Essin the Digger

A Listening College field researcher camped at Hollow-Pines who cannot swim and is absolutely certain about the pillar under the chapel flood.

Essin has been writing up the Drowned Chapel's architectural profile for six weeks, working from the surface measurements and a single terrifying dive he made last autumn that nearly killed him and confirmed the pillar. He is certain about the pillar the way researchers are certain about things they almost died for. He has hired three people to do the actual dive; all three declined after seeing the water. He is polite, methodical, and runs out of patience entirely when people suggest the pillar might not be there.