The old watercourse is crowded with cut brush, chalked stones, and Lantern Veil markers circling a sunken junction. Sarthien Pell, a young human man in a mud-stained green coat, stands among the workers with a broad road map tucked beneath one arm.
Vaelis Thorn, Nera, Corven Voss, and Elian Voss remain with Mara, while the elderly elf woman leads them down the ravine. She studies each marker without touching it, her covered eye turned toward the disturbed earth.
The Elderly Elf Woman
These marks came after the burrower passed. The northern crew copied its breaks, then laid the chalk to redirect attention toward this junction.
Sarthien looks up from the map. Its roads cross the local hills, wind toward distant settlements, and converge repeatedly on the buried watercourse.
Sarthien Pell
We intend to open the old crossings, not the sealed arch itself. The routes should connect the hill settlements to Daggerford, if the foundations remain sound.
Sarthien Pell
My crews are clearing two approaches. One follows the burrower’s path from the lime kiln; the other reaches beneath this junction and continues east toward the old watercourse.
The Elderly Elf Woman
His map shows intended roads, not proven passages. Something older lies beneath the junction. If they break the wrong crossing, their trade route may become an opening.
“" that isn't a good idea to go digging sweetie" I then proceeded to explain that underneath of Phandelver, buried beneath the vaults and tombs, near a void well. A large entity of unknown power, and make up and roughly the size of a plantation lives and feeds down there. And how waking something similar up may be bad. " So you see, digging around is probably not the greatest idea. You may want to,stay to the surface unless you find some willing dwarfs or kobolds." I say plainly.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -3)
Mara
That isn't a good idea to go digging, sweetie. Beneath Phandelver, under vaults and tombs near a void well, something immense feeds in the dark.
Mara
It is an entity of unknown power, roughly the size of a plantation. Waking something similar could be disastrous. Stay on the surface unless willing dwarves or kobolds can help.
The workers fall silent around the sunken junction. Chalk dust lifts in the wind, and Sarthien slowly lowers the map beneath his arm.
Sarthien Pell
You are asking me to abandon the buried route and keep my crews above ground. I believe you, but I need more than a warning to justify that decision.
Sarthien Pell
Very well. No digging beneath this junction. We will remain on the surface and seek dwarven or kobold guidance before touching any deeper crossing.
His agreement costs Mara leverage: Sarthien now requires her warning entered into the Lantern Veil’s shared record, with her name attached as its witness.
The Elderly Elf Woman
That is a fair price. The crews will remember who stopped them before curiosity became a breach.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure willing dwarven or kobold guidance for the buried crossings
“" how about I share the memory" I touch his mind telepathically and share with him the entity that Kynes found."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled -2)
Mara
How about I share the memory?
Mara touches Sarthien’s mind with two fingers and sends no command, only the witnessed memory: vaults and tombs beneath Phandelver, a void well, and an entity immense as a plantation feeding in the dark.
Sarthien Pell
The scale enters me without words. Stone becomes a roof over something vast, and the darkness beneath it feels alive with patient hunger.
The memory passes cleanly, preserving Kynes’s discovery without making it Sarthien’s knowledge or Mara’s authority. A sharp silver ache crosses Mara’s healed palm as one reserve of prepared energy burns away.
Sarthien Pell
I understand now. This is not a ruin to open for roads. I will record the warning exactly as you witnessed it, and keep my crews above ground.
The Elderly Elf Woman
The memory carries no claim, only scale and consequence. That should be enough to keep curiosity from becoming a breach.
Sarthien lowers his map completely. Around him, the Lantern Veil workers begin erasing the nearest digging marks, leaving the buried junction closed and the surface routes untouched.