The monster remains collapsed across the threshold, its vast dark body blocking the open doorway. Silver smolders in the neck wound, and thin smoke curls into the cold dusk air.
Behind Elonwyn, the pilgrim keeps his back to the hut wall, watching the creature with his hands raised but ready. The forest beyond the doorway has gone unnaturally still.
The Monster
Gaston’s hunts feed what sleeps beneath this forest.
One pale eye opens beneath the beast’s brow. Its claws twitch against the threshold, but its limbs remain slack, pinned by pain and the silver’s burning bite.
The Monster
Remove the arrow. Quickly. If that power notices you, it will learn your scent as well.
The Pilgrim
Do not touch it without thought. Silver is the only reason it is still speaking instead of tearing through us.
The monster’s open eye fixes on Elonwyn, reflecting the arrow’s cold gleam. Somewhere beneath the roots, a dull vibration passes through the floorboards, too deep to be thunder.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what sleeps beneath the forest
✓ Quest Accepted
Stop Gaston's hunts from feeding the forest's hidden power
“I question the monster about what sleeps beneath the forest.”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +1)
Elonwyn
What sleeps beneath this forest?
The question leaves Elonwyn’s mouth quietly. Her oath of vengeance pulls her attention toward every word Gaston’s hunts might have earned, while Keen Senses catch the monster’s breath, pulse, and hesitation.
The Monster
The Root-Deep. An old power beneath the oldest trees, buried before your father’s father walked these paths.
The monster’s eye shifts toward the forest floor. Elonwyn’s keen senses find no change in its breathing when it names the power, but its claws tense at the mention of what lies below.
The Monster
It sleeps because the forest remains balanced. Gaston’s killings tear at that balance, and the Root-Deep has begun to notice.
The Pilgrim
Notice how? What happens when it wakes?
The Monster
The roots will rise, the old paths will close, and every creature feeding beyond its share will be hunted. Gaston is not the only one in danger.
Quest Complete
Learn what sleeps beneath the forest