The well ring grinds wider, stone shrieking against stone. Hot, old air surges up from below, and the seal on Xarsthos's arm answers with a sharp, rhythmic burn.
Bera
Xarsthos, wait. If that shaft opens fully, what is in there may come up with you.
The Hooded Figure
It is already coming up. The question is whether he meets it as its jailer, or its door.
Xarsthos
The heat is pulling him toward the opening.
A faint amber pulse flickers deep in the dark passage, then steadies, like a heartbeat beneath the village. The well is no longer a well. It is a descent, and it knows Xarsthos by name.
Bera
Then tell me what we do to keep Oakhaven standing.
The Hooded Figure
He goes below, or the burden breaks the square from under your feet. This is where the danger is buried.
Xarsthos stands at the lip of the opening as the hidden path yawns beneath him, the village above held together by a seal that is now waking.
✓ Quest Accepted
Descend into the awakened ward beneath Oakhaven