>>6189947Though a hard man to read, the Keeper seems to have warmed up to you somewhat by the time you leave him, though as much as he’s eager to speak and you’re keen to listen, Eva is positively vibrating by the end to get on with things, so you must beg off and head back to the Guest Keep before too long.
“So, what did you find?”
“The people are all definitely humans and have been for a long time, and they aren’t very healthy, which isn’t surprising. It’s none too clean out in the town. I looked for anything unnatural, and didn’t really feel anything serious. No proper undead or the like, no fiends, although there are catacombs under the castle that might be worth poking around in. But fae influence? Lots, only real old and faint. If elves didn’t help build this place I’ll eat my shoe.”
“You don’t wear shoes.”
“I’ll find some. But don’t you get it? We’re all from the Feywilds if we go back far enough. If there’s some ancient elves in this place after all, that means it wasn’t all sealed away since forever.”
You take a moment to digest the thought. “If natives of other planes have been here before, then you’re right, that’s quite encouraging, even if it was thousands of years ago.”
“Oh, and like you said, there’s a well of power under our feet, and it goes deep, deeper than I could feel. Bones-of-the-earth deep.”
“Like a fire-mountain?”
“Come to think of it, actually, kinda. Oh, that explains the hot springs, doesn’t it?”
“It would. Was the source active?”
“Didn’t seem like it, but I’d need more time to say for sure.”
“I suppose that’s good to hear. I’d hate for us to end up with an eruption in our sleep. So, what about the heart tree?”
Eva scrunches up her nose. “It’s not undead. But it’s hurt real bad, like I thought. Something cut deep and never healed, and now it’s like it’s… petrified, almost. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. And it’s connected to other weirwoods, I’m pretty sure.”
“How so?”
“Divination of some kind, felt like. You’re the expert there though.”
“They are said to be the eyes of the Old Gods, so it makes sense. Anti-divination spells when in their presence might not hurt.”
Around the time you get to the Guest Keep, a thought occurs. You need to learn the Westerosi language - you had a spare Tongues only by chance, and you can’t spend nine-tenths of your time unable to speak with the locals for long. But you know someone who would be a perfect and likely enthusiastic teacher: Maester Luwin. You mention this to Eva, then head off to find the man. You ask a serving girl where he might be found. She takes you to the rookery tower where he keeps his office, but he turns out not to be there, and when she asks around you learn that he rushed off to find Lady Catelyn, so the girl leads you to the Great Keep to see if he’s still there.
