To the Crystal Delve!
With an accord on your next course of action, you pack your bags, equip your weapons and head out onto the road. The egg remains near your hearth for warmth and is safely locked up in the house.
Nathan Lowduke leads you out of the North Harbour, down past the South Harbour and out onto an old wagon-rutted dirt road. The road passes some old moss-covered ruins of what looks like ancient baths and rolls over some hills on its way south and west. "This damnable weather", mumbles Lowduke, "it never stops raining. Why? I've been to Seaquen before and it never rained like this ... its been a blasted month!"
After an hour of walking along the old road, you come upon an old mill on the edge of a great wood. The mill has long since been out of service, but some of the logging trails still lead into the forest. Nathan guides you forward to one specific trail and begins to look around: under ferns, the bark of trees, the muddy ground. Satisfied, he takes out his pipe and begins to pack it. "This was my trail, I see some of my markings. The trail ends about fifteen minutes into the wood at which point you'll need to find a small brook. If you follow the flow of water, it'll take you directly to the lake. Good luck. I'll be here when you get back ... no sense going in there if the dragon picked up my scent the last time I was here. It'll mean the death of you all."
The trail continues just as described and the brook is easily located; bubbling up from between a cluster of mossy rocks. The forest itself is eerily quiet and ancient. Thick coniferous pines and firs dominate, with a few clusters of dire birch and oak. Ferns, moss and small shrubbery cover the ground.
Occasionally, as you hike along the stream, you pass strange clumps of ground that appear to have been scorched and dried out - rocks corroded and partially disintegrated, trunks of trees perforated with small holes. The bones of large mammals like elk and moose lay in clumps in these places and a faint chemical smell fills your nostrils. Sometimes you pass even stranger sights: clusters of buildings in a variety of architectural styles: stone martello towers, high cupola structures, and buildings held aloft by flying buttresses. All of these obviously seem out of place and all have been smashed and left to be reclaimed by the forest. Here and there, deep claw marks cover much of the masonry.
Finally you come upon the Crystal Delve. The wide deep lake sits in a clearing ringed with ancient trees. More ruined architecture sits on the shores and huge piles of bones sit here and there. The air is thick with a cloying chemical scent and besides the soft splashing from the brook joining the lake, there is no sound.
