The floor answers the pulse in Kynes's void-well with a deeper hum, the same beat he has been chasing since the first tug under Phandelver.
Cracks race through the Authority's broken overlay, and the remaining illusion thins to glass around his boots.
The stone goes translucent.
Kynes
It was never a source. It is pulling.
Below, something vast and patient coils in the dark, not reaching blindly, but anchoring itself to his exact place in the chamber.
Its presence tightens the whole room, and the hidden depth beneath Phandelver finally acknowledges Kynes with a slow, hungry regard.
✓ Quest Accepted
Sever the parasite in the void-well
✓ Quest Accepted
Survive the parasite's pull
“To Venoms mind... Is that the other pull you talked about? And do you think you can take it?”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +2)
Kynes
Is that the other pull you meant? Can you take it?
Venom
Yes. That hunger below is not stone, not ward, not Architect. It is a parasite, fastened into the well and drinking through your mark.
Venom
I can take it if you hold steady. Feed me the thread, and I bite the root.
The pulse-keyed siphon brightens in Kynes's palm, answering the warning with a taut, living thrum.
Under the translucent floor, the darker seam flexes once, and glyph-marked residue crawls across the exposed machinery like burned ink.
Sable
Then do it now, while it is still only reaching. I can see the anti-parasite layer spreading, but it has not finished taking hold.
Ledger
Confirmed. The pattern below is not a source, it is a feeder. Kynes is registered as the point of contact.
Kynes stays upright as the pull tests him, and Venom coils closer to the seam, ready to strike when he releases it.
“" venom, sea of shadows.... I present lunch."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled -2)
Kynes lowers his marked hand toward the seam, and the siphon in his palm flares as if tasting the offer. Venom uncoils through the pulse, a dark pressure gathering at the edge of the exposed machinery.
Kynes
Venom, sea of shadows... I present lunch.
The crack under the floor twitches open. Glyph-stained residue peels free from the metal, then rushes inward in a thin, ugly stream toward Kynes's hand.
Venom
Good. Hold it steady.
Venom bites down through the current. The parasite jerks once, then collapses into the shadow-thread, and the pulse in the well goes hollow.
Sable
It is severed. Do not let go yet, Kynes.
A hot sting flashes across Kynes's palm, and the siphon scars with black frost as the last of the pull tears free. The anti-parasite layer spreads wider below, swallowing the misaligned glyphs.
Quest Complete
Sever the parasite in the void-well
New Gift: Void-Well Purifier's Insight
Quest Complete
Survive the parasite's pull
New Gift: Parasite-Resistant Will