ToP Chapter 77

Chapter Seventy-Seven: Crooked Finger Black

Solineus, Morik, and Tanzarêu pursue Seblêsu’s Dark Waters cult, tracking the Waystone to Shînvedorn, a mining hub in Tûrûrôt. After weeks of fruitless waiting, Tanzarêu confirms the Waystone’s sudden disappearance, prompting a desperate ride to the Sundial of Teremhôst, a black obsidian pillar in a dry pool. Ambushed by assassins, Tanzarêu is fatally wounded, and Solineus knocks a fleeing culprit from his climb with hurled nuts and kills him, but the loss leaves them without a Wayfinder. At the sundial, Solineus deduces its historical significance, linking it to the Dark Waters’ quest for Hîmr’s prison. The Lie of the Raging Eye mentions a “crooked shadow” cast by the Black Finger, which Solineus interprets as Mount Hermin’s shadow, cast by Mount Gerfôld’s obstruction, pointing southwest. Using Tanzarêu’s maps, they identify the Barren Mirror, a potentially riven underground river near Hermin, as the cult’s likely destination to place the Waystone and locate Hîmr. With renewed purpose, the Helmveliners rally to avenge Tanzarêu and thwart the cult, riding toward a bloody confrontation.

• ToP Chapter 76 — Road to Wisdom
• ToP Chapter 78 — Snow Fall
• Trail of Pyres - Main Chapter Listing