The barn holds the fog at bay. Old hay softens the floor, and amber light turns the dust gold around Kynes and Bren. The medallion’s red pulse has steadied to a calm, directional glow toward Phandalin.
Bren
We made it this far. I keep thinking the road should feel heavier than this.
Bren shifts closer, elbows on knees, the ledger resting between them like a shared burden. Her shoulders ease a little as the warmth settles in.
Bren
When this is done, I want a room with a door that locks from the inside, and a window that opens onto open land.
Kynes
The medallion is no longer tugging. It is pointing, waiting.
Kynes keeps the staff across his lap while Bren studies his face, quiet and intent. Outside, the fog presses the barn walls, but inside the air feels nearly still.
Bren
Tell me one thing, Kynes, when the spider-mark is gone, what do you want first?
For a moment, neither of them moves. The hay creaks softly under their weight, and the dim amber light waits with them.
✓ Quest Accepted
Confront Nezznar
“" some alone time in your locked room with a soft bed"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Kynes turns the staff slightly in his lap, then looks to Bren with a rare, plain directness. He asks for a locked room, a soft bed, and a little time alone with her when the hunt is over.
Bren
A room with a lock. I can do that.
Bren
And a soft bed, if I can find one worth stealing.
Her mouth curves, tired but real, and the ledger tips against her knee as she shifts closer. The amber light warms the gold dust around them, and the medallion keeps its calm red pulse.
Bren
You say that like you already know how to rest.
Kynes
Not yet. But I know what I want.
Bren
Then when Phandalin gives us a door, I’ll make sure you get the first quiet hour.
Bren reaches for his free hand and squeezes it once, firm and unhurried. Outside, the fog stays on the far side of the barn wall, and the old road waits without hurry.
“Using the spider pendant, I try to guage how far away nezznar is and if he knows who has the pendent.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled -1)
Kynes lets the spider pendant rest in his palm and feeds a thin strand of magic through it. The barn seems to hush around the metal.
Kynes
The signal is not local. It points outward, far past the mill and the fog.
A red thread of sensation answers him, pulled taut toward Phandalin, with a faint secondary tug from somewhere much closer.
The pendant flashes once, steady and clear, as if recognizing its bearer. Not hidden. Not mistaken.
Kynes reads the pattern in an instant. Nezznar is not in the barn, but he is watching the same road, aware that the pendant has changed hands.
Bren
Well? What does it say?
The medallion cools against Kynes's skin, its glow settling into a patient pulse toward the town. Outside, the fog presses against the boards, waiting for their next move.
✓ Quest Accepted
Press Bren for what the pendant’s signal means
“" do you have an idea on the signal of this means" showing her the pendent”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
Kynes
Do you know what this signal means?
Kynes tips the pendant toward Bren, letting the steady thread of light show plainly in his palm.
Bren
That is no random charm. It is a direction, and a summons.
Bren
It means someone still expects it to answer. And it is not calling from the mill, it is pointing to Phandalin.
She leans closer, studying the glow, then touches the ledger with one finger as if matching two clues together.
Bren
This is a bearer’s sign. Whoever set it up knows the road, knows the town, and knows when the medallion changes hands.
The pendant warms once in Kynes's hand, then settles, its thread now clean and unmistakable toward the town.
Bren
So that is our answer. Phandalin first, and then we see who is waiting to receive it.
Quest Complete
Press Bren for what the pendant’s signal means