A month of thaw and leaffall has passed since the chamber went quiet. At the forest edge, Vetta kneels over a spread hill-map, tracing three shallow tremors with one gloved finger.
Kynes stands nearby in the dim green light, the trees behind him still and listening. Vetta turns the map toward him, calm but intent.
Vetta
This is not gone. Something below the hills is still trying to pulse.
Vetta
The lines are wrong here, a second anchor, buried deeper than the first.
She taps a point beneath a tangle of ridges, and the parchment shivers as if answering. The tremor-mark sits apart from the rest, hidden in the dark between old paths.
Vetta
I think it is a secondary anchor. If it wakes fully, it will pull on everything we just quieted.
Vetta holds the map out to Kynes and waits, eyes steady on his face, as the forest hush deepens around them.
✓ Quest Accepted
Hunt down the buried secondary anchor
✓ Quest Accepted
Prevent the buried secondary anchor from waking
“"Vetta dear, I like you, but have you thought about a relationship with Mara, I mean you two are a lot alike."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +0)
Kynes
Vetta, I like you, but have you thought about a relationship with Mara? You two are a lot alike.
Vetta
Mara and I do share a way of looking at broken places. She names what is hidden, and I leave things honest enough to be seen.
Vetta
That is not a foolish question.
Vetta
She would argue with me for half a day, then notice the same crack I did. I would not mind that kind of company.
Vetta
If she wanted it, I would not turn away from learning her better.
Vetta’s mouth softens into a small, surprised smile as she keeps the map steady between them. The parchment still shivers over the hidden ridge, but her attention stays on Kynes now, not the tremor.
Vetta
You are not wrong to notice it. Tell me, does Mara ever make you that careful too?
“Vetta, Mara once showed up and within minutes I was investigating non-Euclidean eco terror riverbank bullshit. If she tells me something feels off, I immediately assume my day is fucked. So yes. Very careful. You'll love her.””
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Kynes
Mara once turns up, and within minutes I am investigating some non-Euclidean riverbank disaster. If she says something feels off, I assume my day is cursed. So yes, I am very careful. You will like her.
Vetta
That sounds exactly like Mara. Precise trouble, then a larger shape under it. I would like her already.
Vetta
Careful is not a bad way to be, especially here. It means you notice the crack before you stand in it.
Vetta lets out a quiet breath that almost becomes a laugh. The map tremor steadies under her hands, and her shoulders ease as if Kynes has given her permission to be sincere.
Vetta
If Mara argues, I will argue back. If she sees the same fracture I do, then we will both have been right in the useful way.
Vetta
I would not mind learning her better. And I do not think she would mind being understood.
The hill-map still shivers, but Vetta keeps it level and looks to Kynes with open amusement. The forest around them stays quiet, waiting on his answer.
“I ask Mara whether she knows the anchor”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +0)
Kynes
Do you know the anchor, Mara?
Mara
I know the shape of it, yes. Not the heart of it yet, but enough to follow its seams.
Mara
It is old work. Someone buried it to be used later, or to be found by the right hands.
Vetta
That matches the tremor pattern. Not random, not a leak, a hidden weight waiting for a touch.
Mara
If this is the same hand I think it is, the anchor is meant to answer a keeper, not a crowd.
Vetta
Then we are not guessing in the dark anymore. We are reading a buried claim.
Mara
Yes. And now that you have asked plainly, I can point to it without pretending otherwise.
“I follow the seam line into the hills " Bren you coming, we'll make it a double date”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -1)
Kynes
Bren, you coming? Let’s make it a double date.
Kynes slips past the map’s edge and follows the seam line into the hills. The forest gives way to low, broken stone, and the buried pulse leads him where the roots thin and the earth feels worked by old hands.
Mara
There. The seam widens under that shelf stone. This is where it ends, or where it opens.
Vetta
And if it opens, it is not for a crowd. It is for a keeper, or for something pretending to be one.
Kynes reaches the marked stone and the ground answers with a dull, buried thump. The hidden anchor is there, tucked beneath the slope, and the hill itself seems to decide it can no longer keep the secret.
Mara
The seam is active. If it wakes further, it will pull on the whole lattice.
The hillside sags, then settles into a locked hush. The seam line stays visible, but the buried pressure stops climbing, held beneath Kynes’s reach.
Quest Complete
Hunt down the buried secondary anchor
New Gift: Anchor-Severing Arcane Insight
Quest Complete
Prevent the buried secondary anchor from waking
New Gift: Anchor-Silence Arcane Insight