The footsteps above fade into silence. Around the bone token, the pool clears, and the reflected bearer, infant, and waiting shadow replay their final passage in broken fragments.
The ringed hand carries the infant beneath a stone arch, but a second hand briefly steadies the bundle. Its fingers bear the same crooked mark as the token.
The Voice in the Trees
There were two who carried you, Aren. One bore the child. The other bore the order to leave you here.
The image stutters. Beyond the waiting shadow, five dim cradle-lights appear in a corridor, then vanish as the bearer turns toward a closing door.
The Voice in the Trees
The hand that followed was not hunting you. It was hunting the one who brought you, and the hollow sealed itself before either could return.
A tremor passes through the vault. Dust slips from the ceiling, and the tablet's warning fades until only Aren remains, reflected beside the motionless token.
Far above, the eldest and youngest halflings remain at the hollow's edge, waiting beyond the sealed chamber. Below, the water holds its unfinished memory open for Jason.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify the bearer's destination
✓ Quest Accepted
Discover who ordered Jason’s abandonment
“Did the marked second bearer betray the infant's carrier?”
NO (Unlikely, rolled 62)
The pool answers without words. The marked second hand closes around the carrier's wrist, not in attack, but to hold it back from the narrowing door.
The image steadies. The carrier turns toward the marked hand, and both look once toward the infant before the stone arch seals between them.
The Voice in the Trees
No, Aren. The marked bearer did not betray the one who carried you. That mark belonged to an oath of protection.
The five cradle-lights flare again, revealing the marked hand pressed against the closing arch. The bearer remains trapped on the far side, separated from both child and companion.
The Voice in the Trees
The order was not theirs. They tried to delay the pursuer, and the hollow chose its own sealing before either could return.
The pool darkens around the word Aren, but the reflection of the marked hand remains clear. The unfinished memory now holds absence as proof rather than accusation.
The Voice in the Trees
Remember this distinction: abandonment was forced upon the carriers. Whoever gave the order still lies beyond the hollow's memory.
“I locate a way out to re-join my friends.”
SUCCESS (Superb Perception, rolled -2)
Jason searches the vault's curved walls, following faint seams where the stone meets the floor. Behind the tablet, one seam carries a thread of cool air upward.
Jason The Naive
The air is moving toward the hollow's edge.
He presses the bone token into the seam. The pool drains with a hollow rush, spending its amber light to reveal a narrow stair climbing through the rock.
The opening grinds wide with a thunderous crack. Dust pours down, and the token splits along its crooked mark, its warmth fading from Jason's palm.
The Voice in the Trees
The way out is yours, Aren, but the hollow has spent the token's memory. What remains is only bone.
Jason climbs through the passage as stones settle behind him. He emerges beside the original hollow, where amber light dies beneath the earth and the two halflings turn sharply.
The Youngest Halfling
Jason! You came back. Whatever you found below, tell us while we still have the road before us.
“"I fear I cannot tell you anything except that I now now the general location of the one who brought me here. There is more I have learned, but it is sacred knowledge." I try to encourage them to come with me to find my origins.”
FAILURE (Fair Persuasion, rolled -3)
Jason The Naive
I fear I can tell you only that I know the general place of the one who brought me here. The rest is sacred knowledge. Come with me, and help me find my origins.
The youngest halfling's eager expression falters. Behind him, the eldest glances toward the sunlit road, then back at the hollow where the last amber glow has vanished.
The Eldest Halfling
No. We brought you to the road, Jason. We will not follow you beneath the Ancient Wood, nor chase a bearer whose location you cannot name.
The Youngest Halfling
I would come farther, but not into that place. Sacred knowledge is yours to keep, and I will not demand it from you.
The youngest removes a strip of cord from his pack and ties it around a boundary stone, marking the place where the road and hollow divide.
The Youngest Halfling
Take this road to town first. Ask for old maps of the northern forest. If your origins lie beyond them, return here with a safer path than the one below.
The Eldest Halfling
We part at the stones. Do not mistake our fear for betrayal. Some doors are yours alone to open.