The witcher remains by the hearth, tall and middle-aged beneath his travel-stained black coat. His worn crest catches the firelight as he watches Alerie and Tovin with unsettling familiarity.
Garran
The old bells do not answer strangers. They answer a living caller, someone carrying the valley's blood in their bones.
Garran
Near the bell house, I found this sign: three circles carved into the mud, with a line breaking through the center. It may tell us who summoned them.
He leans forward, lowering his voice as the tavern's warmth seems to retreat. Tovin's fingers close around the founder's key beneath the table.
Tovin
It is warm. It was never warm before.
Tovin pulls the key free and stares at it. A faint heat reddens the old metal, while somewhere beneath Veyrfen, a bell gives one muffled tremor.
Garran
There. The key knows we are speaking of it. Now I can tell you what the sign means, if you are prepared to hear it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep Tovin safe from the bell's caller
“*Alerie nodded and set her blade on the table as a silent tell that if the man so much as touched a hair on tovins head wrong she'd gut him and leave the mess for someone else to clean.* "Tell me what it is so I can get his sister back and ease his mind. He's only a child he has no need to be so frantic."”
SUCCESS (Great Intimidation, rolled +1)
Alerie nods and lays her dark blade across the table, its edge angled toward the witcher. The gesture is quiet, unmistakable, and Tovin stays tucked close beside her.
Alerie
Tell me what it is so I can get his sister back and ease his mind. He is only a child. He has no need to be this frantic.
Garran
The three circles are the old seal of Veyrfen's founders. The broken line means the seal was opened from within, by blood belonging to the founding families.
The witcher keeps both hands visible and does not glance toward Tovin's key. Firelight crawls across the worn crest on his shoulder plate.
Garran
Your boy's sister carried that blood. The bell house recognized her, drew her below, and used her voice to call others. She is alive beneath the village.
Garran
The key is a ward-key. It can open the lower door, but only while the bell is silent. At the next stillness, take it to the founder's arch beneath the records house.
Tovin
Alive. She is alive.
✓ Quest Accepted
Rescue Tovin's sister
Quest Complete
Learn who is calling Tovin
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Great→Superb
“"Does he need to be the one opening it? I'd rather not have to bring a child down into a place like that. And what are you doing here? did you come for the bell or simply to get drunk?" *She asked leaning back and crossing her arms, watching as a bowl of stew was placed in front of tovin. She watched the child devour the bowl as if it were the first food hed had in days which it likely was since his sister had been gone...unless...he was the older one...*”
SUCCESS (Fair Reasoning, rolled -1)
Alerie
Does he need to be the one opening it? I would rather not bring a child below. And what are you doing here, witcher? The bell, or drink?
Alerie leans back with her arms crossed as the tavern keeper sets stew before Tovin. He devours it rapidly, scarcely pausing to breathe, while steam beads on his pale face.
Alerie
He eats as if this is his first food in days.
Garran
No. Tovin need not descend, and he need not touch the door. His blood opened the seal, but the ward-key can carry that permission.
The witcher reaches inside his coat and places a folded strip of black cloth beside the key. Its edge bears the same three-circle seal, inked in dull red.
Garran
I came for the bell. Two witchers vanished here before I arrived, and the contract named whatever sleeps beneath the village. The drink came afterward.
Garran
Take Tovin upstairs when he finishes. I will meet you beneath the records house at the next silence. The cost is already paid: the bell heard us, and every sleeper below now knows my scent.
“*Alerie nodded and sat up again, taking her blade off the table and sheathing it again.* "We are safer to get it done sooner rather than later." *She agreed tearing a small piece from the bread tovin was given.* "Your name?" *She asked looking at the witcher.*”
SUCCESS (Fair Reasoning, rolled -1)
Alerie
We are safer getting it done sooner rather than later. Your name?
Alerie sits upright, lifts her dark blade from the table, and guides it into its sheath. The leather gives a quiet scrape that draws a wary glance from the tavern keeper.
She tears a small piece from Tovin's bread and places it within his reach, keeping the rest of the loaf before him.
Tovin
He has a name, then? I thought witchers only answered to their medallions.
Garran
My name is Garran. Garran of the Wolf School, though the school has little left to claim but old stones and older ghosts.
As Garran speaks, the founder's key cools against the table. A faint red mark remains on Alerie's fingertips from the heated metal, a small price for keeping Tovin fed and the plan moving.
Garran
Eat quickly, boy. At the next silence, we go beneath the records house, and we do not give the bell time to change its mind.
“*She nods and pockets the tea. She watched Tovin finish his bowl and gently coaxed him to rise, he looked tired now, as was expected after a good hearty home-cooked meal, it brought a rare soft smile to her features as she lead him up the stairs to the room the tavern-worker had prepared for them.* "When you wake, I will have your sister with me, will you tell me her name? how old is she? am I looking for a child? or someone older?"”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +1)
Alerie pockets the tea, watches Tovin finish his bowl, then gently coaxes him upright. His tired steps follow her toward the stairs.
The hearty meal has softened the boy's drawn face. A rare, gentle smile touches Alerie's features as she leads him upstairs to the prepared room.
Alerie
When you wake, I will have your sister with me. Will you tell me her name? How old is she? Am I looking for a child, or someone older?
Tovin
Her name is Mira. She is thirteen, older than me, but still a child. She has dark hair like mine, and a scar beside her eyebrow.
Inside, two narrow beds wait beneath a small window. Tovin sits on one, clutching the bell clapper, while rain whispers against the shutters.
Tovin
She told me to stay away from the bell house. Then it spoke with her voice and told me to come closer.
Tovin's eyelids droop as exhaustion overtakes him. The founder's key rests safely in his hand, cool and silent while the village bells remain still.
+ New Item Acquired
Tea
“*Alerie waited until Tovin fell asleep and took the key carefully, though he wouldn't stir now, and she needed it.* *She rose and made her way out of the room, down the steps and towards where Gerran was sat at a table.* "The childs asleep, we have the key."”
SUCCESS (Good Stealth, rolled +0)
Tovin’s breathing settles into a deep, even rhythm. Alerie carefully lifts the founder’s key from his slack fingers, and he does not stir.
She leaves the key hidden in her palm, closes the door without a creak, and descends through the quiet tavern toward the firelit tables.
Alerie
The child’s asleep. We have the key.
Garran sits where she left him, one hand around an untouched cup. His gaze drops briefly to the key, then returns to her face.
Garran
Good. Then the village has lost its easiest excuse to keep us waiting.
The tavern keeper pauses behind the counter, listening without appearing to. Outside, rain taps the shutters, and the buried bell remains silent.
Garran
Keep it covered until we reach the records house. If the ward recognizes it too soon, the door may answer before we are ready.
“*she nodded and watched Gerran rise, placing her hands on her hips and standing where she was face to face with him, their chests nearly touched. She tilted her head once.* "What School did you come from again?"”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +0)
Alerie nods as Garran rises. She plants her hands on her hips and holds her ground before him, close enough that the firelight warms both their faces.
Alerie
Which School did you come from again?
Garran
The Wolf School. Kaer Morhen trained me, back when its stones still held voices instead of only ghosts.
Garran does not retreat from her closeness, though his eyes flick briefly toward the covered key in her palm. Rain whispers against the shutters.
Garran
The Wolf medallion is worn smooth, but the discipline remains. We were taught to study the dark before deciding where to place the blade.
Garran
She stands like someone who has already survived the answer to every question she asks.
Garran
Why ask, Alerie? Do you suspect my school has some connection to what waits beneath Veyrfen?
“"You just don't see little pups all grown up often from what I've heard. What makes you so special?" *She asked tilting her head again.*”
SUCCESS (Fair Reasoning, rolled +1)
Alerie
You just don't see little pups all grown up often, from what I've heard. What makes you so special?
Alerie tilts her head, studying Garran at close range. Firelight catches the catlike gold of her eyes while the covered ward-key remains closed in her palm.
Garran
Special is a generous word. I survived what most children did not, and the surviving made me useful.
Garran
The Wolf School took boys young, trained the body past ordinary limits, then subjected us to mutagens and the Trial of the Grasses.
Garran touches the worn medallion at his throat. His expression stays composed, but the tavern fire reflects in eyes sharpened for darkness.
Garran
Nine out of ten did not rise from that trial. Those who did gained speed, strength, senses, and a lifespan long enough to watch their teachers become ghosts.
Garran
That is what makes me special, Alerie. Not destiny. Luck, discipline, and enough scars to know when a bell is lying.
“"I'd say thats pretty good luck." *She said before turning to the door.* "I came from the Viper academy, all women." *She said proudly. The viper academy wasn't just known for producing deadly witcher women, but ones with beauty that often even queens envied.*”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled -1)
Alerie
I'd say that's pretty good luck.
Alerie turns toward the tavern door, the ward-key concealed in her palm. Rain-muted firelight follows her across the floor.
Alerie
I came from the Viper Academy. All women.
Garran's hand stills against his medallion. His guarded expression shifts into open recognition, and the tavern keeper glances over despite herself.
Garran
The Vipers. Deadly, precise, and reputedly beautiful enough to make queens jealous. I had heard the stories, though I assumed most were tavern embroidery.
Garran
An all-woman school surviving among old orders is no small achievement. Your training explains the blade, but not why one of its finest is guarding a frightened boy in Veyrfen.
The buried bell remains silent beneath the village. Garran steps aside from the doorway, leaving Alerie a clear path while keeping his attention fixed on her.
Quest Complete
Keep Tovin safe from the bell's caller
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Fair→Good