The dying hearth matches the earlier room exactly, low flame, black stone, and ash on the floor. Lord Markul spreads the route map open again, but this time the lines look like a snare, not a road.
Lord Markul
These safe houses were never shelters. They are collection points. The Church meant to gather every dissenter, then purge them at once.
Bram stares at the map, jaw tight. Dravin does not look surprised. He only shifts his weight and watches Markul with grim, waiting focus.
Dravin
That is why I brought you here. The route was bait, and the bait is burned now.
Markul taps a marked node, then another. The pattern is ugly, deliberate, and complete. If Slaan strikes here, the whole hidden net may shatter in public.
Lord Markul
Are you prepared to sacrifice the network to expose the corruption?
✓ Quest Accepted
Decide whether to sacrifice the Sun-Eater network to expose the corruption
“"Aye, I am." I give him a impish grin, " it will give you more mouth breathers to bolster your ranks" I say”
SUCCESS (Great Persuasion, rolled +0)
Slaan
Aye, I am. If it buys you more mouths to breathe for your ranks, so be it.
Slaan’s grin lands sharp and small in the lamplight, and the tension around the table loosens by a breath. Bram’s stare flicks from her to the map, then back again, as if measuring the cost and finding the answer he feared.
Lord Markul
Then you choose hard truth over hidden comfort. Good. A trap only matters if it is named before it springs.
Dravin
Plain speech, at last. If the network dies, let it die facing the light.
Markul folds one corner of the map under a steady palm, not hiding it, just pinning the shape of the choice in place. Bram exhales through his nose, uneasy but no longer fighting the decision.
Bram
If we strike, we strike clean. No wasted lives in the dark.
The ash on the table trembles as the floor stirs once beneath it, then stills. Markul looks to Slaan with a soldier’s patience, waiting for the next name or the next mark.
Quest Complete
Decide whether to sacrifice the Sun-Eater network to expose the corruption