and a cold breath rises from the groove without disturbing the dust.
Iven Marr
I never reached this depth. Whatever passed here left its direction plainly, beneath the stones.
“I ask Maurice to search for another descent”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +2)
Celia Graves
Maurice, search for another descent. Find a way below that does not disturb this seal.
Maurice Headsman
Stay clear of the rim. I will find it.
Maurice climbs from the shaft and searches the collapsed quarry road, testing rubble with his weapon and examining every gap beneath the leaning stones.
At the road’s eastern edge, he shifts a slab from a wall of fallen masonry. Behind it, a narrow stair descends into the buried world, its steps dry and marked with old mason signs.
Maurice Headsman
Here. The stair is sound, and it descends beyond the seal without touching the shaft.
Brother Caldus
Then the old builders gave us a second path. The source’s trail may be followed without reopening its record.
Elianor raises the lampglass toward the opening. Gold light settles over the first steps, while the black residue remains confined to the split seal behind them.
Quest Complete
Establish a reliable route to the eastern source
Skill Upgrade: Survival Fair→Good