The canoe grinds against the first exposed stones of the drowned stair. Mera’s white guide-line fractures across the black water, dividing into several pale channels.
One branch sketches the shape of a missing map fragment in the current. Another points toward a half-submerged Hall marker, its carved seal still visible beneath the ripples.
Veyr
That marker bears Serrin’s seal. The straight path is not shown because the fragment is gone.
Veyr remains under Kaelen’s watch as the chieftain looms behind Mera and places a knife into her hand. The Bon-rion warriors hold the canoe steady around them.
Veyr
Someone removed that piece after returning from the gate. I saw the chart before, and the missing channel was marked then.
Kaelen
You saw map, then hid truth. Speak where stair goes, before river takes your tongue.
Bon-rion warriors
The stones divide ahead. We wait for Mera’s sign before entering any channel.
✓ Quest Accepted
Find the missing map fragment
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach Serrin
“Mera looks at the knife in her hand and then to her husband. She stares at him for a long while and then gives a dark smile "I do believe the spirits need a sacrifice." she looks to Veyr and holds out her hand, expecting him to giver her his palm. She is still holding the knife and she is staring into his eyes. Intending to spill a little blood into the river to allow the spirits to show them where to go”
SUCCESS (Great Intimidation, rolled -1)
Mera studies Kaelen’s knife, then turns her long stare on her husband. A dark smile settles across her face as the river murmurs around the divided stones.
Mera
I do believe the spirits need a sacrifice.
She extends her free hand toward Veyr, palm upward, while Kaelen’s knife remains ready in the other. Innate winter magic rims the blade with pale cold, and Reads Spiritual Traces finds the river spirits stirring beneath the black water.
Veyr
You want my blood in the river. Very well. I will pay for the road I hid from you.
Veyr brings his restrained hand forward as far as Kaelen permits and opens his palm. Mera draws the knife across it lightly, letting a small offering fall into the current without taking his life.
The river accepts the blood. Silver currents coil around the drowned stair, and the pale guide-line joins one clear channel beneath the Hall marker, revealing a safe descent through the submerged stones.
Kaelen
Spirits choose. We take clear path. Veyr leads, and no more hidden truth.
Quest Complete
Reach the drowned stair
Skill Upgrade: Survival Fair→Good
“She says a prayer and asks the spirits to use the blood to show them which way to go. She says tht they will follow the path they give them.”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Arcana, rolled +0)
Mera
Spirits of river, frost, and drowned stone, read this blood and show us the way. We will follow the path you give us.
Mera closes her fingers around the bone spirit necklace. Its pale charms click against her knuckles as her prayer passes through Innate Spellcasting, carrying her voice beneath the dark water.
Reads Spiritual Traces opens the river to her perception. The offered blood unravels into silver threads, and the spirits answer with a cold, unmistakable current beneath the Hall marker.
The threads gather into a single route, winding down the submerged stair and then turning beneath a shelf of black stone. Every false channel dulls and disappears.
Veyr
That is the descent. I never saw the lower turn from above, but your spirits have revealed it. Follow that current, and the stair will carry you below.
Kaelen
Mera asks, spirits answer. Veyr leads on true path. We go now, before river hides it again.
The bone necklace settles warm against Mera’s palm despite the surrounding cold. The revealed channel gleams beneath the surface, clear enough to guide them into the drowned stair.
“Mera asks them to follow the tril the blood made and she sits back and closes her eyes until they reach the end”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Mera
Follow the trail the blood made. I will sit and keep the spirits’ path until we reach its end.
Mera settles on the submerged stair and closes her eyes. Kaelen steadies her at the shoulder while Veyr leads the guarded passage beneath the black water.
Her bone spirit necklace clicks softly against her breastbone, carrying her prayer into the river. Innate Spellcasting holds the silver blood-trail bright, while Reads Spiritual Traces follows the spirits beneath it.
The warriors paddle in silence. Each turn arrives through Mera’s inner sight: cold water, drowned stone, and the patient pull of the spirits guiding the group downward.
Veyr
The current turns here. I follow your spirits, Mera. The lower stair is close.
The trail reaches its end beneath a broad shelf of black stone. The water withdraws around an ancient landing, revealing a sealed archway and pale marks glowing across its threshold.
Kaelen
We reach end. Spirits bring us true. Now city gate cannot hide.