The civic archive doors close behind Verner and Erin as evening gathers over Waterdeep. Their sealed escort order, route ledger, and copied testimony travel beneath their cloaks toward the northern road.
They reach the abandoned toll road before dusk fully settles. The ledger’s first patrol marker should stand beside a leaning milepost, but only a square of disturbed earth remains.
Verner
The marker was removed recently.
Fresh hoofprints cut through the damp roadside, two riders heading north. A torn strip of watch-blue wax clings to a thornbush, its seal broken and edges still clean.
Erin
Someone reached the marker before us. They carried watch authority, or wanted us to believe they did.
Erin crouches beside the prints without touching them, Echo secured at her hip. Behind them, Waterdeep’s evening bells fade while the road narrows between dark hedges.
Erin
The keeper may still be waiting at the wayhouse, but whoever took the marker knows this route. Which trail do we follow?
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine whether the witness's route has been compromised
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the ruined wayhouse