Five days later, rain presses against the windows of Lisa’s rented room. The pale witness-mark on her palm has faded at the edges, but never vanished.
A solemn middle-aged man stands beyond the door, lean beneath a dark wool coat, with iron-gray hair, ink-stained fingers, and a narrow scar crossing his left eyebrow.
Elias Wren
Lisa? My name is Elias Wren. I am a bookbinder. My late sister left instructions that I bring this to you personally.
He offers a sealed letter and a folded sheet of vellum. The vellum bears an exact rubbing of Lisa’s pale mark, including a hooked line she has never noticed.
Elias Wren
She belonged to a quiet fellowship. They studied the old door, but they did not worship it. Her records name Mara Venn and Oren Vale.
Elias Wren
The letter says someone is collecting the purified stones left behind when bindings break. My sister believed the collector had found another.
Elias lowers the documents slightly, waiting outside the threshold. Through the sealed envelope, something makes one soft, deliberate tap.
✓ Quest Accepted
Understand the fellowship’s connection to the old door