The adventure began at the Klorpeimar manor on a tense winter morning. Inayin awoke from another in a series of disturbing dreams—this one darker than those before. In the dream, he saw his grandfather in utter darkness, mouth locked open in a wordless scream, one arm fading to transparency.
Downstairs, Fjalenar and Ineia sat over an untouched breakfast, listening to Lady Dara and Sir Yangajal arguing loudly in the next room about Ineia's future. Lady Dara's Sothbori sensibilities clashed with her husband's northern practicality: "I'm so worried about her. When is she going to learn to be a proper lady? This isn't how she would have been raised back in my country."
Inayin's arrival broke the awkward silence. Fjalenar and Inayin met for the first time—the southern scholar peppering the hunter with questions about his trade. When asked about his greatest trophy, Inayin admitted honestly that he didn't yet have a story worth telling, being the youngest of four brothers and still establishing himself. Fjalenar declared him "the first honest monster hunter" he'd ever met.
**Part Two: The Mission**
Sir Yangajal entered and greeted Inayin warmly, shaking his hand with genuine respect. He was notably cooler toward Fjalenar, testing his grip in a handshake that the scholar fumbled badly—squeezing too early and catching only fingers.
The Lord of Klorpeimar laid out the situation plainly: cattle on the outlying farms had been killed—three in the last week, torn apart and drained of blood. The farmers spoke of old evils waking in the marshes. He charged Inayin with hunting whatever was responsible, and pointedly suggested Fjalenar accompany him to "prove that the blood of the Karjalkarr family is not spent merely on ink and ledgers."
When Ineia announced she was going, her mother began to protest, but Ineia cut her off: "If I'm to inherit these lands one day, I must know how to protect them." Sir Yangajal agreed, but charged Inayin specifically with ensuring his daughter's safe return.
**Part Three: Gathering Information**
**The Farmers' Account:**
Fjalenar interviewed the farmers who had reported the killings. Their description was disturbing:
- Cattle laid out on their backs, limbs splayed, removed, and left beside the body
- Gut sacks cut open but entrails left uneaten—"to a wolf, the liver's good eating"
- Hundreds of tiny puncture wounds covering the bodies
- Almost no blood at the scene despite the violence
- The attacks followed a "log rhythmic progression"—once, then twice, then three times
The attacks occurred at the Slow Waters (Sethyanra), a marshy delta about ten miles north where several streams converge before feeding into the Chaith. The difficult terrain would make it a full day's journey on foot.
**Fjalenar's Lore (Success - 68%):**
Drawing on his studies of the serpent-folk, Fjalenar recalled the _Ankalahareim_—Lurkers in the Depths. These were amphibious ambush predators that drained blood from their prey, servants of the serpent-folk in ancient times. However, they were believed to have been completely destroyed when Orusen banished the serpents and cleansed the waters.
**Tall Tales:**
The farmers, impressed by Inayin's lineage, regaled Fjalenar with increasingly outlandish stories about the hunter's family—including a tale of his grandfather biting the seventh head off a "hydra" (a word Fjalenar supplied, though it has no meaning in Amboria) because "if you bite it off, you haven't cut it, have you? So there's nothing to grow back."
**Part Four: Private Conversations**
**Lady Dara and Fjalenar:**
Lady Dara cornered Fjalenar for a private word. Her instructions were brutally clear:
1. Ineia must return alive
2. Fjalenar must "clothe himself with glory" and outshine "that low-born, so-called monster hunter"
3. If he fails: "I'll be sending your genitals in a box" to his parents
When Fjalenar rejoined the others, he was visibly shell-shocked. Asked about the conversation, he would only say that Lady Dara "feels strongly about things" and "wishes everyone to return home safely."
**Inayin and His Father:**
Inayin walked the half-hour to his father's shack on the back of the estate. The scene was one of profound neglect:
- The water-steel forge lay disused, the sacred pool fouled with leaves and discolored water
- The conventional forge had gone cold, dust on the anvil
- The door stood open despite the winter cold
- The building reeked of Gillian (barley spirit)
His father, wrapped in blankets, poured drinks with shaking hands. He spoke of seeing "leopard spots on the back of my hand" and "a great pink elephant" when he got too sober. But when Inayin mentioned his dreams, his father's demeanor changed:
> "Teeth! Teeth in the water! There's teeth in the water, boy!"
He broke down sobbing. Inayin could only sit with him, then urge him to take better care of himself before departing.
**Sir Yangajal and Ineia:**
Ineia's father spoke to her privately, revealing a different perspective than her mother's: He'd bought her time—perhaps five years before she needed to worry about the marriage. He wanted her to see the world, to learn who could be trusted. She could trust Inayin: "He's a good lad. A bit slow, but he can see through a brick wall if you give him time." The trip would show what Fjalenar was truly made of. He spoke of Onerama's rising star and hinted that their family might have "a great role to play" if a kingdom arose in the North.
**Part Five: The Journey**
The party set out the next morning after an excruciatingly silent family dinner.
**Travel Mishap (Failed Survival Checks):**
Both Fjalenar and Inayin failed their survival tests traversing the difficult terrain. Fjalenar spotted a "greater northern tufted grouse" and became so focused on it that he didn't notice himself sinking into a bog. Inayin rushed to help, lost his pack in the struggle, and both men ended up chest-deep in the mire. Ineia had to find a branch and pull them out.
**Part Six: The Slow Waters**
Finally arriving at the marshland known as the Slow Waters, the Companions smelled a metallic tang in the air. Its source was a shallow pool in which a recently killed cow still lay, as though dissected. Examining it closely, they found the following, consistent with the stories the farmers had told earlier:
- Hide slit deliberately from throat to belly
- Limbs severed but left uneaten
- Covered in hundreds of tiny tooth marks, especially around the jugular
- Almost no blood present—the creature had been completely exsanguinated
- Body still somewhat warm (less than a day old)
- Scavengers were avoiding the carcass entirely
**Part Seven: The Well-Priestess Fjaru**
Following the streams deeper into the marsh, the party found a small stone well-house and the hut of the hermit-priestess Fjaru, who wore the scarlet sash of her order.
She had been expecting them: "So, the Klorpeimars send hunters at last. I had wondered when they would notice. The waters have been all wrong for weeks now. Something old has woken in the deep places. Something hungry."
Fjaru recognized Inayin immediately—she saw in his eyes the same look his grandfather had. She revealed the truth:
Eight years ago, Inayin's grandfather came to her seeking a blessing. He had found something in a drowned quarry half a mile north: **a forge-stone from the time of the Stone Kings**. He meant to claim it and become the most famous watersmith in all the North.
Fjaru warned him: _"The old waters remember. And they do not give up what they take."_ He didn't listen. Neither did Inayin's father.
Then the crucial revelation:
> "Your grandfather is not dead, boy."
>
> "There's death, and then there's death. Your father's spirit died that day. He's tried ever since to forget. He's tried to drown out the call. Because your grandfather—he's calling to his blood, isn't he? That's why you're here. You can hear him calling."
The drowned quarry lies half a mile north. The party decided to stay the night and assist Fjaru with the Rite of Cleansing of the Waters, receiving the blessing of purification before continuing to the quarry.
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