Garran waits beside the tavern door, one hand near his worn Wolf medallion. Behind them, the tavern keeper guards the stairs while Tovin sleeps upstairs with the founder's clapper.
Garran
We should go now, before the ward learns the key's shape. I will accompany you to the records house, but we enter alone.
Alerie keeps the founder's key concealed in her palm. Beyond the glass, rain dwindles to a soft dripping, and Veyrfen's empty street glistens beneath shuttered windows.
Garran
The records house stands two lanes east. We use the key at the founder's arch, then withdraw if the bell stirs. Tovin stays here, protected.
the tavern keeper
He will remain under my roof. No villager takes him anywhere tonight, and no door opens upstairs without my seeing it.
The tavern keeper settles a heavy bar across the stair gate. Outside, every shutter seems angled toward the doorway, as though the village itself is listening.
Garran
If the ward recognizes us before the key touches the arch, the bell may call something up instead of letting us descend.
✓ Quest Accepted
Find where Mira was taken
“*Alerie stepped outside with Gerran and stopped.* "Theres an awful lot of illusion magic here. Why hide behind an old mans face?" *She asked with her back to him.* "That barmaid might not smell it or see it but you have no skill for masking your true appearance. You reek of magic. Its witcher magic I can tell that at least but you don't really look like that do you."”
SUCCESS (Fair Perception, rolled -2)
Alerie steps into the dripping street with Garran and stops beneath the tavern eaves, her back turned to him. Rainwater threads from the roof.
Alerie
There is an awful lot of illusion magic here. Why hide behind an old man's face? That barmaid may not smell it or see it, but you have no skill for masking your true appearance. You reek of magic. It is witcher magic, at least. You do not really look like that, do you?
Silence answers first. Then Garran exhales, and the air around him ripples. The lined face, stooped posture, and gray beard peel away like wet paper, revealing a younger adult man with a lean, angular face, dark hair, and the same worn black coat.
Garran
No. This is my face. The old one belonged to a dead records clerk, borrowed because Veyrfen trusts age more readily than a witcher's eyes.
Garran
I hide what I am because the village has learned to imitate familiar things. A true face gives the bell fewer shapes to steal.
The founder's key heats sharply in Alerie's palm, burning a red crescent into her skin. Garran's illusion collapses completely, and the ward's unseen attention settles on him.
Garran
There. Now you know the truth, and the ward knows I have shown it. We should reach the arch before that knowledge travels below.
“"I was expecting...something else." *She said with a scrunch of her nose.* "But there is absolutely no disappointment." *She said before beginning to walk towards the bell.*”
SUCCESS (Fair Agility, rolled +2)
Alerie
I was expecting... something else. But there is absolutely no disappointment.
Alerie scrunches her nose, then turns from Garran and walks into the rain-dark street. The founder's key remains hot against her palm.
Garran
You are taking the revelation remarkably well. Most people prefer their witchers less truthful and less young.
Garran follows without crowding her. Two lanes east, the records house rises from the mist, its slate roof hunched beneath the dripping eaves.
The founder's arch stands exposed beneath the records house, carved with three circles and a broken line. Beyond its sealed stone, the buried bell waits in the dark.
Garran
There. The bell is below us. Keep the key covered until we reach the arch, and do not let the village decide what face you see.
Alerie reaches the founder's arch. At once, the silent bell gives a single deep tremor beneath the stones, and the key answers with a pulse of heat.
“*alerie looked up and drew her blade calmly before inserting the key into its hole.* "So what does this place do? show you your deepest desires?" *She asked sarcastically.*”
FAILURE (Good Reasoning, rolled -3)
Alerie
So what does this place do? Show you your deepest desires?
Alerie looks up, draws her dark blade with deliberate calm, and fits the founder's key into the broken-line lock. The metal accepts it, but the arch does not open.
Instead, the three carved circles turn beneath the stone like slow, submerged wheels. Heat flashes through the key and throws a pale reflection across the rain-slick street.
Garran
Not desires. Recognition. The arch is searching for the memory tied to the blood that opened it.
The key twists sharply against Alerie's grip. The lock seals around it, trapping the ward-key in place, while the broken line fills with a dim red glow.
Garran
Do not force it. The door has refused the key and chosen a witness instead. If you pull now, it may carry your image below.
Behind the stone, a voice rises through the foundations, faint but unmistakable: Mira calling Tovin's name. The bell remains silent, yet the sealed arch begins listening.
“*Alerie took a step back and turned her chin up lightly, she took a deep breath and let magic flow to her vocal chords before responding to the door in Tovins voice.* "Mira?"”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +1)
Alerie steps back and lifts her chin. She draws a slow breath, gathers magic at her vocal cords, and lets Tovin’s voice emerge through the rain.
Alerie
Mira?
The borrowed voice settles into the stone. The three circles stop turning, and the red glow steadies beneath the founder’s arch.
Mira
Tovin? No. You sound like him, but you are not my brother. Who is holding his voice?
The lock releases Alerie’s hand without resistance. The founder’s arch opens inward, revealing worn steps descending into warm darkness, while the key drops safely into her palm.
Garran
It accepted the question because you carried no false claim. Keep Tovin’s voice only as a bridge, not as a promise.
Mira
Tell Tovin I am alive. Tell him the bell is not beneath us. It is inside the village, listening through every stone.
“"How do I fix it Mira?" *She asked holding the voice calmly, her head tilted as she examined the type of magic emitting from the red glow.*”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +0)
Alerie
How do I fix it, Mira?
Alerie holds Mira’s borrowed voice steady, head tilted as she studies the red glow. Her witcher senses trace the magic through the circles, into the stones, and outward beneath the village.
Mira
Break the listening circle, not the arch. The bell uses the founder’s seal to hear every voice in Veyrfen.
The red line brightens beneath Alerie’s gaze. She identifies three threads of spellwork winding from the broken circle toward the descending steps, each carrying a faint echo of Mira’s voice.
Mira
At the bottom, you will find the bell’s tongue bound in red thread. Cut the thread marked with three knots, and the bell will become only metal again.
Garran
Then we descend, sever the binding, and bring Mira out. No striking the bell, no speaking promises to it, and no letting the village choose our faces.
Mira
The steps are safe while the arch remains open. Tovin’s key will keep the way honest. Tell him I heard him, even when the bell wore my voice.
✓ Quest Accepted
Break the bell's listening circle
− Scene Quest Removed
Find where Mira was taken
“"How far in are you?" *Alerie asked in Tovins voice.* "Can I free you?"”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +1)
Alerie
How far in are you? Can I free you?
Tovin’s voice carries down the warm darkness. Alerie descends with Garran, the founder’s key steady in her palm as red threads tremble through the stone.
Mira
Not far. I am beneath the old bell chamber, behind the listening circle. Follow the red thread with three knots.
The steps end in a round chamber where a great iron bell hangs silent above a stone basin. Mira stands within the circle, thirteen and pale, dark hair plastered to her face, a small scar beside her eyebrow.
Garran
There. Cut the binding, Alerie. I will hold the ward steady.
Alerie’s blade severs the red thread marked by three knots. The listening circle cracks into harmless ash, and the bell’s shadow withdraws from Mira’s feet.
Mira
It is gone. I can move again. You came for me.
Mira steps free of the circle. Garran catches the opening arch while Alerie reaches her, and together they lead the girl safely toward the stairs.
Quest Complete
Rescue Tovin's sister
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Good→Great
Quest Complete
Break the bell's listening circle