The square falls into a tense hush as a carriage with the Pingtocu Mage's College crest rolls to a stop. Archmage Valerius steps down in layered robes, his attention fixed at once on the carved token in Zacvi's hand.
The Serene Shrine Monks stiffen and recoil. Even the Elderly Merchant edges back, fear plain on his face. The Stranger watches, flustered and unsure whether to speak.
Archmage Valerius
That token should not be loose in open air. Where did you get it?
Zacvi
The seal on it matters more than the crowd does.
Valerius extends one gloved hand, not quite demanding, but unmistakably expecting the token to be shown. The monks glance between him and Zacvi, their earlier composure gone.
The Elderly Merchant
Western bends, on the Catou Plain. That mark belongs to a waystation, or something pretending to be one.
Archmage Valerius
Then we are already late. If this came from the plain, someone is masking a deeper work there.
The monks lower their eyes, and the Stranger takes a careful step closer, listening hard as the archmage's warning settles over the square.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep possession of the carved token
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what the Catou Plain waystation is hiding
“Does Archmage Valerius know why the monks are hiding the truth about the waystation?”
NO, AND WORSE (Likely, rolled 96)
Archmage Valerius
I do not know what they hide, but the corruption radiating from that token suggests they are not merely keeping secrets, they are actively feeding a blight.
Valerius looks at the monks with genuine confusion, his brow furrowed as he realizes the danger is far more chaotic and uncontrolled than he had anticipated.
“I ask Valerius what he means by blight”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +1)
Zacvi
What do you mean by blight?
Archmage Valerius
Not rot, not poison, something worse. A spreading corruption that clings to places, habits, and lives, then bends them until they feed it.
Archmage Valerius
He studies Zacvi, then the token, as if measuring how much can still be saved.
The Stranger
So the rumor is real... people vanish, and now the soil itself is wrong?
The Elderly Merchant
I told you it was a bad sign. Old roads do not swallow folk for nothing.
Archmage Valerius
The waystation is not merely hiding something. It is harboring the start of it, or guarding what was left behind.
The Serene Shrine Monks
Then we go at once to the Catou Plain. If our shrine is tangled in this, we must see it with our own eyes.
Quest Complete
Keep possession of the carved token
+ New Item Acquired
Carved token
“Is the waystation hiding a living corruption?”
YES, BUT (VeryLikely, rolled 81)
The air around the token grows heavy and cold, confirming that the waystation harbors a living, breathing corruption. It is not merely a place of secrets, but a vessel for a hunger that waits for the unwary.
“I show Valerius the token's mist”
SUCCESS (Great Arcana, rolled +1)
Zacvi lifts the token toward Valerius, and the violet mist spills from it in a thin ribbon, plainly visible against the square.
Archmage Valerius
There it is. Not residue, a tether.
Archmage Valerius
That mist is the link. The waystation is feeding on what this token carries.
The Elderly Merchant
Saints preserve us... I saw travelers near those western bends. They had the same tokens.
The Stranger
So the road pitch was never the danger. It was the bait.
The monks in the ring tighten their grips on their cords, their glowing eyes fixed on the token as the crowd recoils another step.
Quest Complete
Learn what the Catou Plain waystation is hiding
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Good→Great