The black-robed bailiff closes the iron tablet and leads the the gargoyle vampire from the court. The red lattice holds as they pass beyond the castle gate under Leebes’s authority.
The Gargoyle Vampire
My custody is recorded. I will not resist the Queen’s keeping, provided the castle and its people remain outside my reach.
The court clears, leaving the Devil free to depart. Before he reaches the outer road, a thread of blue-white magic gathers in the air and carries Elaris’s voice across the coast.
Elaris
The riders’ territory is being cursed from deep below. We sense an old hermit hag beneath the mountains, frog-like and hidden in caves.
The Devil follows the summons to the fortified coastal mountain base. Elaris waits beside a broad-shouldered senior rider, a middle-aged woman in slate armor and a weathered blue cloak.
The Senior Rider
The ground cracks without collapsing, and the wells taste bitter. The curse rises from below our foundations, but no passage has opened.
Elaris
Her presence feels old, solitary, and deliberate. She is a witch, a hermit hag shaped like a giant frog, concealed somewhere beneath these caves.
✓ Quest Accepted
Find the hermit hag
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect the dragonriders’ territory from the underground curse
“"Do you know a quick way there, or should i teleport us underground"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +2)
The Devil
Do you know a quick way there, or should I teleport us underground?
Elaris
We know one. Beneath the western cistern, an old supply shaft descends directly into the mountain caves. It is quicker and safer than forcing a passage underground.
Elaris points toward the fortress’s western cistern, where slate steps vanish beneath a locked stone hatch. The senior rider studies the direction, then nods grimly.
The Senior Rider
The shaft reaches the old mining galleries below our foundations. From there, the hag’s cave signs should be visible before we disturb the rock.
Elaris
Take us through the cistern. We can descend without teleporting and reach the galleries quickly.
The route is plain: the western cistern, its sealed hatch, then the old supply shaft into the mountain galleries. The senior rider moves to fetch the key.
“I lead them”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled +1)
The Devil leads Elaris and the senior rider across the fortress yard by the shortest covered walk, his pace decisive beneath the cold mountain wind. The western cistern comes into view.
Elaris
There. The hatch is below the old water ledge. The supply shaft begins immediately beneath it.
They reach the cistern without delay. Damp stone circles a narrow basin, and a locked slate hatch lies flush beneath its western rim.
The Senior Rider
We are here. Once this opens, the galleries will carry us below the foundations.
The senior rider arrives beside the hatch and produces the iron key. Elaris takes position near the stair, watching the surrounding battlements while the key turns in the lock.
The slate hatch opens onto a steep, dry shaft descending into darkness. A bitter mineral odor rises from below, and faint old markings point toward the mining galleries.
“I enter and search”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +0)
The Devil descends the steep shaft first, robes brushing dry stone as Elaris and the senior rider follow. The mineral odor strengthens below.
The Devil
The markings are older than the fortress foundations.
At the shaft’s foot, the Devil searches the gallery walls and floor. Scraped crescent marks form a trail toward the west, beside dark stains where bitter water has seeped through the rock.
Elaris
Those marks are deliberate. They point away from the foundations, toward a chamber beneath the old workings.
The senior rider kneels beside the stains and finds gray residue caught in a crack. Its sour scent matches the bitterness reported in the wells, confirming the curse’s route.
The Senior Rider
The western gallery is the path. I know these supports; the passage bends beneath the mountain and ends near the abandoned lower cistern.
The clues are clear: the hermit hag’s influence rises through the western gallery, and the abandoned lower cistern provides the nearest route to her hidden cave.
“I rename her markings and add my own influence to it”
SUCCESS (Great Arcana, rolled +1)
The Devil kneels beside the gray residue and places one claw against the gallery wall. The crescent marks answer with a low, subterranean vibration.
His magic crosses the old scratches and changes their meaning. The hag’s private signs become a clear mark of her claim, her curse, and the punishment attached to both.
A second pattern settles over the first, carrying the Devil’s influence through every crescent toward the abandoned lower cistern. The bitter seepage turns clear where the new mark passes.
Elaris
Her signs no longer conceal their purpose. They now identify the curse as hers, and your mark gives the mountain a lawful answer to it.
The Senior Rider
The residue is retreating from the supports. Whatever she planted below, the route now points directly to its source.
Far west, the renamed markings flare once and then settle into a steady red-black trail. The lower cistern lies ahead, and the hag’s influence can no longer pass through these galleries unnamed.
“I lead them to her”
The Devil leads Elaris and the senior rider west through the marked gallery. Clear seepage runs beside their boots, and the red-black trail guides them beneath the old foundations.
The passage bends beneath sagging supports and opens onto the abandoned lower cistern. Its dry basin is ringed with chalky symbols, all newly exposed by the Devil’s mark.
Beyond the cistern, a low cave glows with green mineral light. A giant frog-like elderly woman crouches within, wrapped in brown cave-cloth, her broad mottled skin marked with pale scars and tangled gray hair.
Elaris
There she is. Her curse rises from this chamber, and the mountain now names its source plainly.
The Senior Rider
The foundations are above us. We have reached the root without disturbing a single support.
The Hermit Hag
So the marked one has brought the riders to my door. I know the punishment written into those signs.
The Devil stops at the cistern’s edge with Elaris and the senior rider behind him. The exposed trail ends before the hag, leaving her curse, her cave, and its judgment plainly before them.
Quest Complete
Find the hermit hag
Skill Upgrade: Arcana Great→Superb
“"Powerful one, you are much like one of my mothers, of many, a powerful and intellegent frog woman. I ask you please can you stop harassing the dragon riders and this land"”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +0)
The Devil
Powerful one, you are much like one of my mothers, a powerful and intelligent frog woman. Please stop harassing the dragon riders and this land.
The hag studies the Devil across the chalk-ringed cistern. His request reaches past accusation, recognizing her power while setting a clear boundary for the riders and their home.
The Hermit Hag
You ask as one who knows what a mother may be. Very well. I will end the harassment, withdraw the curse from the wells and foundations, and leave the riders’ land alone.
The hermit hag presses one broad, scarred palm to the cave floor. Green light drains from the chalk symbols, and the bitter pressure beneath the mountain fades into clean, still stone.
Elaris
Then the riders and the mountain are spared. Keep that promise, and no judgment will be called against you for this curse.
The Senior Rider
The seepage is clear. The supports are steady. Her curse has truly withdrawn from the fortress land.
The Hermit Hag
It is done. I will remain beneath my mountain and trouble neither riders nor soil, unless they come first to break the peace.
Quest Complete
Protect the dragonriders’ territory from the underground curse
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Superb→Legendary
“I thank her respectfully, bid her farewell and lead the group to the surface”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +1)
The Devil
Thank you for keeping your word. Farewell, and remain in peace beneath your mountain.
The Hermit Hag
Go in peace, marked one. The riders’ land will know no further trouble from me.
The Devil turns from the cave and leads Elaris and the senior rider across the abandoned cistern. The clean stone gives back their footsteps as they follow the marked gallery east.
Elaris
Her promise is clear, and the mountain confirms it. We can leave without calling judgment upon her.
The senior rider checks each support as they pass. No bitter seepage returns, and the old gallery remains firm beneath the fortress foundations.
The Senior Rider
The shaft is ahead. Once we reach the cistern, I will report that the curse has withdrawn by her own choice.
The group climbs the dry supply shaft and emerges beneath the western cistern. Cold daylight spills across the steps, while riders gather above and wait for the account.