It: Welcome to Derry
Based on: It by Stephen King
Stars: Bill Skarsgård, Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider
Season 1 – Episode 4
Episode title: The Great Swirling Apparatus of Our Planet’s Function
Original release date: November 16, 2025 (HBO)
Plot: As the kids face increasingly terrifying experiences, Charlotte attempts to advocate for Hank, and General Shaw escalates his efforts.
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It: Welcome to Derry – S01E04 – The Great Swirling Apparatus of Our Planet’s Function | Transcript
Come on, Lilly!
Lilly, when we last spoke, you said you weren’t quite sure you could describe what you saw at the theater that night.
Still can’t, but now I don’t have to because
‘Cause we got the pictures, Chief Bowers.
We have one where this thing looks like the monster version of Teddy, which was incredibly scary–
Rich.
Who is he?
Ricardo Santo, sir. But you can call me Rich.
Whatever killed Teddy, Phil, and Susie, it came after us again last night in the cemetery.
What the hell were you doing at the cemetery at night?
So, my cousin Bembe told me this thing my uncle used to do–
We were just cutting through.
Yeah, taking a shortcut home.
And you all just happened to have a camera with you when it did.
We were ready this time.
Well, let’s have a looksee.
Oh my God. Kirn, Wallace, look at this.
Jesus H. Christ.
What the hell is that?
I don’t…
Is that a…
Is this pigeon shit?
It’s not possible.
What’s this? Dead flowers.
Helpful. Aunt Mary’s headstone.
A tree.
Stop, wait. Look at that one.
Yeah, that’s it, right there.
The statue?
No, are you blind?
It’s a clown!
You watch your tone, young lady.
You walk into this office telling tall tales and you show me this as proof?
The only thing this is proof of is that you, Lilly Bainbridge, are trying to buy yourself a oneway ticket back to the nuthouse.
You kids keep your noses out of police business, or ghouls and goblins will be the very least of your worries.
Do I make myself perfectly clear?
Maybe it’s a Dracula thing.
You know, like in the movie, how we can’t see his reflection?
But we did see him.
It could have killed us, but it didn’t.
It’s like it’s messing with us.
The first thing I’d do is find out if there’s a history of stuff like this happening in Derry.
Lilly, your mom grew up here, right?
Yeah.
She ever mention anything strange?
No, and if I ask her about it, she’ll send me right back to Juniper Hill.
But you heard what–
You heard what Bowers said.
They’re gonna transfer my dad to Shawshank.
You don’t come back from that place.
Please, I’m just asking–
No adult’s ever gonna believe what we saw.
I wouldn’t.
Wait.
I know someone who might.
I haven’t thought about it in years, but now that you mention it, I do remember some kids going missing in the ’30s.
Quite a few, actually.
Really?
Well, it was the depression, and a lot of families were starving, and some kids, they just disappeared overnight.
They probably ran away looking for something better or trying to relieve their families of the burden.
They were tough times.
But nothing like…
What you’re describing? Oh no, dear.
No, nothing like that.
But don’t let that stop you from trying to figure out what’s happening.
My father always said to me that with good friends at your side, anything’s possible.
And it sounds like you have those.
Hello. Well, this is a surprise.
Thought I’d save you the trouble of wrestling it home yourself.
You didn’t have to do that.
Just happy it found a good home.
I’m brewing coffee, if you’re in the mood.
I will never say no to a cup of coffee.
All right.
Come on in.
Thank you.
So, your folks are from around these parts originally?
My ancestors settled in the valley here, but our homelands were much bigger back then.
We would follow the elk herds all the way into Nova Scotia and back.
That was before Manifest Destiny, of course.
I’ve never been to Canada myself.
No?
I still have cousins up there, north of the border.
Well, what they call a border anyway.
To us, it’s just a line on a map.
So, how is your husband adjusting?
I suppose they’re keeping him busy working on that new pipeline.
Leroy’s a pilot.
I doubt he’s got anything to do with that.
Not that he’d tell me if he did, but…
No?
Every time I ask about his day, it’s national security this, and classified that.
Man’s got more secrets than King Tut’s tomb.
That sounds a little lonely.
I knew what I was signing up for when I married a flyboy.
He doesn’t question orders.
I question everything.
That’s the dance.
May I ask you something?
Of course.
This… business with the theater, the missing kids…
It’s a terrible thing.
Do I need to be concerned?
Derry is a beautiful place, but things do happen from time to time.
Never a bad idea to keep the people you love close.
Tell you what.
If you need anything, to talk, a friend, call me.
Here we go.
This is it.
Hallorann!
Let’s go!
Y’all seen this sh–
Hell no.
I saw that.
Yo, hold on. Let me find the light up in here.
I got it. Hold up.
Hit the lights.
Hey, hey.
There you go. You…
Okay.
You did it. You did it.
Damn.
Hey, ain’t it a little far from base?
That’s good.
Mean there’s no one to hassle us.
You sure it’s ours?
Colonel said we could use it.
Right, right.
And no one else comes here?
Boy, do you know what “decommissioned” means?
No.
It was all storage out here.
Anything they needed, they cleared out a long time ago.
Come on now. Look at this.
What?
It’s a damn mess.
Yeah. But the important thing is, it’s got potential.
Hell no.
No, look. You put the bar here, put the HiFi there.
Hey.
Hey, hey, Hallorann.
Maybe you could get, like, aa grill or a hot plate or something, you know?
We could turn this into a kitchen!
Throw a little chow down for the fellas.
And their dates.
You can’t do that on base.
Can’t do nothing here neither till we clean this motherfucker.
Come on. Y’all laughing like we don’t gotta clean this shit.
Damn.
Let’s clean this up, gentlemen.
Yes, sir.
Can y’all help me with this?
It’s heavy as hell.
Come on, bro. Maybe we can use a couple of these things around here.
It’s all damn broken.
There’s food here.
There’s food here? Shit.
There is a bright flash, brighter than the sun.
It could knock you down hard, or throw you against a tree or a wall.
It is such a big explosion, it can smash in buildings, and knock signboards over, and break windows all over town.
But if you duck and cover like Bert, you’ll be much safer.
The atomic bomb flash could burn you worse than a terrible sunburn, especially where you’re not covered.
Now, you and I don’t have shells to crawl into like Bert the Turtle, so we have to cover up in our own way.
First, you duck, and then you cover.
And very tightly, you cover the back of your neck and your face.
Duck and cover underneath a table…
Looking for these?
I was tidying up, and I found these stuffed in an envelope in the back of that drawer.
What’s going on, Will?
I was–
And don’t lie to me.
Ronnie is my friend.
She swears her dad didn’t do it, and I believe her, but the police don’t because he works at the theater.
Yeah, I know, baby.
So…
Me and some other kids, we… met up to try to figure out how to help her when…
When what?
What happened?
It was dark.
And someone came after us.
We were scared and we ran, but Ronnie had a camera and she was trying-trying to get some pictures and…
Okay, baby.
All right, no more running around till I find out what’s going on around here.
What?
School and back, and that’s it.
Mom.
Not another word.
Your daddy finds out you’ve been running around wild at night, you’re gonna get a worse punishment than that.
We’ll keep it between us this time.
How was your first week at school?
Fine.
Fine?
Give me some details.
Go on, baby. Tell him.
For goodness’ sake.
There is a girl.
Mom.
It’s okay.
Don’t embarrass the boy, Char.
Can I be excused?
You haven’t even had dessert.
I have homework.
All right. Go on.
So, the girl is…
I mean, is she…
You know.
Are you working this weekend?
I don’t know. I’m just waiting on a call.
Well, I was thinking, if you’re free, y’all two could do something.
Been so busy since we got here.
Could be good to get him out of his head for a change.
Yeah.
Maybe.
Yeah?
What are you thinking?
Nice.
Dad?
How long do we have to do this?
Have to? I’m having the time of my life.
Spending time in nature with my boy, like I used to with my pops.
It doesn’t get better than this.
Tell me about this new girlfriend of yours.
She’s not my girlfriend.
Not yet? The year is young.
The year’s young, my friend.
I caught something.
What?
I got something.
Okay, son, relax, relax. Don’t force it.
Just reel it in a little bit at a time.
Come on, easy. Keep it going.
I’m doing it, Dad.
Keep it going. You got it. Stay with it.
You gotta stay with him. There it is.
Damn it.
I got it.
You had it. That’s
He’s gone.
Wind it back.
At least we know they’re biting.
Hold on, hold on. Your fly came off.
Yeah, so…
Watch my line?
I left the spares in the car.
You’ll burn too!
Will.
Dad! Help!
Dad! Help!
Help! Daddy! Help!
It pulled me under.
It came up out of the water!
What? Son, what is it?
Breathe. Breathe. What did?
It was you.
You were all burnt like that picture of you after the war when you went down in that plane!
Son, you gotta relax.
You’re not making any sense.
It’s the truth!
Calm down!
Son, what the hell?
There’s something here, in Derry.
Something bad.
Reports suggest that Soviet shipments that recently arrived in Cuban ports may contain military equipment, including surfacetoair missiles.
If confirmed, sources say it would mark a significant…
Chief, you got a visitor.
No details, no description.
That’s not a lot to go on.
They’re kids. They got scared and ran.
All right. We’ll look into it.
Is there anything else, Mrs…
Hanlon.
I don’t mean to be presumptuous, Chief Bowers, but if there is someone out there still accosting children, isn’t it a possibility you have an innocent man in your jail?
You’re talking about Hank Grogan?
Not a chance.
Not a chance. We questioned him, we caught him in a lie.
The man has no alibi.
Has he been able to consult an attorney?
Mrs. Hanlon, this isn’t the South.
He and his family have had regular contact with the public defender’s office.
I didn’t mean to offend you, sir.
I’m sorry.
You can imagine where I come from, what I’m used to.
May I speak with him, please?
You’re neither counsel nor family, so no.
Now, if you’ll excuse me…
Thank you for your time.
“Grogan.” Grogan.
I don’t understand, Miss…
Missus. Hanlon. Call me Charlotte.
My boy, Will, is a friend of your granddaughter’s.
He told me the situation with your son, and I just thought I’d check in.
You a lawyer?
No, ma’am, but I was active in the movement down south.
Did my bit helping other colored folks who got forced into false confessions.
If that’s the case with your son, I’d like to see if I could help him too.
That’s kind of you, but I don’t see as it’ll do much good.
I thought he was in his room.
Turns out someone saw him out walking, so…
Doesn’t mean he hurt anybody.
Of course not.
My Hank wouldn’t hurt a fly.
Especially not no kids.
So, if he wasn’t at the theater, and he wasn’t home, where else could he have been?
The only one who knows where my son was that night, other than himself, is God.
And neither one of them’s talking.
Hey.
You’re gonna clean it off?
There you go, Reg!
Back against the wall. Back–
You actually want the back against the wall, Jax.
Why aren’t you helping?
I’m helping right now.
All right, Hallorann.
I can’t play.
Hey! Hallorann!
Dick… baby.
Mind me now.
You watch yourself, you hear?
Keep that lid on tight.
They said I’d find you here.
Well, here I am.
Hey.
Thanks again for that homecooked meal.
The best sleep I had since I stumbled out of a cathouse.
Say, you heard anything from General Shaw or Colonel Fuller?
Just wondering when we’re going up again.
Oh, no. That’s above my pay grade.
I hear you. But, you know, that Operation Precept, Shaw made it sound like a real priority.
One brother to another, maybe don’t be so eager to put yourself in the line of fire on this one.
Now, what are you trying to say?
The Colonel was kind enough to lend us this old requisition shed to use at and for our leisure.
We’re just setting up inside.
You want to help us out?
Hey.
Listen, I went fishin’ today with my son, and when I went back to the car to get more bait… something attacked him.
Jesus. I’m sorry. You all right?
When I asked him what, he said, he said it was me, all burnt up and charred like I crawled out of a plane crash.
And I came up out the water, tried to pull him under.
You believe him?
The boy’s got bruises and cuts like an animal scratched him all up.
He looked at me, he said, “Dad, there’s something bad here in Derry.”
Hallorann, what the hell are we actually looking for?
And I know we’re trying to develop some shit.
Russia too.
What, did something go missing?
A machine that fucks with your head? What is it?
Answer me!
I don’t know!
I don’t know what the hell it is.
Hell, I’m not sure I wanna know.
Look, I do what I’m told when I’m told, just like you.
I’m sorry about your son.
I used to have nightmares as a kid about my dad going down in a plane like he did in Korea.
It scared me more than anything else in the world.
I… How did it know that?
It could have killed me way before my dad got to me.
It can probably kill any one of us anytime it wants to.
Unless…
Unless what?
What if it doesn’t want to kill us?
Not yet, anyway.
What if it’s just trying to scare us like Lilly said?
Why would it just wanna scare us when it killed all the others?
We don’t actually know Matty’s dead. Not for sure.
But he did tell me he’d been seeing weird stuff for a while before he disappeared.
Phil and Teddy said the same thing.
Oh man.
I hate being right.
What?
Adrenaline.
Cortisol.
They’re called the fear hormones.
When you get scared, not just you, any mammal, your adrenal gland secretes them into your bloodstream, which some predators like the taste of.
So, they’ll stalk and scare their prey until they smell just right.
Then–
No, no, no.
You’re saying it wants to eat us?
It’s just a theory.
It’s a horrible theory!
Well, it fits the facts.
Okay, let’s just, for the moment, assume that you’re right.
No, I do not wanna assume that.
But if he is, what are we supposed to do?
I mean, it’s not like we can just stop ourselves from being scared.
Guys… what if we could?
How’d you get them?
I swiped them from my mom’s compact.
I got one for each of us.
What does it do?
Whenever she’s really nervous about stuff like bills or, you know, me, she just sticks one under her tongue.
She says it makes all her fears and troubles melt away like magic.
She calls it “Mommy’s Little Helper.”
That sounds pretty good.
So, I guess the second something weird starts to happen, we take it and just–
And hope for the best.
Yeah.
There are almost 20,000 species of worms on Earth.
Each one unique, each with its own purpose in the great swirling apparatus of our planet’s function.
Here we see the parasitic flatworm, Leucochloridium paradoxum, which burrows into the bodies of land snails, causing their eyes to swell and expand into multicolored stalks, which subsequently attract the attention of birds, who then swoop down and pluck them out.
Now, the most fascinating aspect of Leucochloridium paradoxum is how the parasite not only alters the snail physically…
Hey.
…but also hijacks its brain and alters its behavior…
I’ve been thinking about what a shit I’ve been lately.
I was wondering if…
I don’t know.
Do you wanna go to lunch with me today?
Just me and you?
I miss you.
That’d be swell.
Peachy.
Can’t wait.
Now, as we consider the durability of parasitic infections in the animal kingdom, we should never lose sight of how easily they can leap between species.
Are you family?
No, but I have a letter here signed by his mother granting permission to visit with her son.
Yeah.
You’ll have to wait for the chief.
And when will he be in?
Hard to say.
That’s just not good enough.
Listen, lady.
I suggest that you take it on the arches before you find yourself in a cell right next to him.
My name’s not Lady, it’s Charlotte Hanlon, and that may not mean much to you right now, but it will when you see all the scary shit I can do with a telephone.
Excuse me?
No, I don’t think I will.
In fact, if you don’t let me see Hank Grogan right now, by tomorrow morning, I’ll have MLK, JFK, RFK, and a whole bunch of other FKs breathing down your neck, along with a bus full of Freedom Riders after another from here to the turnpike singing “We Shall Overcome” in the streets till you have to call the world’s largest cowcatcher to clear them.
Now, are you gonna let me see the man?
Or do I need to make a call?
Forgive me, Mrs. Hanlon, but you don’t know my situation.
I know the cops locked you up without a shred of hard evidence.
I spoke with the public defender’s office, asked some questions.
Turns out they charged you without a bail hearing, which is your legal right.
Public defender ain’t say nothing about that.
We’ll worry about him later.
Right now, we need to file papers citing prejudicial treatment, show discrimination, which should be easy to do in your case.
It’ll allow you to skip bail altogether and go on house arrest while you wait for trial.
House arrest?
So what you saying? You–
I don’t gotta go to Shawshank?
The papers take a minute to process, and it sounds like they’re bussing you out tomorrow.
So you may have to spend a few days there, but the fact of the matter is, your right to due process was violated.
Whatever you did, or didn’t do, you’re gonna be going home.
At least for now.
That’s a promise.
Thank you.
But at some point, Mr. Grogan, you’ll have to go on record with the truth.
The truth?
The truth is, I ain’t do nothing to those kids.
Told the police about it too!
Doesn’t change the fact that you weren’t where you claimed to be that night.
Where were you, really?
You realize that answer could set you free.
Whatever you were doing can’t possibly compare to what you’re being accused of.
You want your daughter to go without a father?
You want your mama to mourn her son–
You think I want that?
You think I want that?
Man, y’all don’t understand.
All right.
So, tell me.
Please.
I think you know by now I’m on your side.
II was with a woman.
A married woman?
Not just married.
A White woman?
It just happened.
“It just happened”?
Look, if anybody finds out, I won’t be heading to no Shawshank.
They’ll just find the nearest tree.
Not to mention what her husband would do to her.
Now, if there’s a way out without anyone getting hurt, I’ll take it.
I might-I might need some help finding it.
Sir, we checked the areas the Indian woman told us to stay away from.
Either she’s telling the truth or sending us on a wild goose chase, but there is nothing there.
Of course there’s nothing there.
She’s a smart woman.
And now we’ve confirmed her suspicions.
Believe me, Colonel, these people take their obligations very seriously.
And whatever comes next, it’s not gonna be a cease and desist letter.
Not that it matters.
Because the cycle will be over soon, and the weapon gone to ground.
Maybe it’s time to begin cleanup, sir.
How often are those kids out there watching the base?
The kids from Indian Marsh?
I don’t know, every couple of days.
Sir, they may be curious, but they know to stay on their own side of the fence.
Maybe it’s time we open the gate.
Invite them in.
So, how are things with your new friends?
What do you mean?
I don’t know. I guess I’m just curious.
What’s Ronnie Grogan like?
People talk.
If you invited me to gossip, I’m not–
Lilly, no.
I just…
I guess I just don’t know how to talk to you anymore.
Everything’s changed so much since you got back from… you know.
Look, we’ve been best friends since first grade.
Forget the Pattycakes.
I don’t wanna lose you.
Can we just start over?
Please?
I’d like that.
Hey, Marge.
Hey, Lilly.
Oh my gosh.
Did you see the way Tim Flanagan just looked at you?
You should talk to him.
What? No way.
He’s totally sweet on you.
Come on, at least say hi.
After everything you’ve been through this year, you deserve it.
Well, I should at least freshen up first.
Okay. I’ll be right back.
Did she go for it?
I think so. She’s freshening up.
Good. ‘Cause it’s all set.
The second she goes over to him, he’s gonna embarrass her in front of the whole school.
It’s gonna be so boss.
Yeah, real boss.
Don’t chicken out now, Truman.
Get in there before she changes her mind.
What’s the holdup?
I have a zit.
You can barely see it.
Let me touch you up before you go back out.
You’ll be dropdead.
Okay.
Let me pee first. I’m nervous.
I can’t believe Tim likes me.
Lills?
Yeah?
I need to tell you something.
What?
I-Well…
The truth is…
Marge?
Marge, are you okay?
What?
Marge, what’s wrong?
My eyes!
Marge!
Whatever you do, just don’t look at it, okay?
Somebody help me!
Close your eyes!
My eyes!
Marge, wait!
Help!
Marge!
Marge!
Marge, no!
Marge, stop! No!
Stop! Let go!
Stop, Marge!
Marge, stop!
No! No! No!
No, Marge, stop!
Let go!
Let go! Stop!
No.
No, I didn’t…
You scared me.
What were you doing in town today?
What do you mean?
Pauly said he saw you walking into the police station.
I can see the wheels turning, so why don’t you just tell me, Char?
Same way you tell me what happens at that base?
That’s a security issue. What is this?
The man that got arrested at the movie theater?
A Black man who’s arrested for a murder he swears he didn’t commit.
And his daughter is friends with our son.
His daughter?
Don’t be looking for trouble.
There’s gonna be trouble anywhere we go.
That’s the country you swore your life to defend.
I’m just making it worth defending.
You swore to me that you wouldn’t start up here.
I can’t have you getting arrested again, Char. Not now.
What I’m doing here is too important.
So, I just need you to trust me.
Just trust me and don’t stir the pot.
Please, just promise me that.
Please.
You won’t have to worry about me.
Hey. What’s wrong? What happened?
I couldn’t sleep.
I was using the telescope, and there was somebody outside staring at me.
What’s wrong?
You see what you did?
Someone’s watching the house.
Who’s out here?
Show yourself!
Wait, you can’t just…
Handle it. Get back to me.
I’m sorry, General.
What the hell do you have us chasing?
We caught him and his friends scoping out the base.
Tried to get a peek over our fence, as it were.
What’s he doing here?
Our young Indian friend, Taniel is his name, he knows the location of exactly what we’re looking for.
But he refuses to answer our questions.
So, Airman Hallorann is gonna answer them for us.
They’re watching over there.
What they want me to do to you, it’s not gonna be pleasant.
So, why don’t you just tell ’em what they wanna know?
Save us both a whole lot of pain.
Yeah.
Taniel.
God, I’m so sorry about this.
Come on.
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday, Taniel!
I need to tell you something.
“No! He’s eating them!”
“No!”
“I’ll get you for that.”
Taniel?
Hi, Auntie.
Hey.
What you doing?
Nothing.
What is it?
You know the story about the monster in the Western Wood?
The Galloo?
All the kids know that story.
The elders made us memorize it when we were, like, seven.
Well, some of our stories are meant to teach us lessons.
And some of our stories are real.
So you’re telling me The Galloo is real?
Tell me the story.
I need to know you remember how all of this began.
Millions of years ago, before the time of the first people, an evil spirit was cast down from the darkest part of the night sky, bound inside of a falling star.
But when the star struck the Earth, it broke open, and the spirit was set free.
It roamed the woods for many snows and countless moons until the creation of our first ancestors.
The star that carried the monster had been its cage, and the stone it was made from still held power.
Our wisest took a shard from that star and carved a weapon to protect our people from the monster.
Which we named “The Galloo.”
We kept the dagger close and stayed away from the Western Wood.
As years went by, the legend of The Galloo was passed down from generation to generation.
We lived in balance with the monster by staying outside of its reach, and never hunting in its territory.
Until one day, the settlers arrived.
We warned them of the danger in the Western Wood, but they chose to ignore us.
They hunted the woods.
And just as we had warned them, they were hunted.
The Galloo fed on them and grew stronger and more powerful.
The monster would soon be able to hunt outside of the Western Wood.
Sesqui, the village’s great war chief, was called to council by the clan mothers.
The creature had grown too powerful.
A single dagger could no longer protect all of the villages.
To save our people, the decision was made.
They would have to leave.
But Sesqui’s daughter, Necani, did not want to leave our land.
She believed there was another path.
She took the dagger and journeyed past the great dead wood with her friends by her side.
Finally arriving at the Western Wood.
They entered the woods, seeking the cave where The Galloo crashed to gather more of the sacred stone.
When Sesqui realized that her daughter and the dagger were missing, she formed a search party to bring them both back.
But without the dagger, they had nothing to protect themselves from The Galloo.
The monster showed itself to them.
In the shape of the things they feared the most.
It separated the war party. One by one.
And before she knew it, Sesqui found herself alone.
Sesqui’s only hope was in her daughter’s hands.
Prepare to meet thy God!
Even Sesqui, the great warrior, was no match for the Galloo.
Mom?
Mom!
Mom!
Mom, no!
Mom!
No.
But it was too late.
Sesqui’s spirit was already slipping away.
And she went to be with the ancestors.
Mom! No! Mom!
No!
Though Necani’s tears would not stop flowing, her people were still in danger.
She knew what she had to do, fight for them, just like her mother always had.
So, Necani took the dagger and braved the Western Wood one last time.
They found the cave.
And broke off shards of the ancient star the Galloo had arrived in.
A plan was formed.
Not to kill it, but to cage it.
They would use the shards of its old bindings, the only thing the Galloo feared, to keep our people safe again.
The children circled the Western Wood, which had been the monster’s hunting ground for so long.
And they buried 13 sacred shards deep into the earth.
Over each stone, they lit a fire to mark its place, a line the Galloo could not cross.
Our people made a sacred promise to guard the pillars and keep their places secret so that the monster that’s trapped inside could never break free.
Our people would be safe, and the Galloo would remain within these pillars forever.
Well done, Taniel.
Now, you’re a part ofAuntie.
Are you okay?
Well done, Taniel.
Great story.
So, tell me, where are they now?
The pillars.
How do I find them?
You can tell me.
Come on.
Through there.
Follow the tunnels under the old well… and you’ll find the pillars.
