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Scene 2: Around Old Macridi

The mist from the Great Goldpan River clings to Old Macridi's roofs and timber walks. The scent of fresh-cut darkwood and damp sawdust hangs over the streets, mixed with river water, hot metal, leather vats, and woodsmoke.

Nothing about the town looks abandoned or panicked. Barges still crowd the docks. Waterwheels still turn. Craftsmen still open their shutters and merchants still argue over prices. Yet conversations lower when the Palakar is mentioned, and more than one worker glances toward the forest before answering a question.

Some people talk about spoiled timber. Others mention sick animals, strange water, silent fey, or workers who have stopped reporting from distant sites. No one in Old Macridi has enough evidence to say that all of these things are connected.

After meeting Danum Karland, the party has time to explore Old Macridi before traveling downriver to Reiver's Right. Karland encourages them to gather supplies and speak with people who know different parts of the Palakar. Each location offers a piece of the larger problem without providing the entire answer.

Reiver's Right is not an ancient ruin or a camp abandoned years ago. The current operation functioned successfully for years, with serious problems beginning roughly three weeks ago. Normal communication finally stopped four days ago. Its location downriver means it cannot be sending contaminated timber upstream into Karland's sawmill, but its sudden silence may be another symptom of whatever is happening throughout the forest.

GM Note: Build the Pattern, Not the Answer. Old Macridi should let the players assemble several independent observations. Karland's Sawmill and Best Fit Furnishings show corruption inside living timber. The Salty Bark Tannery shows that animals exposed to affected areas are becoming sick. Sanctitude Saunas suggests that something has reached groundwater. Fanciful Inquiries knows the fey courts have become unusually quiet. The Assembly Institute can reveal that the incidents make more sense geographically than commercially.

GM Note: The Apothecary. Morwenna Iron-Root can show that ordinary anti-blight treatments are only partly effective. Careful analysis of a black-sap sample can reveal an infernal signature within the plant corruption, but she still does not know what is creating or sustaining it underground.

GM Note: Keep Reiver's Right Focused. The party is investigating a recently silent working camp, not solving the entire Palakar crisis in this scene. Reiver's Right should confirm that the same corruption is present there and expose evidence of prohibited excavation beneath the camp.