Three weeks of quiet have settled over the Hall of Welcome. Then the doors bang open, and Mara strides in, rain-dark boots leaving mud on the floorboards.
She looks travel-worn and tight with urgency, one hand still on her cloak. "The river terrace is rotting," she says. "Not ordinary rot. The same wrongness as before."
Kynes
It has spread beyond the archive.
Bren goes still beside the hearth, eyes narrowing at Mara’s report. Sable turns from the Ledger, attentive and silent.
Mara
I saw blackened roots under the stones, and the water tastes bitter. If this reaches the homes, it will not stay hidden.
The layered memory projection above the Ledger flickers in response, as if listening. A pale thread in the image shudders, then points toward the riverward side of town.
Bren looks from the projection to Kynes, concern and resolve mixed together. The corruption is no longer a buried wound. It is becoming a map.
✓ Quest Accepted
Investigate the river terrace corruption
✓ Quest Accepted
Stop the corruption from spreading into town
“Kynes mocks Mara "Hey Kynes, how've you been?" "Bren, nice to see you." "Wow, Hall looks great now that it isn't trying to metabolize its owner.".. . I just give her a smirk " how's Elias, you two getting along" I ask”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -2)
Kynes
Hey, Kynes, how have you been? Bren, nice to see you. Wow, Hall looks great now that it is not trying to metabolize its owner.
Kynes answers Mara with a thin smirk, the kind that cuts instead of warms. The Ledger’s light catches the necrotic violet dust on his hand.
Kynes
So, how is Elias. You two getting along?
Mara
We are. He is better at listening than most men I have met, which is saying something. But this is not a social visit.
Bren
No. Show us the river side of it, Mara. If this is moving, we need to know how fast.
Mara reaches into her cloak and lays a wet scrap of riverweed on the Ledger stand. The layered projection shivers, then tightens into a clearer line toward the east.
Sable
The pattern is still changing. If they wait, the map will not stay honest.
Bren looks to Kynes, then to the darkening mud on the floorboards. The Hall is safe for the moment, but the riverward mark keeps pulling.
“"Fine as long as it's not some non euclidian eco terrorists, we're going to be fine."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +2)
Kynes
Fine. As long as it is not some non euclidean eco terror, we are going to be fine.
The dry line lands hard, but it steadies the room. Bren’s shoulders ease by a fraction, and Mara lets out a breath she has been holding too long.
Mara
That is almost comforting, coming from you. I would still prefer the river not be learning new tricks.
Bren
Then we do not wait for it to get clever. We look at the river terrace now, before it finds another vein.
Sable
The thread in the Ledger agrees. It is clearer when the moisture is fresh. I can follow the change.
Mara’s hand rests near the wet riverweed, quieter now. The hall feels warmer around the hearth, even if the mud on the boards still gleams like a warning.
Mara
If you come, I can show you where it first darkened. I would rather you see it plain than hear rumors about it.
The room settles into a brief, uneasy calm, all eyes on Kynes and the riverward thread waiting in the Ledger.
“" yeah I might as well go get my own mid for the house." I get up and grab my staff." If any carved looking items that are found in the mud, stay in the mud, we in agreement.?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled -1)
Kynes pushes up from the Ledger stand and takes his staff in hand. The hall’s warm hush watches him like a held breath.
Kynes
Yeah, I might as well get my own mid for the house.
He stoops toward the mud by the floorboards, eyes narrow behind the tired red glare, and points the staff tip at the mess.
Kynes
If anything carved is in the mud, it stays there. We are in agreement?
Bren
Agreed. We do not carry the problem home with us.
Sable
The river thread brightens when you stand. It wants movement, not delay.
Mara gathers the wet riverweed back from the Ledger stand, and the sharp line in the projection holds eastward. The hall settles on one simple answer, go now, or let the water keep writing its warning into town.
Kynes leaves Hall of Welcome behind and arrives at river terrace.
“" time to go on a very enthusiastic walk"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +1)
The river terrace opens under a bruised, late light, reeds shivering along the bank and wet stones slick under Kynes’s boots. The corruption is visible at once, a dark film threaded through the waterline, and Mara’s riverweed sample twitches in her grip like it still remembers the Ledger.
Kynes
Kynes looks over the bank and mutters, "Right. Enthusiastic walk. Let's see what the river is actually doing."
He moves first, staff low, and the mud gives under him without taking his balance. The slick edge of the terrace does not slow him, it only spits a faint violet smear from one exposed root as he passes.
Mara
It starts here, where the reeds bend inward. The water keeps carrying the same stain downstream.
Bren
Then we read the bank, not the rumor. Point me where it bites first.
Sable
The terrace is quieter than the hall. That usually means the wound is closer.
Mara crouches by the waterline and lifts the riverweed toward the flow, and the black film in the current flares in answer. Kynes gets a clean look at it now, the corruption is feeding on the terrace itself, not drifting past it.
The river hushes, waiting. One more step brings his hand over the stained water, or he leaves it and lets the bank keep spreading its bruise.
Quest Complete
Investigate the river terrace corruption
New Gift: River-Purifier's Arcane Insight