The basin abruptly darkens, swallowing its pale radiance. Its surface smooths into a black mirror, and the reflected face of Seren Vale appears where the shrine’s broken sky should be.
Seren Vale
Artania, if you can hear me, answer only by listening. This message is reaching you through old royal way-magic.
Seren’s reflection trembles as though seen through deep water. Her wounded courier’s face is drawn with strain, and the distant shadow of Capital towers moves behind her.
Seren Vale
Someone inside the royal dispatch office has noticed the brass mark. They know it has surfaced near the eastern farms, and they are searching for whoever carries it.
Behind Seren’s reflected shoulder, a second seal rises within the basin’s darkness: Arch’s royal emblem crossed by the Quiet Ledger’s hooked hidden mark.
Seren Vale
Do not bring it to the guild yet. The hidden mark is active, and the office may be watching the roads, the contracts, and every report sent from the farms.
Artania Nero Thornson
The message comes from the Capital, but the seal is reflected here.
“I go back inside the house looking for a cloth. Once I find it to protect my hand I intend to hide the brass mark. So that I may return for it later.”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled +4)
Artania turns from the dark basin and returns along the garden path. Al remains at the farmhouse threshold, watching the shrine while the reflected message fades behind him.
Inside, he searches the silent rooms and finds a folded linen cloth in a cedar chest beneath the pantry shelf. Faded blue stitching marks it as a household ward-cloth.
Artania Nero Thornson
The cloth should shield the mark from casual magical notice.
Artania wraps the brass mark securely, protecting his palm, then carries it back through the concealed passage. The cloth dulls its chill and smothers the faint hooked glow.
At the garden’s edge, he finds a loose paving stone beside the farmhouse foundation. Beneath it lies a dry hollow, sheltered from rain and hidden from the road.
Artania places the wrapped brass mark inside and replaces the stone exactly. The ward-cloth settles its magic completely, leaving no visible trace of the hidden seal.
As he rises, the cloth’s blue stitching briefly warms against his fingers, revealing a tiny embroidered direction toward the eastern fields before going still.
“Okay, found the lights source, and hidden the mark. Time to continue east. If that dim glow was any indication. Let’s move Al.”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled -3)
Artania Nero Thornson
The lights came from the shrine, and the mark is hidden. Time to continue east. Move, Al.
Artania leaves the farmhouse behind and follows the eastern field path. Al falls into step beside him, glancing back once toward the concealed shrine.
The blue stitching on the ward-cloth cools as distance grows, while the dim glow ahead strengthens beyond the hedgerows. Evening gathers over the farms.
They cross a rutted stretch where the path descends toward the eastern boundary stones. Artania’s wet boots slip in the mud, twisting his ankle and slowing his pace.
Al
Rrrowl.
Al presses close until Artania steadies himself against the wolf’s shoulder. Beyond the boundary stones, scattered silver lights now pulse over the distant eastern fields.
Artania and Al reach the eastern rise together. From there, the road continues toward the lights, while the farmhouse and hidden mark disappear behind the darkening hedges.
✓ Quest Accepted
Report the findings to the guild
“I need to head back to guild and report what I have found so far. My sore body is aching in protest, and my magic reserves are barely recovering from my lack of rest. Not to mention just now hurting my ankle.”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled +3)