The Sealed Cave

Hills above Stonetop · Peacebond discovery · Glasbren

Truth

High in the hills, a bricked-over mouth hides a cold gallery of the dead. Looping glyphs on every wall are a peacebond — they sap the will to struggle. The bodies never fought each other; they lay down and stopped.

Many have wrong jaws, long teeth, claw-fingers. They were changing under a Thing Below’s touch (infection, gift, or bargain). Someone — Folk wardens, or earlier Manmarchers who still knew the craft — sealed them here so the hunger would sleep instead of spread. The brick is the door; the glyphs are the lock.

Glasbren rooted a sapling into the ridge years ago. She likes the quiet and the mortals who come poking. She flirts with Sven. She will trade truth for wonder, company, or a little mischief — not for iron and threats.

“The brick is cold even in summer. Wind dies at the threshold. Inside, your hand forgets how to make a fist.”

Hooks (pick what fits)

  • Geralt’s discovery: he already knows the sealed cave is here — he wants the glyphs (Peacebond).
  • Commune: ask Glasbren about the Wood, the Folk, lumber taboo aftermath, or a secret for the next plan.
  • Homefront tool: peacebond the public house, a gate, a threshing floor — stop a fight before it starts.
  • Shades: hunters hear weeping above the sheep-runs; something morose wants company or release.
  • Plaque is separate: Geralt’s half-buried plaque (Thunderous Bellow) is not in this cave — study it at home. Don’t force a merge.

Site rule — peacebond

Active in underground areas (1, 4–8). Outside (2, 3) normal.

  • When you attempt violence (or to deface glyphs), you hesitate.
  • If you will yourself to continue: lose HP and roll +WIS. 10+ go for it; 7–9 act with disadvantage on violence (including damage); 6− fail and mark dazed.
  • Ennui: after ~half a day inside without leaving, each PC rolls +WIS once. 10+ fine; 7–9 mark miserable or lose the will to finish a task today; 6− lie down among the dead until dragged out (or until a friend spends a scene hauling them).
  • Fire / bronze tools on brick: not “violence against people,” but chipping the seal can still trigger a hesitate beat if they treat it like an assault on the ward.

Brick Mouth

Threshold Entry
“Kiln-brick flush with living rock, mortar gone grey. No door. No keyhole. Cold bleeds through the joints even when the sun is high.”
  • Open carefully (chisels, time): hours of work; no roll if patient. First who steps in feels the peacebond (describe; teach the hesitate rule).
  • Force it (sledges, fire, Pull Together later with crew): open faster; on 6− or carelessness, a shade rides the dust out — soft move on the trail home later.
  • Leave it sealed: they can still meet Glasbren on the ridge. No Peacebond unlock without going in.
  • Re-brick when done: good sense. If left open for a season, sheep go missing one night and the public house fights end in shrugs, not blows (peacebond leaks; weird Homefront).

Exits

Down the scree → Outer Slope: “Wind again. The sheep-runs and the village smoke below. Your fist remembers how to close.”
Through the broken brick (once open) → Cold Gallery: “The cold deepens. Bodies rank the floor like sleepers, and the first loops of script crawl the walls.”

Outer Slope

Approach
“The sheep-runs thin into scree and scrub. Wind cuts. Below, Stonetop is a thumb of stone and smoke. Above, a dark rectangle of brick in the hillside — wrong against the rock.”
  • Seek Insight / tracks: old boot-scuffs at the brick; green sapling path up the ridge; no recent large predators.
  • Know Things (glyphs from afar): ward-work, not a tomb-for-kings. Peace-binding, if anyone has seen the like.
  • Rush the brick without care: fine — but first breath inside hits harder (first peacebond hesitate has disadvantage).

Exits

Up to the dark rectangle → Brick Mouth: “Brick flush with rock. Cold through the joints even in summer. No door. No keyhole.”
Green path up the ridge → Sapling Ridge: “A young tree grips the stone. Leaves too green for the height. Something watches from the wood.”
Village trail down: “Half a day to Stonetop. The hills close behind you.”

Sapling Ridge

Glasbren’s tree Talk
“A young tree grips the ridge like a hand in stone. Bark pale, leaves too green for the height. Something watches from the wood — curious, not shy.”

Glasbren tether · she can appear here or in Root Grotto

If they approach respectfully

  • Offering (fresh water, a song, a new story, a pretty stone, news of the Wood) → she manifests (moving wood, beautiful).
  • No offering, but kind + curious → she may still show, especially if Sven is present.
  • Axes, fire, iron threats → roots tighten; she flees into the tree; next approach is cold.

Dialog (pick 1–2)

(to Sven, soft) “You stand like you mean to hold the sky up. Don’t. It likes falling a little.”
“The cave sleeps because they made it forget how to fight. I like forgetful places. They’re quiet.”
“If you want secrets, bring wonder. If you want a fight, go somewhere that isn’t mine.”
(post–Vasilya’s Grove) “The deep Wood smells less wrong. You did a loud thing. Tell me every detail. Slowly.”

Deals and secrets → Glasbren payoffs. Stats only if they attack her tree or body.

Glasbren

Spirit of the wild, curious

HP 19; Armor 2 (bark, no vitals)
Damage raking fingers (hand, disadvantage)
Special qualities stabbing useless; fire hurts
Instinct to stretch, grow, experience life

0 HP here ends manifestation only. Killing the sapling truly wounds her — she becomes a threat, spreads word through the Wood, and the cave loses its living friend.

Exits

Down the green path → Outer Slope: “Scree, wind, and the brick mouth dark in the hillside below.”
Narrow chimney in the roots (packs off) → Root Grotto: “Stone tight as a sleeve. Roots scrape your shoulders. Then living wood in dead rock and the smell of sap.”

Cold Gallery

Bodies Clues
“Dozens of bodies on the stone floor, ranked like sleepers. Skin pale, dry, intact. Overlarge teeth. Fingers tapering to claws. Few wounds. They just… stopped.”
  • Examine bodies: Know Things / Seek Insight. 10+ = changing under a Thing Below; sealed so the change would idle. 7–9 = same, but a shade notices you and follows (see below). 6− = you lie down for a while (ennui beat now).
  • Loot: clay beads, a bronze pin (Value 1), a child’s wooden bird. Taking treasures wakes a shade if you haven’t spoken kindly.
  • Burn / desecrate: peacebond hesitate first. On success: smoke fills; 2–3 shades rise angry. On failure: you can’t light the brand.

3 Morose shades

Specters; not a fight unless forced

HP 8; Armor 0
Special qualities melt at 0 HP; peacebond still applies to PCs attacking them
Instinct to want company, confession, or release

“We were so tired of wanting. Stay. Want less with us.”
“Don’t open the deep crack. That’s where the wanting starts again.”
“The tree-girl listens. We don’t mind her. She doesn’t make fists either.”
  • Talk / comfort: +CHA or honest story. 10+ shade rests; may answer one question about the seal. 7–9 answer, but clings to one PC (disadvantage on violence until they leave the cave). 6− PC marks miserable; shade follows home as a soft threat.
  • Fight: peacebond rules. Damage chill (ignores armor on a miss / hard move).

Exits

Back to daylight → Brick Mouth: “The brick mouth brightens. Wind waits just beyond the threshold.”
Deeper, where the loops tighten → Glyph Hall: “Walls written solid. Looking too long makes your shoulders drop.”
Center passage → The Still: “A round chamber ahead. Sound dies. The torch leans inward, tired.”
Low crawl between the bodies → Root Grotto: “Knees and elbows. Then roots pour through the ceiling like pale ropes.”

Glyph Hall

Study Arcana
“The walls are a script of loops — tight, repeated, almost musical. Looking too long makes your shoulders drop. Your jaw unclenches whether you want it to or not.”

This is the dense core of the Peacebond discovery. Transcription procedure lives here → Unlock Peacebond.

  • Quick read (minutes): Know Things — “these suppress violence; longer stay, tighter weave, stronger effect.”
  • Copy a fragment and leave: enough for research at home, but unlock still needs days total (count work here or at the table in Stonetop with rubbings).
  • Deface a panel: peacebond hesitate. Success = weaken site peacebond one step (violence becomes possible without roll in Gallery only — shades notice). Whole-site collapse only if they wreck The Still.

Exits

Back among the sleepers → Cold Gallery: “Bodies again. The cold is ordinary cold compared to the script-hall.”
Where roots break the glyph-lines → Root Grotto: “Living wood through dead stone. Condensation beads. Sap and old cold.”
Toward denser loops → The Still: “A plinth cut with the same script, denser than anywhere else. No bodies.”

Root Grotto

Glasbren Talk
“Roots pour through the ceiling like pale ropes, living wood in dead stone. Condensation beads on them. The air smells of sap and old cold.”

Best place to commune without leaving the cave. She can walk her roots like a hall.

  • Offering at the roots: same as ridge — story, water, novelty. She appears among the roots.
  • Spirit-realm journey (Dagmar / ritual): Chart a Course through green-dark and still-water. Challenges: get lost in “quiet,” exhaustion, a dool spirit that wants them to stop walking. Success = audience with Glasbren on her terms (advantage on the deal). Miss = wake in The Still with a shade holding their hand.
  • Cut roots to “free” the cave: she screams through the stone; fight or flee; sapling on the ridge sickens.

Dialog / deals → Glasbren (same list as ridge; reuse).

Exits

Where the walls take up the loops again → Glyph Hall: “Script returns, dense and musical. Your jaw unclenches whether you want it to or not.”
Crawl out under the roots → Cold Gallery: “Bodies ranked like sleepers. Shades may notice you leave.”
Along the root-wall → The Still: “Round chamber. Plinth. The densest loops in the cave.”
Chimney up through the roots (packs off) → Sapling Ridge: “Daylight and wind. The young tree grips the ridge above you.”

The Still

Heart of the ward
“A round chamber. No bodies — only a low stone plinth cut with the same loops, denser than anywhere else. Sound dies. Even the torch flame leans inward, tired.”
  • Meditate / listen: roll +WIS. 10+ clear vision of the sealing night (warders weeping as they brick the mouth). 7–9 same vision, mark dazed or miserable. 6− you stop caring about your mission for a scene; friends must haul you out or spend a bond-moment.
  • Study here counts double toward Peacebond unlock (half the days), but ennui checks are at disadvantage.
  • Smash the plinth: peacebond hesitate (hard). If they succeed and wreck it: site peacebond ends in minutes; shades rise in the Gallery, hungry now; Deep Crack exhales warm air. Homefront later: a brawl in Stonetop goes farther than it should (mirror).

Exits

Out among the bodies → Cold Gallery: “The sleepers again. Sound returns a little, if you call it sound.”
Into the written walls → Glyph Hall: “Loops on every surface. Transcription work lives here.”
Where roots meet the plinth-room → Root Grotto: “Living wood. Glasbren’s hall under the hill.”
Behind the plinth → Deep Crack: “A hairline split in the floor. Warm air. Wet iron and spoiled fruit.”

Deep Crack

Optional · bad idea
“Behind the plinth, a hairline split in the floor. Warm air. A smell like wet iron and spoiled fruit. Something below is not sleeping as well as the gallery.”
  • Leave it: smart. Shades approve.
  • Probe with bronze / light: Seek Insight. 10+ = a deeper infection still bound; don’t open. 7–9 = same, but the crack widens a finger. 6− = a pale hand (or root-like tendril) brushes the light; take ignore armor; mark a wrongness (GM: soft Fomoraij / Thing Below portent later).
  • Widen / dig: ends the mercy. Spawn 1–2 infected thralls climbing up (use a base human + wrong jaw/claws; HP 12, Armor 1, d8 claws; peacebond still fights the PCs more than the thralls if the Still is intact). Or soft-move a future threat: missing livestock, a villager with too-long teeth.

Not a boss room. It’s a choice with teeth.

Exits

Back from the split → The Still: “The plinth. The cold quiet. The crack is behind you if you leave it alone.”

Unlock — Peacebond

From the discovery card: learn the mysteries, but…

  • ☐ It’ll take days of careful transcription, haunted by morose shades.
  • ☐ You risk succumbing to the ennui of the place.

At the table:

  1. One PC leads (usually Geralt). Others may Aid, keep watch, or feed shades stories so they don’t cling.
  2. Each day of work: one shade scene (talk or soft haunt) + one ennui check if they sleep in the cave. Work at home with rubbings = slower (weeks) but safer; still needs the days of care fictionally.
  3. When both boxes are true in the fiction, they have Peacebond: mark a place with the glyphs; violence is suppressed while they remain.
Power reminder: attempt violence in a peacebonded area → hesitate → will yourself: lose HP, roll +WIS (10+ act / 7–9 disadvantage / 6− fail + dazed).

Best study sites: Glyph Hall · double progress at The Still (harder ennui).

Glasbren — secrets & deals

Instinct: stretch, grow, experience life · Cost if follower: wonder and excitement · Loyalty starts at 2 if they give heart/loyalty · Meet at Sapling Ridge or Root Grotto

When they spend real time with her alone at her tree (ridge or grotto), roll +CHA: 7+ clear debilities and she reveals a secret about the Great Wood; 7–9 also pick 1: days pass unnoticed · you offend her (lose Loyalty) · her “family” wants words now.

Secrets she can give (pick what the table needs)

  • Where a rune-marked elder still stands (safe felling guidance / timber thread).
  • That the Folk once used peace-glyphs on more than caves — on roads, on marriage halls.
  • A true path past a troelloff, or a warning about the Maw.
  • Gossip: who in Stonetop has been leaving iron nails in young trees (and why that matters).
  • If asked about Hec’tumel / the seal: she felt the Wood ease when the grove was fixed; she wants stories, not worship.

Prices she likes

  • A day of pure novelty (market day in Marshedge described blow-by-blow; a new song; a dance).
  • Sven’s company without armor and without a quest voice.
  • A promise to protect her sapling if lumber crews come through the hills.
  • Not: blood, iron gifts, “serve me,” or burning anything green.

Homefront payoffs

  • Peacebond a place in Stonetop (public house, council stone, gate): fights fizzle; useful against whiskey-war tempers, cult knives, drunken fathers — and awkward when someone needs to butcher a hog or hang a thief.
  • Glasbren as ally / follower: Wood news, soft intel, personal stakes if loggers threaten her tree.
  • Left the cave open: weird calm leaks; or shades on the sheep-runs.
  • Broke the Still / opened Deep Crack: portent clock for something infected under the hills.
  • Re-bricked + good terms with Glasbren: the hills stay quiet; she may warn them before the next Wood wrongness.
“You come down from the hills with cold still in your sleeves. The village sounds louder than you remember — arguments, hammers, a dog. For a moment you almost miss the quiet.”