A Finders' Chalk-Key

aka which drain lets out clean

A leaf decoding the Finders' chalk-marks in the Undertow — the smugglers' wayfinding for which drain lets out clean, which drowns, and which the gaol watches.

A single oilcloth leaf, kept dry in a tin. The Quiet's marks, for anyone who has been taught to read them: a slash means the drain lets out clean, onto the bluff, past the wall. A slash crossed means it drowns — the water backs up faster than a body climbs. A circle means the gaol's lookouts watch that mouth; go another way. And a mark you will learn to fear before you learn its name: two wavy lines, low on the stone, close to the sump. That one means the water there does not run. It sits. It has a tenant. The Hands mark it so the crew knows to move cargo fast and never rest a load below it. You are not a Finder yet, but you are welcome to the map. Owe nothing, know everything.

This world ships in Valenfeld. Play the game →