The severed filament fades into the snow, leaving the black stones dark. Across the distant eastern pass, a line of covered lanterns flickers one by one.
Borealis
That is a hunter relay. Each shuttered light carries the next signal along the pass, hidden from anyone who does not know the pattern.
Borealis turns toward the eastern lights, her pale blue scales silvered by moonlight. Luna keeps the snow leopard cub tucked beneath her cloak while the wind shifts.
Cryos
Rrha... movement behind the black stones. More than one body, low and waiting. They heard the severing, even if the signal has not answered.
Borealis
The relay is preparing its final message. Search means they spread along the ravine. Withdraw means they abandon this trail. Strike elsewhere means the lodge has become their target.
One eastern lantern opens briefly, casting a narrow bar of amber across the snow, then closes. Another answers farther up the pass, nearer the hidden movement.
Borealis
We have moments before the pattern resolves. Watch the lights, listen to the stones, and choose what we do before the hunters decide for us.
“I decode the lantern pattern”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +2)
Crystalious watches the lanterns through the drifting snow, counting each shutter, pause, and answering flare. The sequence repeats in threes, but the final light breaks the rhythm.
crystalious
The first lantern marks sighting, the second names the route, and the third gives the order.
The pattern resolves beneath his scrutiny: the relay has confirmed the ravine, ordered a silent spread, and reserved the eastern pass for the hunters’ main movement.
Borealis
You have it. They are not striking the lodge yet. They will seal this ravine, then drive us north toward the magical trace.
Cryos
Rrha... the message is clear now. Their nearest group waits behind the stones, while the larger pack moves through the eastern pass.
As the final meaning settles, Crystalious’s burned palm pulses sharply. The sigil flares through his bandage, and one eastern lantern opens in answer, revealing that the relay has sensed its pattern was read.
Luna
Then they know someone understood them. We have the truth, but secrecy is gone. We choose our escape before their cordon closes.
Escape the hunters' cordon
Quest Complete
Determine the hunters' next move
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Good→Great