Zacvi turns the carved token in his hand as the stampede thins. Behind a toppled cart, an elderly merchant drags himself into view, white-faced and shaking.
The Elderly Merchant
That mark... I have seen it before. On packs and straps. On folk who never made it back across the Catou Plain.
He jabs a trembling finger at the token. Nearby, the Serene Shrine Monks pause mid-aid and turn their glowing eyes toward Zacvi and the merchant.
The Elderly Merchant
Travelers vanish after the roads bend low and the wind goes still. I swear it, I saw the same carving on their things.
The Stranger
Then say more, old man. Where on the plain did you see it?
The square settles into a wary hush around them, horses snorting at the edges while the monks wait for the answer.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn where the carved token was seen on the Catou Plain
✓ Quest Accepted
Expose the monks' link to the vanished travelers
“I hold the token up to the monks and demand they explain its origin.”
SUCCESS (Superb Persuasion, rolled +0)
Zacvi lifts the carved token toward the monks, holding it between them like evidence. The square goes still again, all eyes catching on the shrine cord and the mark cut into the wood.
Zacvi
Tell me where this comes from. Who carried it on the Catou Plain?
The Elderly Merchant swallows hard and points with a shaking hand, not at the token, but past it, as if the road itself sits there in front of him.
The Elderly Merchant
Near the western bends, where the grass dips and the wind dies. I saw that same carving on satchels, on horse tack, on ropes. The travelers wore it like a warning.
One of the monks steps forward, glowing eyes lowered in grim recognition. The others remain silent, their bandaged hands clenched around the wounded’s blankets.
The Serene Shrine Monks
That token is ours. It is tied to a waystation shrine on the plain. If travelers vanished there, then something has been taking them from our road.
The Stranger’s script pages sag in his grip. Zacvi now has the place, and the monks have just admitted the token belongs to them.
Quest Complete
Learn where the carved token was seen on the Catou Plain
Quest Complete
Expose the monks' link to the vanished travelers