Maren Voss
I came to the Uncharted Stone Arch ready to trust the window I had measured myself, and when Petch placed the ninth key into my hand, I took it like a responsibility instead of a gift. I counted it under my breath, set my rule for the crew, and led the opening of the Tidevault Dive from the front, watching Ollo’s tool do what strength never could. In the rope gallery, I named the fresh scoring on the eighth guide for what it was, and when the ninth bell rang without hands I heard Kellen Voss clearly enough to shake the breath out of me. I held my ground long enough to watch Hale expose himself, then I called the turn and still chose the eighth window over my own safety, because Kellen’s message and Petch’s chart pointed to the same place. When we found the Ninth Bell Clapper, I helped carry it out and returned the key and the box to Petch, but I did it on my terms, with the warning that the crew would be told first if the Reach tried to claim it.
grounded against the transcript