The passage ends beneath the chapel altar, where black water fills a crypt chamber to the ankles. Ancient salt sigils ring the walls, their pale light flickering across the one-eyed dock guard captain and Iven.
The one-eyed dock guard captain lowers the strongbox onto a dry stone ledge without releasing his sword. Iven raises one trembling hand toward a cracked ward, whose glow pulses in time with Oju’s gold bell.
The Nervous Harbour Factor
There. That is the seal Veyr meant us to open. It should be dark, not answering you.
The One-Eyed Dock Guard Captain
Then nobody touches it. Iven, keep your hand down. Goat, watch the water.
Behind the sealed stone, something immense shifts. The movement rolls through the crypt as a deep pressure, stirring ripples around the salt sigils while several ancient marks gutter out.
The Nervous Harbour Factor
The protections are failing. If that door opens, the chamber will not hold whatever is beneath the altar.
✓ Quest Accepted
Prevent the sealed crypt from opening
✓ Quest Accepted
Discover what Veyr sought beneath the chapel altar
“"You seem to know more about this than us, 'Iven'. What more are you not telling us?" He asks, before turning his gaze toward the water as instructed by Dask.”
SUCCESS (Fair Persuasion, rolled +0)
Oju
You seem to know more about this than us, Iven. What more are you not telling us?
Oju turns his gaze to the black water as instructed. Ripples move against the chamber’s stillness, while his reading of motives catches Iven weighing fear against the cost of another lie.
The Nervous Harbour Factor
Veyr told me the ward answers the bell because it recognizes a bloodline, not a trinket. Beneath this altar lies a bound sovereign, and the strongbox carries the key to his prison.
The water circles Oju’s boots. Beneath its surface, something brushes the stone and withdraws, leaving the salt sigils trembling in its wake.
The One-Eyed Dock Guard Captain
You kept that from us, Iven. From this moment, you speak only when asked, and you stay within my reach.
The Nervous Harbour Factor
Then hear the rest. Veyr promised my debt would vanish if I delivered the bell-bearer. Now I need your protection, and I will owe it to you both if we leave this place alive.
His confession gives Oju the missing truth, but costs Iven whatever trust remained. The water settles again, and the cracked ward dims around the sealed stone.
Quest Complete
Discover what Veyr sought beneath the chapel altar
“"Well, I'll just have to figure out what to do with you later... I can't speak for Dask." Oju says, before attempting to make his way out of the water, uncertain of just what this 'sovereign' is about.”
SUCCESS (Fair Athletics, rolled -1)
Oju
Well, I'll just have to figure out what to do with you later. I can't speak for Dask.
Oju plants his hooves against the submerged stone and pushes upward. His long ears catch the scrape of grit beneath the water, while his keen nose finds the stale air above the ledge and guides him toward it.
The climb succeeds, but his footing slips on the slick rim. His shoulder strikes the stone with a hard jolt before he hauls himself onto the dry ledge, water streaming from his coat.
The Nervous Harbour Factor
You are leaving me here with him? I can still help. I know what Veyr expects to find below.
Dask keeps his blade trained on Iven while watching Oju clear the water. The ancient markings shiver across the walls, and the deep presence beneath the altar shifts once more.
The One-Eyed Dock Guard Captain
Good. Stay on solid ground, goat. The strain is yours, but the decision about him is not mine alone.
“Oju, clearly disgruntled from the fall and soaked coat. Quietly approaches Dask and Iven. "Ugh... Where do we go from here, then? You better tell me what this thing is."”
SUCCESS (Fair Persuasion, rolled +0)
Oju
Ugh... Where do we go from here, then? You better tell me what this thing is.
Soaked and visibly displeased, Oju approaches them across the ledge. He watches Iven’s face rather than the trembling ward, catching fear first, then the calculation behind it.
The Nervous Harbour Factor
It is not merely a prison. The sovereign beneath us is the last ruler of a drowned court, bound here when his claim threatened the living kingdoms. Veyr wants him awakened and restored.
Iven’s shoulders sag as the lie leaves him. The admission gives Oju the full shape of the danger, but it also spends the last of the factor’s credibility.
The Nervous Harbour Factor
The ward feeds on recognition. If you cross the inner line, it will use your presence to unmake the binding. Veyr expects that sacrifice, not a rescue.
The One-Eyed Dock Guard Captain
And now you have told him everything because he asked plainly. That makes your debt to us larger, Iven. You guide us out, then answer for Veyr’s scheme.
The pressure beneath the altar eases, but the ward continues to pulse. Iven nods without argument, trapped by the truth he has finally surrendered and by Dask’s newly claimed leverage.
“"...What do you mean, sacrifice? What does Veyr intend to do with this thing?"”
SUCCESS (Fair Reasoning, rolled +0)
Oju
What do you mean, sacrifice? What does Veyr intend to do with this thing?
Oju’s question cuts through the crypt’s pressure. Reading motives, he catches Iven’s fear before the factor shapes it into another bargain, while the ward’s pulse steals precious attention from the exchange.
The Nervous Harbour Factor
Veyr intends to use you as the key. Your presence will break the binding, and the sovereign will wake believing the bell-bearer has come to restore his claim.
Iven swallows and glances toward the sealed stone. Dask keeps him covered, but his attention shifts to the ward, forcing Oju to weigh the answer against the fading marks.
The Nervous Harbour Factor
Veyr wants the drowned court restored under his command. He believes its sovereign can command the dead waters and force the living kingdoms to yield. I was never told the final rite, only that you must die when the prison opens.
The One-Eyed Dock Guard Captain
So Veyr means to purchase a kingdom with Oju’s life. And we have learned the purpose, but not the rite or the hour. That missing knowledge is the price of waiting here.
The answer is complete enough to name the threat, though the exact ritual remains unknown. Beneath the altar, the pressure settles into silence as Iven lowers his gaze.
“"...This all sounds like nonsense, but... Let's get out of here before it's too late. Whatever this is, it's clearly reacting to my presence; we need to go."”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled +1)
Oju
This all sounds like nonsense, but... let's get out of here before it's too late. Whatever this is, it's clearly reacting to my presence. We need to go.
Oju turns from the sealed stone and leads across the ledge. His long ears catch the ward's weakening hum and the scrape of shifting water behind them; his keen nose finds the stale channel air and follows it toward the exit.
The One-Eyed Dock Guard Captain
Agreed. Iven first, and no touching the walls. I will carry the strongbox. Keep moving, and do not look back when the ward fades.
Iven wades after Oju through the narrow passage, while Dask follows with the strongbox and sword. The pale sigils gutter behind them, their pressure loosening as distance grows between Oju and the altar.
The Nervous Harbour Factor
The channel bends left ahead. The old flood stairs rise into the warehouse. Once we reach them, the ward cannot use your presence from below.
Oju reaches the bend without hesitation. His ears catch rain beyond the stone and no pursuing movement, while his nose confirms fresh air and river mud ahead. He climbs the flood stairs, and the others emerge behind him into the warehouse.
The One-Eyed Dock Guard Captain
Out. The ward is below us, and its influence has stopped. Now we decide what to do before Veyr learns we survived.
Quest Complete
Prevent the sealed crypt from opening
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Fair→Good