First investigation

Kael’s first investigation leads him to the Saltwake Inn, where sailors and townsfolk gather after the disturbance.

The inn is crowded and tense. Some patrons are arguing over memories that contradict one another. Others sit silently, afraid to speak.

The innkeeper, Mira Quell, recognizes Kael as a regular customer.

She immediately pours him a drink.

“The usual?”

Kael has never been there.

Mira claims he stayed at the Saltwake Inn for three nights and spent most of his time asking questions about the Stormworks. She remembers him traveling with two companions:

• A half-elf woman named Seris • A dwarf named Hadrik

Neither person is currently in the inn.

Mira says Kael left them behind after an argument.

If Kael questions her, she produces a room key bearing his name. The key is warm and faintly charged with electricity.

The room contains several clues:

• A map of Greyhaven with the Stormworks marked in red • A silver mask hidden beneath the bed • A journal written in Kael’s handwriting • A black crystal wrapped in cloth • A message carved into the wall

The journal contains only one complete sentence:

The engine does not create false memories. It reveals the ones we are afraid to remember.

A second line appears only when Kael’s blood touches the page:

Mother sealed the central chamber. The Revisionists opened it again.

The carved message reads:

Find the girl in the Ashen Ward before the masked one does.

The black crystal pulses whenever Kael touches it. If he keeps it, he occasionally hears distant thunder even indoors.

When held near the metal device from the underground chamber, the crystal projects a brief image of a woman with silver-streaked hair placing her hand against the engine.

She says:

“If my son returns, give him the choice I could not make.”

The image ends before revealing what choice she means.