The Weeping Cleave

A water-cut cave system opening off the gorge wall of the Sered Cleave, fungus-lit, ending in a flooded snowmelt gallery — and something in its depths has started taking the Silt Hands smugglers' lanterns.

The Cleave weeps constantly where the snowmelt finds a crack and follows it inward. The Silt Hands discovered the first chamber two winters ago and made it a relay cache below Vandahl's notice; a low entrance, easy to miss from the road, and the gorge-sound covers movement. The run is still used. Something farther in has been taking the lanterns since the thaw. The smugglers leave a chalk mark when the relay is live and nothing when it is not.