The Undermere

An upside-down sky on the cave roof, dripping water, and nobody asking which side you were on. Work comes from Mott, Vey and the bad-jobs board (undermere_board, Event_board); the one good job is the Atonement board nobody takes. The den (market, pit, boards) is for fallen players (morality ≤ −20, undermere.stage ≥ 1). The deep tunnels (the flooded nave, the carving, the diggings) are also reachable by the back door: Girdle Gate's shard-step from the Corran road (undermere.backdoor = 1, see Shelter from the Storm), or the diggings tunnel from Corran's north edge once Corran wakes (walkthrough-act-3.md, open question on the Undermere).

Vey's stall, the fence (undermere_fence). The canon calls it Mott's fence; Vey runs it.

The Long Way Up (long_way_up)

• Giver / where: Mott, the Undermere den, the Atonement board by the ladder, Event_atonement. Aske talks the player through it if she is in the party.
• Available from: Act 3, when the player first falls. startWhen: morality <= -20.
• Story: Detailed in walkthrough-act-3.md, scene 6.5 (quest JSON in section 8). Every deed is worth +5 morality; each band of the fall is twice as deep as the one above, so climbing out takes 1, 2, 4 and then 8 deeds. The deeds come from the Atonement board, and any ordinary good side quest done while morality ≤ −10 also counts as one. This part adds these board deeds:

• Stages: as the walkthrough, with the side-quest fields added:

{
  "id": "long_way_up",
  "title": "The Long Way Up",
  "description": "Nobody takes the Atonement board. That's why it's still up. Every deed counts the same; the deeper you are, the more of them it takes.",
  "category": "side",
  "giver": "mott",
  "startWhen": { "flag": "morality", "op": "<=", "value": -20 },
  "stages": [
    {
      "id": "out_of_the_depths",
      "text": "Climb out of the depths: do 8 deeds from the Atonement board.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "morality", "op": ">", "value": -80 }
    },
    {
      "id": "out_of_the_dark",
      "text": "Climb out of the dark: do 4 deeds from the Atonement board.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "morality", "op": ">", "value": -40 }
    },
    {
      "id": "back_to_the_gates",
      "text": "Earn your way back through the gates: do 2 deeds from the Atonement board.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "morality", "op": ">", "value": -20 }
    },
    {
      "id": "trusted_again",
      "text": "Be trusted again: one more deed.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "morality", "op": ">", "value": -10 }
    }
  ]
}

• Rewards: morality +5 per deed (that is the reward); atonement.deeds +1 and atonement.deed.<slug> = 1 per deed. No copper: the board pays nothing.
• Yarn: Undermere_Atonement_Board, Atonement_Aske, one node per deed (walkthrough names). This part adds Side_Undermere_DeedCorr, Side_Undermere_DeedHoard, Side_Undermere_DeedDig.

The Quicksilver Dig (side_quicksilver_dig)

• Giver / where: Gessa (Facets), the well-wright, Corran, the well (Event_well). A fallen player hears it from Mott instead. The dig is under Corran's warp, Event_diggings.
• Available from: Act 3: after scene 6.4 on the fallen road, or once Corran wakes for everyone else. startWhen: undermere.stage >= 3 or act3.stage >= 14.
• Story: This is the walkthrough's "quicksilver trade" hook. Gessa's new bucket keeps coming up with beads of quicksilver in it, and the trail leads down to the outlaws' dig under Corran's warp. If the player broke the dig's props in scene 6.4, the diggers have moved the rig further along. The player follows a load to its buyers and finds two. Iver's workshop polishes its lenses with it. The Warden menders' quartermaster sets seal-stones on it, the same stones that fed the Sallow warp and stood Corran's colossus up. Both sides are buying the stuff that widens the warps, and neither knows the other is. The player decides: take it to the Keepers, so Hale records it and both courts order the dig shut; tell Corran, whose folk can fill the tunnel from above; or take Vey's offer to broker the trade.
• Fights: undermere_diggers (walkthrough) if the Keepers' order goes out while the player is below.
• Stages:

{
  "id": "side_quicksilver_dig",
  "title": "The Quicksilver Dig",
  "description": "Gessa's bucket keeps coming up with quicksilver in it. Somebody under the town is digging it out of the warp.",
  "category": "side",
  "giver": "gessa",
  "startWhen": {
    "any": [
      { "flag": "undermere.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 3 },
      { "flag": "act3.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 14 }
    ]
  },
  "stages": [
    {
      "id": "see",
      "text": "Go down and see the dig under Corran's warp.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.quicksilver_dig.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 1 }
    },
    {
      "id": "follow",
      "text": "Follow the quicksilver to whoever buys it.",
      "completeWhen": {
        "all": [
          { "flag": "side.quicksilver_dig.buyer_facet", "op": "!=", "value": 0 },
          { "flag": "side.quicksilver_dig.buyer_warden", "op": "!=", "value": 0 }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "decide",
      "text": "Tell the Keepers, tell Corran, or take Vey's offer.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.quicksilver_dig.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 3 }
    }
  ]
}

• Rewards: Keepers: 200 copper (the Keepers' bounty, paid to the coin), rep.keepers +5. Corran: morality +5, rep.facets +5, and it counts as an atonement deed. Vey: 250 copper and 5 × glint_quicksilver, morality −5. Item dig_tally (the buyers' tally slate) while the quest runs. Sets side.quicksilver_dig.choice (1 Keepers, 2 Corran, 3 Vey).
• Yarn: Side_Corran_GessaBucket, Side_Undermere_DigAgain, Side_Lanternfall_LensBuyer, Side_Corran_MenderBuyer, Side_Undermere_DigChoice.

The Hoard (side_hoard_raid)

• Giver / where: Vey (outlaw), the fence, through the bad-jobs board (board: undermere_board). The hoard is behind a false wall in the deep tunnels, Event_hoard (new).
• Available from: Act 3, fallen players. startWhen: undermere.stage >= 1.
• Story: Vey wants a glyph hoard cleared out: a sack of stolen fragments behind a false wall, kept by a hollow cut caster who catches spells on shards and throws them back. If the player hurt Sabe's glyph-hunters at the Sallow warp (act3.hunters = 3), the caster is Sabe, and the hoard is everything Sabe's cut has left. They remember the player. The choice: hand the sack to Vey, give it back to whoever owns it, or tip it out in the den so every outlaw can trace what's in it.
• Fights: hoard_raid (bestiary: hollow_cut).
• Stages:

{
  "id": "side_hoard_raid",
  "title": "The Hoard",
  "description": "Vey wants a hoard cleared out. Vey doesn't say whose it is.",
  "category": "side",
  "giver": "vey",
  "board": "undermere_board",
  "startWhen": { "flag": "undermere.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 1 },
  "stages": [
    {
      "id": "job",
      "text": "Take Vey's job: a hoard behind a false wall.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.hoard_raid.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 1 }
    },
    {
      "id": "raid",
      "text": "Break into the hoard.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.hoard_raid.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 2 }
    },
    {
      "id": "sack",
      "text": "Hand the sack to Vey, give it back, or tip it out in the den.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.hoard_raid.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 3 }
    }
  ]
}

• Rewards: Vey: 200 copper, morality −5. Given back: morality +5 (an atonement deed); if it was Sabe's, Sabe's cut climbs out of the Undermere (sabe.left_undermere = 1). Tipped out: rep.facets +5 (glyphs free to anyone), and the duel pit's outlaws each gain one more spell. The hoard_sack prop is held between stages 2 and 3.
• Yarn: Side_Undermere_VeyHoard, Side_Undermere_HoardWall, Side_Undermere_HoardSabe, Side_Undermere_HoardChoice.

The Pit (side_duel_pit)

• Giver / where: Mott, the Undermere den, the duelling pit, Event_ring.
• Available from: Act 3, fallen players. startWhen: undermere.stage >= 1.
• Story: The pit is the den's entertainment: NPC duels, not PvP, against outlaw casters who thread like the player. Three outlaws, each harder than the last. Before the third, Vey takes the player aside: the den has bet against the farmer, and a lost duel pays well. Win it straight or lose it for Vey. Either way Mott says the same thing: "Now they know your hands."
• Fights: undermere_duel_1, undermere_duel_2, undermere_duel_3 (walkthrough).
• Stages:

{
  "id": "side_duel_pit",
  "title": "The Pit",
  "description": "Outlaws from both sides cast against each other for the den's amusement. Mott has put your name up.",
  "category": "side",
  "giver": "mott",
  "startWhen": { "flag": "undermere.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 1 },
  "stages": [
    {
      "id": "first",
      "text": "Win your first duel in the pit.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "undermere.duels_won", "op": ">=", "value": 1 }
    },
    {
      "id": "second",
      "text": "Win your second duel.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "undermere.duels_won", "op": ">=", "value": 2 }
    },
    {
      "id": "third",
      "text": "Win the third duel, or lose it for Vey.",
      "completeWhen": {
        "any": [
          { "flag": "undermere.duels_won", "op": ">=", "value": 3 },
          { "flag": "side.duel_pit.thrown", "op": "!=", "value": 0 }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

• Rewards: each duel won drops a thread hint (bestiary). Won straight: split_glyph_band. Thrown: 200 copper, morality −5.
• Yarn: Undermere_Pit (walkthrough), Side_Undermere_PitFirst, Side_Undermere_PitVeyBet, Side_Undermere_PitThird.

The Deepest Cut (side_deep_cut)

• Giver / where: Iver Kest (Facets), the Cutter's Workshop in Lanternfall (Event_iver), if the player robbed the Vault for him. Otherwise the thread is carved on a cell wall in the deep tunnels, Event_deep_cut_wall (new), and the quest starts when the player finds it.
• Available from: Act 3. startWhen: (act2.done != 0 and vault.outcome == 1) or undermere.stage >= 1 or undermere.backdoor != 0.
• Story: Deep Cut is Crown Surge into Bevel Lash: the biggest single hit in the set, paid for with 15 of the caster's own HP. Iver's cut teaches it hand over hand to anyone who stole for them. Everyone else finds it carved into the wall of a cell under the Shardfield, over and over, by someone retracing a glyph out of spite. Under the last carving is a name, scratched by a boy: Iver's. He walked south through these tunnels after his un-teaching. If the player tells him, he shrugs: "Twice, I said. I didn't say where."
• Stages:

{
  "id": "side_deep_cut",
  "title": "The Deepest Cut",
  "description": "Crown Surge into Bevel Lash, the hardest hit there is. Somebody carved it into a cell wall a hundred times.",
  "category": "side",
  "giver": "iver",
  "startWhen": {
    "any": [
      {
        "all": [
          { "flag": "act2.done", "op": "!=", "value": 0 },
          { "flag": "vault.outcome", "op": "==", "value": 1 }
        ]
      },
      { "flag": "undermere.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 1 },
      { "flag": "undermere.backdoor", "op": "!=", "value": 0 }
    ]
  },
  "stages": [
    {
      "id": "lead",
      "text": "Find where Deep Cut is taught, or where it's carved.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.deep_cut.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 1 }
    },
    {
      "id": "parts",
      "text": "Know both parts: Crown Surge and Bevel Lash.",
      "completeWhen": {
        "all": [
          { "flag": "spell.learned.crown_surge", "op": "!=", "value": 0 },
          { "flag": "spell.learned.bevel_lash", "op": "!=", "value": 0 }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "trace",
      "text": "Trace the thread.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "composite.known.deep_cut", "op": "!=", "value": 0 }
    }
  ]
}

• Rewards: thread deep_cut. Taught by Iver's cut: rep.facets +5. Carved: no standing, but the name opens one extra line with Iver at the cut line in Act 4.
• Yarn: Side_Lanternfall_IverDeepCut, Side_Undermere_CellWall, Side_Undermere_IverName, Side_Lanternfall_IverShrug.

The Flooded Nave (side_drowned_nave)

• Giver / where: Mott (fallen players) or nobody: a back-door player hears the singing on their own. The nave is under the old Mere, Event_nave (new).
• Available from: Act 3. startWhen: undermere.stage >= 1 or undermere.backdoor != 0.
• Story: Something sings in the flooded nave at night and keeps the den awake. Two drowned choristers hum the Mere Hymn in unison over black water. The Hour Stair records say the Drowned Choir was the Mending's choir (walkthrough-act-3.md, scene 3.3), and the verse they keep singing is the Mending's last note, never finished. Once the choristers are beaten, the player chooses: silence them for good with Hush, or listen while they finish the verse and fade on their own. Either way, a page of the hymn is left on the water. It is what Tobin has been waiting forty years to hear about (his quest is on the Sallow).
• Fights: drowned_hymn (bestiary: 2 × drowned_chorister).
• Stages:

{
  "id": "side_drowned_nave",
  "title": "The Flooded Nave",
  "description": "Something sings in the flooded nave at night. Nobody in the den has slept properly in a month.",
  "category": "side",
  "giver": "mott",
  "startWhen": {
    "any": [
      { "flag": "undermere.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 1 },
      { "flag": "undermere.backdoor", "op": "!=", "value": 0 }
    ]
  },
  "stages": [
    {
      "id": "hear",
      "text": "Find where the singing comes from.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.drowned_nave.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 1 }
    },
    {
      "id": "nave",
      "text": "Go down into the flooded nave.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.drowned_nave.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 2 }
    },
    {
      "id": "verse",
      "text": "Silence the choir, or let them finish the verse.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.drowned_nave.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 3 }
    }
  ]
}

• Rewards: hymn_page (key item, for Tobin's side quest); 2 × still_water (bestiary drop); 150 copper from Mott if the player is fallen. Finished verse: rep.choir +5. Silenced: no standing, and they never come back. Sets side.drowned_nave.choice (1 silenced, 2 finished).
• Yarn: Side_Undermere_NaveSinging, Side_Undermere_NaveChoir, Side_Undermere_NaveHush, Side_Undermere_NaveVerse.

Where Glyphs Still Take (side_dark_glyphs)

• Giver / where: Rook (Facets). If he stepped out of the cut (rook.stepped_out = 1), he is in Lanternfall by Lio and asks the player to go and look. If not, he has gone down himself, and Lio asks the player to find him. The place is a blind cave in the deep tunnels where no reflection reaches, Event_blind_cave (new).
• Available from: after Act 4, Mended only. startWhen: act4.stage >= 8 and act4.outcome == 1.
• Story: This is Act 4's "The dark where glyphs still take" hook. Since the Mending, no asymmetric glyph surfaces anywhere in the light. There are rumours that in the Undermere's deepest dark, where there is no reflection to mend, they still take. The player goes down through the back door, past a toll gate run by forsworn menders, to the blind cave. There Rook, who couldn't cast since the Pane, draws Facet Seal one-handed, and it holds. The player decides who hears about it. Tell Lanternfall, and the dark becomes a Facet pilgrimage. Tell the Wardens, and they will try to mend the dark too. Or keep it between the player and Rook.
• Fights: roof_drop, forsworn_toll (bestiary).
• Stages:

{
  "id": "side_dark_glyphs",
  "title": "Where Glyphs Still Take",
  "description": "They say asymmetric glyphs still take in the Undermere's dark. Rook has gone to find out.",
  "category": "side",
  "giver": "rook",
  "startWhen": {
    "all": [
      { "flag": "act4.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 8 },
      { "flag": "act4.outcome", "op": "==", "value": 1 }
    ]
  },
  "stages": [
    {
      "id": "rumour",
      "text": "Hear the rumour about the dark.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.dark_glyphs.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 1 }
    },
    {
      "id": "blind_cave",
      "text": "Go down past the forsworn toll to the blind cave.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.dark_glyphs.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 2 }
    },
    {
      "id": "who_hears",
      "text": "Tell Lanternfall, tell the Wardens, or keep it between you and Rook.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.dark_glyphs.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 3 }
    }
  ]
}

• Rewards: Lanternfall: 200 copper from the open council, rep.facets +10, rep.wardens −10. Wardens: rep.wardens +10, rep.facets −10, morality −5. Kept: rook.trust +1. Sets dark.known (1 Lanternfall, 2 Wardens, 3 kept), which glyph hunts read in the Mended world.
• Yarn: Side_Lanternfall_DarkRumour, Side_Lanternfall_LioRookGone, Side_Undermere_ForswornToll, Side_Undermere_BlindCave, Side_Undermere_DarkChoice.

The Split Cut (side_split_cut)

• Giver / where: Iver Kest, the Cutter's Workshop, Lanternfall (Event_iver). The split half is at the top of the Undercrack (undercrack, Exit_pane_underside), led by Shale (new), a Culet cutter.
• Available from: after Act 4, Held only. startWhen: act4.stage >= 8 and act4.outcome == 3.
• Story: This is Act 4's "The split cut" hook. Iver went home claiming the Pane for the Facets, and half his cut stopped believing him. Led by Shale, they took their glass picks down into the Undermere to cut the Pane from underneath, where nobody keeps watch. Iver can't go after them without starting a fight in his own cut, so he asks the player. At the Undercrack the player decides: bring them in to Lanternfall's council, talk them down so they leave their picks and go to the Rim truce, or join them and help cut.
• Fights: split_cut (new: hollow_cut + 2 culet_cutter), if bringing them in by force.
• Stages:

{
  "id": "side_split_cut",
  "title": "The Split Cut",
  "description": "Half of Iver's cut has gone under the Pane with their picks. Iver can't go after them himself.",
  "category": "side",
  "giver": "iver",
  "startWhen": {
    "all": [
      { "flag": "act4.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 8 },
      { "flag": "act4.outcome", "op": "==", "value": 3 }
    ]
  },
  "stages": [
    {
      "id": "ask",
      "text": "Hear Iver out.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.split_cut.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 1 }
    },
    {
      "id": "find",
      "text": "Find Shale's cutters at the top of the Undercrack.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.split_cut.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 2 }
    },
    {
      "id": "decide",
      "text": "Bring them in, talk them down, or pick up a pick.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.split_cut.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 3 }
    }
  ]
}

• Rewards: Brought in (needs rep.facets ≥ 25, or the fight): 200 copper from Iver, rep.facets +5. Talked down: morality +5, rep.evane +5, rep.facets +5. Joined: morality −10, rep.evane −10, rep.facets −5, and the Pane's crack widens (glyph hunts at the Pane roll 5% more often). Sets split_cut.outcome (1 brought in, 2 talked down, 3 joined).
• Yarn: Side_Lanternfall_IverSplit, Side_Undermere_ShalePicks, Side_Undermere_SplitChoice, Side_Lanternfall_IverAfter.

Concept art

From Side Quests › The Undermere