The attendants finish securing Titano’s hip with layered cloth and cooling herbs. He rises carefully and moves toward the eastern colonnade, each measured step easing the arena’s noise behind him.
The senior champion, Orun, the contestants, and the gathered elders remain behind beneath the arena banners. Seressa and the Ithacan delegation stay with them, while two valley guards accompany Titano to the quiet chamber.
Arveth
Leave us. No council voice, guard report, or ceremonial witness will enter until my brother and I have spoken.
The guards halt beyond the chamber’s carved doorway. Inside, Chief Arveth waits beside a low stone table, his ceremonial mantle loosened, the valley banners visible through the open colonnade.
Arveth
The contest now carries my authority, and the Valley will remember your judgment. But public approval cannot decide what lies beneath these mountains.
Arveth
You came as my brother before you came as Ithaca’s envoy. Tell me what you believe our future requires, and what danger you think the council has not yet understood.
✓ Quest Accepted
Confess what you must to your brother
“arveth, do you know why i left our home, why I really left?”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +3)
volcanon
Arveth, do you know why I left our home, why I really left?
Arveth’s expression tightens. He closes the chamber’s inner shutters, then faces Titano without the posture of a chief addressing an envoy.
Arveth
I know. You left because the elders meant to bind your strength to their feuds and make you the Valley’s weapon. You refused to become what they commanded, so you walked away rather than betray yourself.
Arveth
I called it abandonment then because I was afraid to challenge them. That was my failure, not yours. You left to remain your own, and I let the Valley name that choice dishonor.
Arveth reaches beneath his loosened mantle and removes a small iron key, setting it on the stone table between them.
Arveth
This opens our mother’s sealed archive. Her final account names the elders who ordered your binding. You may read it tonight, and I will stand beside you when the council hears the truth.
“that is what gave me the push to decide yes, but I really left because of rejection, and because i felt i wasn't living up to my fathers name”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +0)
volcanon
That gave me the push to decide, yes. But I really left because I felt rejected, and because I was not living up to our father’s name.
The words settle between the brothers. Arveth’s hand closes around the archive key, and his lowered gaze fixes on the stone table.
Arveth
Then I misunderstood the wound. I called your leaving defiance because I could not bear to see that our family had made you feel unwanted.
Arveth
You were never required to become Father. His name was not a chain you had failed to carry. It was a life you were allowed to answer in your own way.
Arveth pushes the iron key across the table until it rests within Titano’s reach. Beyond the shutters, distant voices rise from the continuing council.
Arveth
Read Mother’s account, and let the truth name those who rejected you. When the council hears it, I will not ask you to defend your worth. I will stand beside you.
Arveth
He came back carrying the burden I should have shared.
Quest Complete
Confess what you must to your brother
Skill Upgrade: Melee Weapons Great→Superb