By late afternoon, the cutter reaches the eastern cliffs. Spray veils a narrow shelf between black teeth of stone, while the one-eyed dock guard captain holds the wheel and the nervous harbour factor studies the coast from the map table.
Talla keeps Corren near the bow, and Silas works the forward lines under her watch. Arven stands beside Oju at the rail, salt still crusted in his hair as the hidden shelf appears and vanishes behind the spray.
Arven Sile
There. Keep the cutter east of that reef, then come in with the swell. The shelf is narrow, but it will take a boat before nightfall.
Arven points through the shifting white water. Beyond the shelf, a dark cleft rises inland between the cliffs, its entrance concealed by hanging spray and a line of jagged rock.
Arven Sile
I saw the survivor leave that cleft carrying the map fragment. The split crown marked a path inland, past a dry ledge and beneath a fallen arch, toward the ritual site.
Arven Sile
The coast took two ships while I watched. The water folds back on itself near the shelf, and the rocks wait just below the foam. But the landing is reachable if we time the swell.
The one-eyed dock guard captain eases the cutter toward the opening while the nervous harbour factor marks the route without touching the chart. Talla signals the others to ready the lines, and the hidden landing emerges clearly before the falling sun.
“I question Arven about the ritual site's defenses”
SUCCESS (Fair Persuasion, rolled +1)
Oju
Arven, tell me what defenses protect the ritual site. Wards, sentries, traps, anything that can stop us before we reach it.
Arven studies Oju’s face, then the approaching cleft. Reads Motives catches the survivor’s fear of returning there, but also his relief at being asked plainly instead of suspected.
Arven Sile
The outer path is watched by salt wards. They do not shine until crossed, then they call the drowned things from the tide pools. Step only where the stone is dry and black.
The cutter glides toward the shelf. Arven points past the spray, identifying a line of pale stones that avoids the warded ground and a narrow ascent beneath the fallen arch.
Arven Sile
Beyond the arch, the defenses become deliberate. Three standing stones bear the crown mark. The middle one listens for the bell-bearer, while the other two cast a binding net across the path.
Arven’s voice steadies as the route becomes useful knowledge. Reads Motives finds no evasion now, only the hard focus of someone choosing to survive the place by helping others read it correctly.
Arven Sile
Do not touch the standing stones. Pass beneath the fallen arch without speaking, then keep left along the dry ledge. The ritual chamber is sealed by a door that opens inward, but the final ward is inside it. I never reached that far.
The landing comes alongside the cutter, and the one-eyed dock guard captain brings her in safely. Arven has given Oju the defenses, their triggers, and the safest known approach before the last light fades.
“I ask Arven to mark the safe stones”
SUCCESS (Superb Perception, rolled +2)
Oju
Arven, mark the safe stones for us.
Arven kneels at the landing and gathers pale shell dust from a crevice. Oju’s keen senses separate the warded stones’ faint mineral tang from the clean scent of safe black rock.
Arven Sile
These three are safe. The dry black stones here, here, and beneath the arch. Avoid every pale edge.
Arven presses clear marks onto the three safe stones, then traces a short line along the dry ledge. Oju follows each gesture without losing sight of the route inland.
Reads Motives catches no concealment in Arven’s careful work, only disciplined fear and a sincere effort to keep the party from triggering the wards. The path is plainly marked.
Arven Sile
Follow my marks in single file. Stay on the black stone, pass beneath the arch silently, and keep left once we reach the ledge.
The shell-white marks stand out against the dark landing. Behind them, the cutter settles securely at the shelf while the marked route leads toward the fallen arch and the hidden ritual site.
“I follow Arven’s marks toward the ritual site”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled -1)
Oju follows Arven’s shell-white marks in single file, placing each hoof on dry black stone. His keen ears catch the surf folding beneath the shelf, while his keen nose tracks clean rock through the mineral tang of the wards.
The marked route bends beneath the fallen arch. Pale edges wait on either side, but Oju’s senses find every safe foothold before his weight settles, and the party passes without stirring the salt wards.
Arven Sile
Left along the ledge. The black stones continue beneath the cliff, and the ritual site lies beyond the last turn.
Arven leads them along the narrow ledge. Oju hears no answering chime, hidden step, or movement from the tide pools, and smells only cold seawater and old dust beneath the arch.
The ledge widens before a cliff face carved with three crown-shaped grooves. Beyond them stands an inward-opening stone door, its threshold dark and undisturbed.
Arven Sile
That is the ritual site. I never reached this door. The final ward is inside, but you have crossed the outer defenses safely.
Oju reaches the sealed doorway with Arven beside him. Behind them, the shell marks remain clear along the entire route, while the falling sun paints the hidden cleft copper and black.
Quest Complete
Reach the ritual site
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Superb→Legendary