Teren leads them along the quarry passage, then slips behind a fallen slab into a cramped alcove. Dusty air presses close, carrying the cold smell of buried stone.
Teren
This is one of the old drainage routes. The quarrymen used them to carry rainwater away from the cut face, and these marks measured the slope before the paths opened.
A rotted survey board still hangs against the wall. Its faded lines show the cut face, the eastern shelter, and a sealed route running toward the northern foothills.
Rovan
The sealed line is deeper than the route we came through. If it still connects to the opening, it may give us another way around the passage.
Teren
That is what I think. We can follow the drainage channel to the old measuring stones, then close the paths from the side without entering the deepest passage.
Teren brushes grime from a lower section of the board, revealing three small blue marks beneath the foothills route. Rovan studies them in silence as a muted tremor travels through the slab.
Teren
The first mark is a drain gate, the second is a measuring chamber, and the third should be the closure point. If the old stonework holds, we can reach all three from here.
“" ok and what are we sealing and why"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +4)
Kynes
Okay, and what are we sealing, and why?
Rovan
We are sealing the opened paths beneath the quarry, not the drainage route itself. Something below has folded stone into passages that never existed, and each opening is extending the disturbance toward the northern foothills.
Teren
The old marks are measuring pressure and direction. If the openings remain, they can shift beneath the roads, wells, or houses above. The closure point will return the stone to its proper shape and stop the paths from spreading.
Kynes reads the survey board again, comparing its slope lines with the tremor under the slab. The marks are not a summons or a claim of ownership; they are a practical map of a breach in the quarry’s foundations.
Rovan
The advantage is that this drainage route reaches all three points from the side. We can close the drain gate, confirm the measuring chamber, and seal the closure stone without entering the deepest passage or deciding anything for Teren.
As Rovan finishes, the lowest blue mark brightens and reveals a narrow panel beneath the survey board. Behind it lies a dry stair descending directly toward the drain gate, giving Kynes a clear, safe route to the first sealing point.
Teren
That panel was hidden when I came through. You have found the side entrance we needed. The path can be closed without risking the people who are already here.