E18 — Deepest Dig
Deepest Dig
One final work face—the point where the Golden Hand stopped digging.
Beyond the Blightroot, the excavation narrows to a single reinforced work face. There are no branching tunnels here, no hidden stair, and no passage continuing into darkness.
The rails end at a battered drilling frame. The stone ahead has been cut into a shallow bowl around a narrow black seam. Old metal has been exposed inside the rock: not ore, but fitted bands and fragments of worked material far older than the excavation.
Every survey mark in the chamber points toward this spot.
E18-11 is a destination, not a doorway to another dungeon. The Golden Hand reached the point it wanted to investigate but had not opened a passable route beyond it before the crisis destroyed the operation.
Challenge: Understand the Deepest Dig
Critical Success: headings repeatedly converge here, and the worked material resembles a buried reinforcement or ward rather than a natural deposit. Success: this is clearly not a mine face; they were excavating toward a constructed feature.
Digging by hand exposes more fitted material but no opening. Following the line requires a new excavation project and belongs to the larger Pulgari / Golden Hand arc.
Deep Survey Ledger
A waterproof ledger case contains final survey calculations. A last instruction reads: Do not breach without Kerse authority. Preserve the old bands. Report any heat, voices, or red light immediately.
Major Evidence: The excavation was directed toward a specific buried structure and sponsors expected occult or infernal phenomena.
Warded Drill Core
A stone core contains black glassy material fused to an older strip of worked metal. The metal bears no Golden Hand mark.
Quest Evidence: The worked material predates Reiver's Right by centuries; occult examination detects faint residual abjuration.
Golden Hand Transit Seal
A palm-sized brass seal used to authorize restricted shipments bears the curled golden hand and serpent.
Evidence: The clearest physical object connecting the excavation to the Kerse-linked organization from the financial trail.