Two weeks of quiet have settled over the Hall of Welcome, but the river terrace feels wrong, too still, too listening. Kynes sits with the sealed calm of the lower relay beneath him, and the house answers in faint, obedient shivers.
A hard knock breaks the hush. The reeve’s seal glints at the door, followed by the scrape of formal boots on stone.
The Reeve
Kynes of the Hall of Welcome, by town authority and river-right, you are summoned. Explain the unnatural stillness on the terrace.
Kynes
The terrace is linked to the relay.
The air in the hall tightens. Somewhere below, the sanctum’s lines shift, as if hearing its name spoken aloud. The floor gives a soft, golden pulse beneath Kynes’s feet.
Ledger
It is not dead calm. It is a held breath, and it is keyed to you.
The reeve’s eyes flick to the stone, then back to Kynes, wary now. Outside, the river terrace remains motionless, waiting for his answer, while the hidden architecture below begins to lean toward his will.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the reeve's silence
“" I caused the stillness because I wanted calm"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -2)
The reeve holds Kynes's gaze a moment longer, then the formal edge in their posture eases. The hall stays still, but the golden pulse underfoot answers like a slow heartbeat.
Kynes
I caused the stillness because I wanted calm.
The words land cleanly. The reeve lowers the summons a fraction, studying Kynes as if measuring whether this is arrogance or truth.
The Reeve
Then it is not a curse, only control. Phandelver needs fewer surprises than it needs explanations.
Ledger
The answer satisfies the immediate question.
The reeve's attention flicks once to Kynes's hand, to the faint frost-scarring and the shadow of older script, then back to his face. Suspicion remains, but the public edge goes out of it.
The Reeve
Keep your calm contained, and keep it away from the terrace. I will not have the town panicking over a silence it cannot name.
As they speak, a dull ache runs through the floor, and the sanctum answers with one restrained golden pulse, as if listening for the next name spoken aloud.
Quest Complete
Secure the reeve's silence
“"Venom buddy, does he smell like red script"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Perception, rolled +0)
Kynes
Venom, check the reeve for red script.
Kynes lets his attention drop into the palm-mark, and the hall seems to thin around the answer.
Ledger
The reeve is clean of active script. There is residue in the paperwork, not in the skin.
Ledger tilts toward the summons in the reeve’s hand, then toward the doorway, as if tracing a hidden smear through the air.
The Reeve
If you are inspecting me now, I suggest you find a softer habit than suspicion.
The reeve’s grip tightens on the parchment, and the seal flashes once, a faint red seam answering under the gold glow.
Ledger
That seal carries the trace. It is not on the reeve, it is in the summons.
The floor beneath Kynes gives one inward pulse, hungry and attentive, while the reeve waits for his response.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the reeve’s silence
“"Buddy you can nom the script"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled -1)
Venom takes the scent at once, and the summons in the reeve’s hand shivers as if it has been bitten. The red trace peels loose in a thin filament.
Kynes holds steady while the mark drinks, and the seal’s faint seam runs toward his palm instead of the page.
The Reeve
What are you doing to my summons?
Ledger
The residue is losing cohesion. The page is no longer a relay.
The red script hollows out, then collapses into Venom’s waiting dark. A smear of ash dusts the reeve’s fingers.
The sanctum answers with one deep, satisfied pulse beneath the floor, then goes still. The parchment remains, but the tracing light is gone.
The Reeve
...Fine. I will say nothing of this visit, nor of what I have seen here.
Quest Complete
Secure the reeve’s silence