The warehouse air is thick with rotting kelp and rusted iron. The Harbor Master stands among the crates, violet light flickering in the matching rings in his hand as Kynes and the others stare him down.
Harbor Master
They were never a private channel. They are a tether, made for the architects below Phandelver. Every word you shared, every thought brushed through them, could be felt.
The rings pulse hard, and the sickly glow answers from somewhere far beneath the world. The promise of hidden speech turns into a snare in a single breath.
Bren
You mean the thing under Phandelver has been listening through them this whole time?
Harbor Master
Yes. The binding is older than the lie of communication. Those rings were always meant to carry a master’s witness, not a lover’s voice.
Sable
That means the trace was never passive. It was relaying back whenever Kynes reached for someone.
The violet light shivers once more, as if something below has just noticed the room go quiet.
✓ Quest Accepted
Sever the ring tether
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn who the Harbor Master serves
“" you realize that the rings you speak of have been purged" I pause " By me" I pause again letting venoms face form off my back over my left shoulder " and my pal here. So there should be no tether." I pause again." Who are you" I ask”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Kynes
You realize the rings you speak of have been purged. By me. And by my pal here. So there should be no tether. Who are you?
The violet glow in the Harbor Master’s hand gutters. Kynes’s shadow lifts over his left shoulder, Venom’s face forming like a blade in smoke.
Harbor Master
Then my line is cut. Good. I am only the courier that remained after the first owner died.
Harbor Master
I serve the same hidden hands that built the ringwork, though I never met them in the flesh. They bought silence, routes, and eyes.
Bren’s grip loosens a fraction, but she keeps herself between Kynes and the crates. Sable leans in, studying the ruined rings as if they might confess more.
Harbor Master
The seal on that note was recognition. When it opened, the harbor knew you had arrived. So did they beneath Phandelver.
The room falls quieter than the tide. For the first time, the Harbor Master looks less like a threat and more like a man waiting to be judged.
Quest Complete
Sever the ring tether
Quest Complete
Learn who the Harbor Master serves