The clerk guides Xerna to a back table and raises a brass lantern. A drenched young adult man is helped through the guild door, his fishing coat streaming onto the floor.
the clerk
Set him here. Xerna, watch the eastern markings while I hear what he remembers.
The messenger grips the tableThe messenger, a lean young adult man with a narrow face and a small scar at his chin, grips the table, pale beneath wet brown hair. Beyond him, the clerk remains at the door to keep the waiting fishermen back, while he stays beside Xerna.
the messenger
Bells... under the water. Not church bells. Deep ones. Every boat heard them, then the mist swallowed Brightcap Island.
the clerk
Brightcap is east of Greywake Reach, not within it. Are you certain the fog came from the island?
The clerk places the map beside his account and traces the fresh red branches. Under the lantern, the ink crawls across the parchment, inching eastward toward Brightcap.
the messenger
The bells are moving closer.
✓ Quest Accepted
Discover what is causing the bells beneath Brightcap Island
“I study the red ink's path toward Brightcap Island.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +0)
Xerna bends over the map, following the red branches from Greywake Reach toward Brightcap Island. The lantern flame trembles, throwing the ink into sharp relief.
Xerna
The red path follows the old southern channel, then converges beneath Brightcap’s western shore.
At the convergence, the ink forms a tight spiral around a surveyor’s depth mark. Beneath it, nearly hidden in the parchment fibers, lies a second symbol: three descending bells.
the clerk
There. That is no route marking. It means the disturbance is below the island, not in the mist around it.
The messenger leans closer, water dripping from his sleeve onto the table. His face tightens as the spiral’s outer line creeps another finger-width eastward.
the messenger
Below Brightcap? Then the boats above it are sitting over whatever rang those bells.
the clerk
You have the location now, Xerna. Brightcap’s western shore, beneath the old channel. That is where help is needed.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach Brightcap Island
“Can the guild provide a boat to Brightcap Island?”
YES (Likely, rolled 25)
The clerk’s gaze shifts from the spiraling ink to the rain-dark windows. Beyond the guild, harbor bells answer faintly through Keld’s wet morning air.
the clerk
Yes. The guild maintains a seaworthy cutter for urgent work. It is moored at the south pier, stocked for a crossing to Brightcap.
Relief stirs among the waiting fishermen, quickly buried beneath uneasy glances toward the map. The red line pulses once beneath the lantern.
the messenger
A cutter can reach the island before the mist closes the channel. But the boats already there may not have that long.
the clerk
The harbor master keeps the key. I will send word ahead and have the crew prepare the vessel, but the guild’s adventurer must lead the investigation.
She folds the map along its marked creases without disturbing the crawling red ink, then seals it in a waxed leather case. The route to Brightcap is open.
the clerk
Take the eastern channel from Greywake Reach. Do not follow the bells beneath the island unless you are ready to learn what is ringing them.
Xerna leaves Greywake Reach behind and arrives at Brightcap Island.
“I take the eastern channel to Brightcap Island”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled +0)
Brightcap Island rises from the mist in black shelves of wet stone, crowned by wind-bent pines. The cutter slips into a sheltered western cove beneath the old channel.
Rain pearls on the deck as the anchor drops. No crewman speaks; every face turns toward the shore, where pale bells pulse beneath the water instead of ringing through the air.
Xerna
The western shore is above the depth mark.
A narrow strand lies empty except for three fishing boats pulled crookedly onto the pebbles. Their nets twitch as though something below them is breathing.
Beyond the strand, a split in the island’s cliff reveals stone steps descending into blue-black darkness. Fresh bootprints lead from the boats to the opening.
The mist parts for one clear instant, revealing a brass bell half-submerged in the cove. Its clapper is still, yet the next deep toll rolls through the island.
At the foot of the steps, a lantern burns behind a fallen slab, and a muffled voice calls from within. The source of the disturbance is close, and someone is alive below.
Quest Complete
Reach Brightcap Island