The mine road narrows between thorny pines. A fletched arrow strikes a weathered post beside Dyanara, pinning a scrap of dusty cloak marked with the same ash found near the dead traveler.
Astraya’s hand drops to her rapier as Caspien raises his falcon sword. Ahead, an athletic adult elf man steps from the pines, pale skin and long silver-white hair bright beneath his green cloak.
Arvanis
Lower your weapons. I am Arvanis, and I followed the one pursuing the traveler.
His elven short bow remains lowered, though two short swords rest at his hips. Blue eyes move from the ash-marked cloth to Dyanara’s blackened palm.
Astraya Orlaith
You followed the pursuer, yet arrived before us. Why abandon the quarry tracks?
Arvanis
Because the tracks ended where no feet had passed. The pursuer crossed into the pines, then vanished, leaving only ash and a voice beneath the roots.
Caspien Ashveil
A voice beneath the roots is not an answer. Tell us precisely what it said.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what the voice beneath the roots said
“*I step forward in front of on Lord Ashveil.* “Alright your not threat. Let’s see what the roots say shall we.” *I put my hand over Caspian’s sword and help him lower it stay in-front of him in a protective stance.*”
SUCCESS (Good Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Dyanara Orlaith
All right. You are not a threat. Let us see what the roots say.
Dyanara steps before Caspien and places her hand over his falcon sword, guiding the blade down while keeping herself between him and Arvanis. Caspien allows it.
Caspien Ashveil
Very well, Lady Orlaith. Let the earth speak before suspicion speaks for us.
The pines fall silent. Beneath the road, roots shift through black soil, and the ash-marked scrap trembles against the post as a buried murmur rises.
Arvanis
There. Listen beneath the wind. It answers the blood-mark, not the bow.
A root breaks the surface, pale as old bone, curling around a shard of blackened figurine. Symbols glow along it in the forgotten script of Maerith.
the voice beneath the roots
Keeper’s blood returns. The broken flame calls from the hollow mine, where the oath was first betrayed.
Quest Complete
Learn what the voice beneath the roots said